Essay Sample on Colonization

“Our nets broken, the deer chased, our boats lost, our hogs killed, our trade with the Indians, forbidden. Some of our men fled, some murdered, by drinking the brackish water of James Fort, weakened and endangered. famine and sickness, by all means, increased.”i stated William Starchey, a colonist. The early English colonial settlements had great difficulty in their initial stages mostly due to lack of planning and preparations, but the issues that they faced were not always unavoidable. The issues that affected the colonists included hostile Native Americans, starvation, and disease. These issues deemed it merely impossible to have a successful colony.                          The colonist faced many conflicts with the Native Americans that could have been resolved if they were mindful of one another. English colonists had no regard for their actions that affected the Native Americans. “English colonists imported thousands of cattle, swine, sheep, and horses because they considered livestock essential to their survival, never supposing that the beasts would become objectionable to the Indians. But the animals execrable a host of problems related to subsistence practices, land use, property rights, and ultimately, political authority.”ii  The colonists deemed it more important to have plentiful livestock than being on good terms with their neighbors, the Native Americans. This is one of the many reasons why the Indians were hostile towards them. Another instance that brings more insight into this matter is the conflicts between the Jamestown colony and the Powhatan tribe. The relations between the two were not always harmonious. John Smith has attempted to treat them like how the Spanish treated them, as slaves. The Powhatan tribe tried to work with the colonist. The English did not return the Powhatan’s hospitality nor would create relationships with the Native American women.iii The Powhatan leader, Wohunsenacawh, had a change of heart towards the colonist and thought that the English would,” ...invade my people, possess my country.”iv The Natives started attacking colonists, burning crops, and killing their livestock. The English and Natives went against each other destroying the other’s settlements.v The English coming to the new world could have been made easier if they were willing to adjust. If they would have worked with the Native Americans odds of them facing less conflict and having a more successful start would have been higher. The colonist choosing not to work with them resulted in a lot of hardships that could have been avoided.                The English colonists were not adequately prepared by providing enough food for their people. The colonists tried to rely on the Native Americans for food, but it was not always promising. “They got their corn for their bread by trading with and bullying the Indians, and additional food was obtained by foraging and hunting.”vi Without the little help of the Native Americans the colonist wouldn’t have been able to survive. This lack of preparation made the winter of 1609 through 1610 a difficult time for Jamestown. The colonist struggled through a time that is known as the starving time, only about 60 out of approximately 500 colonists survived the starving time.vii ” It is clear that starvation was virtually a universal fear even then. The period between October 1609 and May 1610 is the notorious, ’starving time,’ marked by severe food shortages, many starvation deaths, and even incidents of cannibalism.”viii If the colonist would have thought ahead of time and prepared for the winter with a storehouse of food, which they did not causing them to struggle into the summer months.ix A large number of deaths within the colonies was starvation. Learning how to grow crops and make a harvest last throughout the winter would have benefited the colonist greatly. Having a proper place for them to store that harvest and that would allow for it to be good throughout the winter into the warmer months would have been another beneficial aspect towards the prevention of this issue. Starvation was an issue that the colonist faced that was completely avoidable and was the effect of lack of planning and preparation. This truly affected the beginning stages of the early English settlement. Diseases were unavoidable coming into the new world. The colonist was exposed to many germs that their bodies were not used to. One of the biggest ways disease and illnesses affected colonists was through their drinking water,  ”Period descriptions tell us that health was poor, and most by drinking the brackish water of James Fort weakened and endangered, famine and sickness by all means increased.”x Colonist drinking the polluted water caused great weakness among the colonies. Many died or were too weak to provide for their families or the colony. Jamestown struggled to push through this issue due to a lack of medicine and understating. This simple mistake of drinking water that contained saltwater truly affected the colonist having a successful settlement. ”...full of slime and filth, which was the destruction of many of our men.xi This description of the water in the colonist’s wells provides insight on just how poor the quality of water was. At that time there were no modern-day solutions, such as filtration or purification, this impacted the early English settlements due to them not having control. 

The early English settlers faced obstacles that affected the creation of the nation. The early English colonial settlements had great difficulty in their initial stages mostly due to lack of planning and preparations, but the issues that they faced were not always unavoidable. The colonist's relations with the Native American tribes were hostile due to the lack of willingness to work together to survive, this issue for the colonist was avoidable. Starvation in the colonies truly showed how unprepared they were, many colonists lost their lives due to this avoidable struggle. Disease was an unavoidable issue for the colonist, they had no other option than to drank the water that polluted their bodies. If the colonist did not face these struggles, the lessons learned from them would not have been impactful to today's America.