Jamestown, 1607

Three ships to the James River

In December 1606 the Virginia Company of London sent three ships, the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery, across the Atlantic. About 144 people made the crossing, and 104 English men and boys stayed to settle. On May 13, 1607 they chose a site on an island in the James River, and they landed the next day and built a triangle-shaped wooden fort. England had tried before, at Roanoke in the 1580s, but that colony failed; Jamestown is called the first lasting (permanent) English colony.

The Powhatan

The English did not arrive in an empty land. The area, called Tsenacomoco by its people, was home to the Powhatan, a paramount chiefdom that joined roughly thirty Algonquian-speaking peoples living in dozens of towns. They were led by Wahunsenacah, whom the English called Powhatan. The Powhatan grew corn, fished and hunted, and at first traded food to the newcomers, but both sides were wary, and trade often turned to raids and fighting.

Why food ran short

The Virginia Company wanted profit, and many colonists hoped to find gold. Many early settlers were gentlemen and craftsmen, not farmers. The river near the fort turned brackish (salty) during a drought, and drinking it, along with disease, killed many people. The colony depended on supply ships from England and on trade with the Powhatan, so when either failed, food ran out.

Winter 1609-10 and the relief fleet

By the fall of 1609 the colony had grown to about 500 people, but war broke out with the Powhatan (the First Anglo-Powhatan War, 1609-14). The Powhatan besieged the fort, cutting it off from food and trade, and a supply fleet had been wrecked on the way. By spring only about 60 people were still alive; estimates vary. In June 1610 the survivors gave up, boarded their ships and sailed down the river, but they met Lord De La Warr's relief fleet coming in, with new colonists and food. They turned back, and Jamestown held on.

Good to know

• "First lasting" English colony because Roanoke (1585-87) failed.
• About 144 people crossed in 1606-07, including sailors; 104 settlers stayed.
• The Powhatan paramount chiefdom linked about thirty peoples; "dozens of towns" is the safe wording. Its chief's own name was Wahunsenacah.
• The death toll of 1609-10 is an estimate: about 500 at the start of winter and about 60 alive by spring, per Encyclopedia Virginia.
• The winter's causes were several at once: the siege during the First Anglo-Powhatan War, disease, bad water and lost supplies.
• Archaeologists at Historic Jamestowne have found evidence of desperate survival measures that winter; it is a painful history and is covered respectfully, not as a curiosity.

For AP US History learners

This is AP US History Period 2 (1607-1754): know that English colonization of the Chesapeake began at Jamestown in 1607, that it relied on trade with, and then fought wars against, the Powhatan, and that it survived only after near collapse.

Answer to the comment question

What do historians call Jamestown's terrible winter of 1609-10? The Starving Time. During that winter, with the fort under siege in the First Anglo-Powhatan War and supplies lost, the colony fell from about 500 people to about 60.