Jamestown, Virginia, was the site of the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. The settlers chose a location close to the water, hoping to establish a thriving community.

In 1607, 144 English men and boys established the JAMESTOWN colony, named after King James I.

As a consequence, the colonists spent little time farming. Food supplies dwindled. MALARIA and the harsh winter besieged the colonists, as well. After the first year, only 38 of the original 144 had survived.

"Work or Starve"

	The twenty of April. Being at work, in hewing down Trees, and setting Corn, an alarum caused us with all speed to take our arms, each expecting a new assault of the Savages: but understanding it a Boat under sail, our doubts were presently satisfied with the happy sight of Master Nelson, his many perils of extreme storms and tempests, his ship well as his company could testify, his care in sparing our provision was well: but the providence thereof, as also of our stones, Hatchets and other tools (only ours excepted) which of all the rest was most necessary: which might inforce us to thinke either a seditious traitor to our action, or a most unconscionable deceiver of our treasures.          –John Smith, "A True Relation of Occurrences and Accidents in Virginia" (1608)

An early advocate of tough love, John Smith is remembered for his strict leadership and for saving the settlement from starvation.

An accidental gunpowder burn forced Smith to return to England in 1609. After his departure, the colony endured even more hardships. A new boatload of colonists and supplies sank off the coast of Bermuda on its way to help the hungry settlement. The winter of 1609-10, known as the "STARVING TIME," may have been the worst of all.

Disease and hunger ravaged Jamestown. Two desperate colonists were tied to posts and left to starve as punishment for raiding the colonies' stores. One colonist even took to cannibalism, eating his own wife. The fate of the venture was precarious. Yet still more colonists arrived, and their numbers included women.

Pictured are the three ships that brought the original settlers to Jamestown in 1607: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery.

Despite the introduction of tobacco cultivation, the colony was a failure as a financial venture. The king declared the Virginia Company bankrupt in 1624.

About 200,000 pounds were lost among the investors. The charter was thereby revoked, and Virginia became a royal colony, the first in America to be ruled by the Crown.

Investments in permanent settlements were risky indeed. The merchants and gentry paid with their pocketbooks. Many colonists paid with their lives. For every six colonists who ventured across the Atlantic, only one survived.

British Settlement of North America Instructions: Put the tiles in order (top to bottom) by dragging each one to its proper position. When you think you have the correct order, click on "Check me!" Correctly placed tiles will turn orange and make a ding sound. Incorrectly placed tiles will turn gray and remain silent. Click Here!

		Jamestown Newspaper: Read all about it! Create a newspaper for the settlers at Jamestown.