Growing tobacco as a crop and a working government are what made Jamestown successful.
The Spanish were the first to colonize, but the English soon followed suit. Under King James I, the London Company sent people to America to look for gold and an alternate trade route to Asia that cut through North America. This passage would save travel time to Asia. The city of Jamestown was founded on a Peninsula which was insightful because Indian attacks could only come from one direction, and the English could use their guns against the Indians’ arrows (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h519.html).
Jamestown had many troubles to overcome though. There were hoards of insects, disease, lack of food, undrinkable water, a harsh winter, Indian attacks, and colonists that were unfit to work (http://www.tobacco.org/History/Jamestown.html). These men, used to being waited upon by servants, were of relatively high nobility, did not know how to do manual labor, and were not physically fit. Jamestown also had a disastrous first government of thirteen councilmen that always quarreled amongst themselves which led to a lack of decision making (http://www.harlingen.isd.tenet.edu/coakhist/coloniz.html).
John Smith became the governor of the colony for a short time and was able to get the colonists to do meaningful work such as building houses and attempting to hunt for food instead of mining for gold. He was captured by the Powhatan Indians, but was saved by the daughter of the Powhatan chief. Her name was Pocahontas (http://www.tobacco.org/History/Jamestown.html). Unfortunately, Smith was injured and had to return to England to recover. The colony was once again without a leader (http://www.harlingen.isd.tenet.edu/coakhist/coloniz.html).
The colonists endured a harsh winter and turned to cannibalism as a last resort for food. After 90% of the colonists died in the winter, 150 new colonists brought supplies with them. These colonists arrived thanks to the new land grant incentive that was offered for anyone willing to travel to the New World. (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h519.html. One of the new colonists was a man named John Rolfe. John Rolfe saved the floundering colony by deciding to grow a special form of tobacco that was only grown in South America and hard to come by (http://www.tobacco.org/History/Jamestown.html). Eventually, Pocahontas fell in love with John Rolfe, not John Smith as the Disney movie Pocahontas suggests. Pocahontas kindly warned the colonists of Indian attacks and explained how to grow tobacco http://www.tobacco.org/History/Jamestown.html).
Two other events also helped change the direction of Jamestown. Women were brought to Jamestown soon after; Jamestown grew in numbers when the women married colonists and reproduced (http://www.tobacco.org/History/Jamestown.html). Jamestown finally established a beneficial government system consisting of a governor and later a representative government called the House of Burgesses, which would be the foundation of today’s United States democracy government (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h519.html). Eventually, King James I bought the colony when it went bankrupt. However, Jamestown is considered a success because it was profitable for a time thanks to the tobacco crop, was the first colony to survive and not be completely abandoned or destroyed, and was the foundation for today’s government.
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