WHY DID SO MANY COLONISTS DIE IN EARLY

JAMESTOWN?
Claim: So many colonists died in early Jamestown because they were
unprepared for the struggles they faced.
DBQ
Begin Document Analysis here:

Document A
Fact: They dug shallow wells to supply drinking water, but these were still prone to salt water
intrusion and drought.
Inference: Perhaps death occurred because of a lack of clean drinking water, and high levels of
dehydration.
Fact: The people used the water to go potty, and the water was still rather than running so the
waste built up instead of flushing away.
Inference: The waste would have built up and as the population grew, the more waste would
have piled up. It would have infected their water sources (wells) and eventually it could have
been in the air. This would have led to diseases and therefore death.
Fact: There was not a lot of food rather than in surrounding areas.
Inference: They would not have enough food and the fish was only available in certain times in
the air. As the population would grow people would grow more and more hungry and what little
food there was would be spread more thin, until starvation took over and killed many people.

Document B
Fact: The colony of Jamestown came in the middle of a huge drought that lasted for about 10
years.
Inference: They would have had less than average rain fall, making the water supply very low.
People would become dehydrated and would most likely die.
Fact: Tree rings can show how much water there was in a year depending on the thickness of
the ring.
Inference: If they found trees that had lasted through the colony of Jamestown that means that
even though the situation had high rates of death, it was possible to survive through these harsh
and waterless conditions.
Fact: The trees that were used to make these measurements were cypress trees.

Inference: This shows that cypress trees could have been abundant in the area around
Jamestown. The people of Jamestown could have used the resources provided by the large
cypress tree, however they are so large that it would have taken lots of manpower to utilize
these resources. The lack of easy to access resources could have also led into the death of so
many colonists.

Document C
Fact: Many of the original settlers were Gentlemen, who were richer people not used to having
to contribute in forces of labor.
Inference: These people were not prepared for all of the hard work it took to start a colony.
There was no time for just sitting around, and inexperienced people would have been very
unhelpful and could have led to a lower success.
Fact: There were no women sent with the original settlers or with the 1st resupply ship.
Inference: With no women, there was no way to reproduce and keep the population growing.
When people started dying, there would have been no one to refill their place. In a normal
population, around the same number of people who die are born again. In Jamestown, people
only died and no one replaced the deceased.
Fact: Out of the first 110 colonists, only 12 of them were laborers.
Inference: Out of all the original colonists, only 12 of them were actually used to putting in lots
of work and working hard. This would have led to people being unprepared.

Document D
Fact: No one doubted that this new supply of grain would help
Inference: Jamestown was down on its luck and desperately needed more food. By trading with
the Indians they would have increased their food supply, therefore saving them, even if it only
lasted a short while.
Fact: On the other hand, decided the ships crew, it was plenty to get them fatly home to
England.
Inference: Even though the people of Jamestown needed the food and would probably die
without it, these traders left them behind taking the food with them. This would have made a
huge impact on the people of Jamestown because the food they were depending on getting
never arrived. The traders returned home to England instead of back to Jamestown because the
conditions were harsh, but they left the remaining colonists with conditions much harsher.
Fact: leaving the colonists to the indians and God
Inference: This part is basically saying that the people who left the colonists behind were letting
Fate take over and was no longer helping. They were basically leaving them there to die. The
Indians could kill them easily, and the colonists were only depending on God to save them.

Document E
Fact: Throughout the whole timeline there were multiple Indian attacks.
Inference: There were many hostile forces of Native Americans in surrounding tribes of
Jamestown. They were not used to the white men, and took military actions. They did not have
a peaceful relationship. In 1610 the Indians seized Jamestown and killed over half of the
colonists. This was only one of the six main Indian attacks. In most of these attacks more than
half of the colonists lives were taken.
Fact: In August through October of 1607 half of the colonists died due to diseases.
Inference: This shows that they were unprepared for the illness that came their way. It was able
to spread very fast, which also shows they never used logical actions such as, I don't know,
maybe bathing once in awhile.
Fact: In 1609-1610, 11 colonists died in a boating accident.
Inference: This may not seem like a lot of people in the long run, but that it 10% of the original
colonists. Even though there were many more people joining the colony, they dont necessarily
have lives to spare. This also could have caused people to fear boating, which was a huge part
of their economy, because of fishing and trading.
Outline:
Claim: So many colonists died in early Jamestown because they were unprepared for the
struggles they faced in the new land.
Roadmap: The colonists were unprepared to face the lack of resources, defend themselves
against the hostile natives, and to fight off illness.
Background:
Reason: Malnourished, dehydrated, no clean water, not enough food.
Evidence: Doc A, Doc D, Doc B
Justification:
Reason: Illness was able to spread like wildfire through the colony wiping out dozens.
Evidence: Doc E, Doc A
Justification:
Reason: They were not ready to defend themselves against the hostile native forces.
Evidence: Doc E, Map in page 2 of pdf,
Justification:
Wrinkle: People they brought were not suited for the environment
5 Paragraph Essay construction
Introduction
Grabber- What can you say about the topic to grab the attention of
the reader?

