Essay on doc jamestown

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During 1607, over 100 passengers set sail on three boats toward the New World in England's name. When these sailors arrived there was high hopes of unlimited natural resources and bullion, but the colonists did not realise the problems that were soon to be forced to endure in the newly formed settlement of Jamestown. Throughout the settlement of early Jamestown numerous settlers were dying because of the inadequate location that was chosen for the colony and the poor relations with the Native Americans. Throughout the settlement of early Jamestown the inadequate location of the settled area numerous settlers were dying because of the little knowledge of the land and highly contagious diseases. Upon arrival of the New World, the colonists were ordered by the Virginia Company to settle upon an island. The Virginia Company thought an island would offer maximum protection with water surrounding the land, and efficiency to the colonists. While searching for an island the colonists stumbled upon an island in the Chesapeake Bay that was not inhabited by the Native people. In a hurry a fortified area was settled upon on this island, but what the settlers did not realise is why the Natives left this land alone. First off the island in which Jamestown was settled upon was very susceptible to droughts. (Doc B) When the colonists begin to try to farm the area, the area would not recieve an efficient amount of rain because the time in which the Englishmen arrived in was in a drought that would last almost ten years. With this drought going on the settlers had to find an alternative source of water for drinking and farming. The water the colonists ended up choosing would coem from the river, but there was a problem with this choice. The water in the river would mix with the water that flowed in from the Atlantic Ocean and create a substance called "brackish water." The consuming of brackish water would result dehydration, illness, and for a lot Jamestown settlers, death. Without a source of fresh water to drink and farm with the settlers became prone to contagious diseases. Diseases spread so quickly because of the area that was settled upon. The Jamestown colonists because of the island in which was settled upon had no efficient source of fresh water and no place to throw waste. The obvious choice for the settlers at the time would be to dump waste into the river hoping that it would all just flush away, so that is what ocurred. The colonists began to throw filth into the river, bathe in the river, and even relieve bodily fluids into the river but did not realise one main factor. According to Carville V. Earle, a well know historian, this factor was that, "filth introduced into the river tended to fester rather than flush away." This amount of filth in such a small space, and the already swampy nature of the land would prove to be the perfect breeding ground for a disease called malaria. According to the author of the best selling book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, Charles C. Mann, the type of malaria in the Jamestown area was caused by Plasmodium vivax. This type of malaria rarely kills people but it left the colonists weak for months usually. It would only take one person to be infected with this disease to leave hundreds of people weak for months. When this happened, work would not be completed on time, and life in Jamestown would struggle and ultimately lead to the early death of Jamestown settlers. Throughout the settlement of early Jamestown there was numerous settlers were dying because of the poor relations with the Native Americans and the recklessness of the colonists. Upon arrival to the area in which was to be settled, there was a general shortage of food from the long voyage. The island that was settled on had little to no game on it, and what could be hunted was quickly nonexistant. The only other way to get food for the colony while remaining self-sufficient would be to farm, and because
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