King James I granted a charter to a group of English men in 1606. It was called the Virginia Company. It was so they could establish an English settlement there in Chesapeake Bay area of America. They thought they would find gold and easy riches. They expect a paradise in their new journey they are about to embark on. This settlement is known as America’s first colony. This settlement started the Great country of America. In the early 17th century most of the New World is still unexplored. All the Europeans at this time wanted gold. The raining super power of the world in this time is Spain. Spain had settlements in Mexico and South America. The settlements were very prosperous. The Spanish were getting gold on the land from their settlements.…show more content… Their heads were filled with other fears for example this was not the first time they tried to put colony in Virginia. The first time failed and the people that tried the second time disappeared. This did not stop them though. They thought they would find gold. They think the Indians will feed them for exchange for trinkets. If the Indians got out of hand they would shoot them with their guns and cannons but they didn’t know there were about 1300 Indians where they were landing at.
The chief Indian hears a prophecy that a great nation will rise up and take over so he orders Indians to wait upon the coast. The men get to the coast in April which is spring time. On May 14th 1607 they settle along the James River in Virginia. They settle their so they can protect themselves from the Spanish. They were so worried about the Spanish they forgot about the Indians. As the spring turns into summer and it gets hotter. They search for gold but find nothing. They had no fresh water at…show more content… They built the fort in 19 days which is a lot of work done by the colonists. The fort was in the shape of a triangle. It stretched for about an acre long and it was also twice the height of a man. At the end of each angle were cannons. Some cannons faced the ocean to protect them from the Spanish and some faced the land to protect them from the Indians. This made the cannons their best weapon.
Some of the colonists begin to get sick. With the sun beaming down on colonists with all that armor make working conditions very harsh. A lot of them died. They have only been in Jamestown for five months and their food supply is running low. They eat barley and wheat every day. A lot of people died from diseases. Some people could have even died from starvation. Scientists say some could have died from salt water poisoning. They thought that they Jamestown water was fresh. Only about 50 men are alive still at