Claim-

Is it arguable? Facts are not claims

It cant be too general, or too specific
Does it address the prompt?
Is interesting?
Is it clear and concise?
Back ground What are the important details that the reader
needs to know about your topic?
Roadmap This is where you briefly introduce the reasons you
have to defend your claim.
Clearly stated, concise

Body Paragraphs
State your Reason
Is it arguable? This is like a subclaim, cant be a
fact
Does your reason support your claim?
Present evidence
Must quote and cite your sources
Several pieces of evidence help in convincing your
reader you are correct
The more evidence the easier your warrant will be
Warrant (Justification, Argument)
How does your evidence support your reason?
Claim? Answering this question will provide you with a warrant

Conclusion

Restate your claim

It can be worded a little differently if you wish
Provide Insight
A short summary of your warrants
Provide a Wrinkle
What could be a reason thats not as
obvious, or that was not previously presented in your essay
This is a chance to allow your reader
to further think about your topic after theyve read it.

Revision Process
Read it aloud
Take turns reading each other's essay aloud
Bold your Claim
Highlight your Roadmap
Bold your first reason
Highlight your evidence
Bold your warrant
Highlight your Wrinkle

 Partners should do the highlighting and bolding to ensure that all major parts of
the essay are present.

ESSAY BELOW

Begin Essay here:

It is the year 1607. It's been a month since the Spanish have kicked you out of Puerto Rico. You
have almost lost hope of living, the hope of starting over in the New World. A whole colony! How
exciting it seemed at first, but now it seems a distant fairytale. You have been seasick, and you
are regretting ever leaving England those 6 months ago. Its only been half a year but it feels
like a decade. Suddenly you hear yelling on the upper deck and you run up the stairs to see
what's going on. And thats when you see it! The new world. You are here! You are really here!
As the ship docks you are filled with excitement and wonder. What will come of you? What lies
ahead? You are really here, here in Jamestown... Fast forward to one year later. All the
excitement and wonder is gone. Jamestown is littered with disease and famine. The natives
have slaughtered many of your friends. It has only been a year since you have come here, and

already over 60% of the colonists are dead. You know you are just lucky to be alive, but you
cant help but wonder where it all went wrong?
So many of the colonists died in early Jamestown because they were unprepared for the
struggles they faced in the new land. They did not not have the food and water they needed,
they were no match against the illness that swept through the colony, and they were not ready
to defend themselves against the hostile natives.
The lack of food and water in the colony would have definitely led to many deaths. The
colonists did not know how to properly utilize the land to grow food and to find healthy drinking
water. They chose a horrible time to colonize the area. They came in the beginning of a 10 year
drought, one of the worst droughts that the area had ever seen. (DOC B) This made water
scarce and hard to keep clean. To solve this problem, the colonists dug shallow wells that would
fill with water from the ground below. Unfortunately, these wells were prone to salt water
intrusion and would dry up quickly. (DOC A) The water surrounding them became a dangerous
mix of fresh and saltwater. There was no safe drinking water. Not to mention that they also used
this river as a bathroom, filling the water with vile waste. (DOC A) There was simply no safe
water to be found. The area they chose to colonize also had low amounts of food. There was
only fish during spring and early summer, and even then the colonists were not adapted to the
ways of the fish, making them hard to hunt. (DOC A) When the colonists attempted to trade with
the natives for more food, their plan backfired, when the traders they sent abandoned them
taking the food with them, they were left with even less food than before. (DOC D) Based off of
all this evidence we know that food and water were scarce. The scarcity would have led
to famine and dehydration, leading to death. If the colonists had brought more resources
with them rather than depending on a land that they know nothing of, they would have
been a much more successful colony and the mortality rate would have decreased. The
colonists came unprepared to provide themselves with food and safe water, leading to
the death of over 60% of the colonists in the first year.
Many of the colonists were killed due to the spread of disease through Jamestown. Within
the first few months half the colonists had died from the Summer sickness. This decreased the
number of colonists to 49 just within the first year. The sickness returned again in 1608, after the
first supply ship brought 100 more colonists, bringing the population up to 140. Again, the
population grows when Captain Nelson brings 18 new colonists.Then, in the late summer of
1608, Smith reports many dead, some sick. After this report, the population is brought down to
130. One more time disease hits in 1609. Around 100 colonists were sick, and around half of
these died. (DOC E) To make it worse, out of the first colonists that came to Jamestown, only
one of them was trained at all in medical studies, and was only a surgeon. This one surgeon
would not have been prepared to rid almost the whole colony of disease. He would not have
had the knowledge to, even if he had the right supplies. In the first resupply there were two
apothecaries, who could supply the right medicines, but would have no idea how to diagnose
the patients. (DOC C) The colonists did not consider the fact that the New World could
hold new diseases that they would not have seen before and were very vulnerable to. The
disease took them by surprise, and it lead to lots of deaths. They knew nothing of what
the New World held, including the disease that it could bring. They were unprepared to

