Settling a New World Essay -- essays research papers fc

The very survival of the early settlers to the New World would depend much upon the generosity of the Native Americans. Had the natives not been so helpful and had instead violently resisted the newcomers, European settlers might not have been so eager to come settle this new land. Both Jamestown and Plymouth would depend upon the goodwill of the native people for their initial survival while establishing their settlements. The Indians not only introduced the area’s indigenous food sources but also their agriculture techniques to the settlers. The settlers would depend upon these for their survival in a new and unfamiliar land. Being able to provide their own food would be the first step in successfully establishing the new colonies, once the settlers were able to do this their numbers grew. With that growth in population came a desire for more settlement territory, it would be this desire for more land that would lead to unrest between the Native Americans and the settlers. Upon their arrival to the New World in May 1607, the newcomers built a settlement and established it as Jamestown. Of the 104 settlers, many were â€Å"gentlemen† and ill suited for the tasks ahead. The area was swamp†¦ warm, humid and riddled with mosquito infested malarial bogs of water and parasites carrying numerous other diseases. In their haste to find wealth and the Northwest Passage to Asia, the men neglected to plant crops to replenish their food supplies, which were dwindling rapidly. Within eight months of their arrival only thirty-eight colonists were still alive. A young captain, John Smith, would become the settlement’s new leader. He enforced a policy decreeing, â€Å"He that will not worke shall not eate.† Under his leadership the colony was revived but when injured by a gunpowder explosion in 1609 he was sent back to England. John Ratcliffe was elected to take his place and under his command the settlers would experience what would come to b e known as â€Å"the starving times†. Come the end of winter only sixty survived and many of those only did so by consuming their dead neighbors. Along with the difficult situation of food shortages, there were also skirmishes with the local Native Americans. Legend holds that in 1608 Captain John Smith’s life would be spared only due to the pleas from Indian leader Powhatan’s young daughter Pocahontas, who brought food and clothing to the colonis... ...rs to this New World ultimately succeeded due to the generosity of the local natives, and due to the fact there was no unification of the local native tribes. Had the Indian natives never helped the settlers learn top plant native crops and provided aid during times of starvation, the settlers’ success would have been limited. Many times settlements were saved from the brink of extinction upon Indian intervention. If Indian tribes had been able to unite together when the settlers first began to arrive, they might have been able to join forces and win a battle against the new arrivals while the colonists numbers were still few. Had the new colonists been faced with an organized fighting force that killed them upon arrival, the European’s might have been too frightened to continue to send new arrivals for fear of slaughter. In the end it would be the English settlers who would prevail†¦ their vast numbers, superior weapons, and unified forces would overcome India n resistance. Bibliography: The World Book Encyclopedia (1999) www.jamestown.org Agriculture, Indians, and American History – www.cals.edu/aagexed/aee502/indians.html The American Journey, A History of the United States