Adventures to a New World Spectrum Lesson 7

Would you dare to leave everything behind and travel to an unknown place far away? How would you know where to settle? What would you look for to help you survive? In December of 1606 three small wooden ships left London, England, heading for the New World. The people on board traveled through good and bad weather. They were hoping for a better life in the New World. Many believed they would find silver or gold and get rich quickly.

The journey was long and hard. After more than four months, the colonists finally spotted land. Did they anchor their ships near the first place they saw? No. They followed the James River until they came upon a little peninsula. A peninsula is an area of land surrounded by water on three sides. The colonists thought this would be a safe location, since it would be hard for attackers to see from the ocean. It would also be possible to defend from both land and sea. In addition, there were many trees to used for building the things necessary to survive.

The colonists settled on the peninsula and named it Jamestown. This settlement was named after the English king, James I.

Was the location good choice? Sadly, it was not. The ground was swampy. The only drinking water was from the river, which was full of germs. Many people became sick and died. Diseases, starvation, and attacks by Native Americans also took the lives of many colonists.

In spite of the problems, Jamestown did survive and was the first permanent English settlement in North America. It became an important Virginia farming community, as well as a model for early government in America.

The peninsula that was the site of the original Jamestown settlement is now an island. An island is an area of land surrounded by water on all sides. Much of the original land has been washed away by currents in the James River. Luckily, however, the Jamestown settlement has been restored to the way it looked in the 1600s. Each year thousands of people visit Jamestown, Virginia, to see, taste, touch, and hear what life was like when our country was just beginning.