face the danger of disease, and did not bring the right people to help prevent the disease
spreading through the colony. Jamestown colonists did not think ahead, leading to their
death.
The death toll brought on by the hostile natives was massive. The colonists were not
prepared to defend themselves, resulting in dozens of deaths. Over the span of 3 years,
there were six main attacks on the colonists. Two colonists died within 12 days of their arrival at
the hands of the natives. This was the first of many attacks to come, each growing more and
more gruesome with steadily growing body counts. In November of 1609 the Powhatans seized
Jamestown slaughtering 33 colonists. Another 110 colonists were starved at the hands of the
natives, and 37 were able to flee the colony. This lasted until May of 1610. (DOC E) On the map
in the beginning of the pdf file, it shows that the land surrounding Jamestown was filled with
native tribes. They were outnumbered 136 to 1. They never took into account that the natives
could have not wanted them in the land. The natives were able to easily kill many colonists, due
to the colonists inability to prepare. They only brought one gunsmith, and as for people who are
used to fighting that number was even smaller. (DOC C) Therefore, the colonists just laid
there defenseless as the natives attacked again and again. They were sitting ducks out
there, with no way to defend themselves. It is true that the colonists eventually made the
palisades to protect themselves, but they took multiple weeks to make and lots of hard
labor. If the colonists had brought more weaponry or people more suited for warfare,
then it is possible that more settlers could have survived. However, because they just
charged in there with their eyes closed and heads down, they were taken by surprise
once again and many of them were led to their death. If they had been prepared to take
military actions against the natives they would have been a more successful colony.
The reason so many colonists died was that they did not plan ahead, so they were unprepared
to face the many hardships they would go through in the new world. The combination of famine,
disease, and native attacks lead to so many of their deaths. They could have prevented some of
these deaths if they had taken the time to prepare before just running into the new land like
chickens with their heads cut off. With the proper supplies they could have had a much lower
mortality rate. But it is true that even that could have not been enough. A majority of the new
colonists were not suited for the type of lifestyle they would have to lead in Jamestown. They
were not used to the amount of labor and hard work it would have taken to colonize brand new
land that they had no knowledge of. This could have also been a huge contribution to the death
toll on the colony. In all, the colonists were unprepared and vulnerable in Jamestown, making
multiple of their obstacles impossible to overcome.

Five Paragraph Essay Draft Checklist

Revision Process:
1. Before Peer Review, read your paper and complete the self-check using this checklist.
2. With your peer, take turns reading each others essay aloud. You will use this checklist to check one anothers
papers.
a. Bold your Claim
b. Highlight your Roadmap
c. Bold your first reason
d. Highlight your evidence
e. Bold your warrant
f.
Highlight your Wrinkle
3. Partners should do the highlighting and bolding to ensure that all major parts of the essay are present.

Essay Component

Self
Check

Peer
Check

Introduction
Grabber- What can you say about the
topic to grab the attention of the reader?
Claim
Is it
arguable? Facts are not claims
It cant be too
general, or too specific
Does it
address the prompt?
Is
interesting?
Is it clear and
concise?
Back ground

 What are the

important details that the reader needs to know about your topic?
Roadmap
This is where
you briefly introduce the reasons you have to defend your claim.
Clearly
stated, concise

Body Paragraph #1

Subclaim - State your Reason

Is it
arguable? This is like a subclaim, cant be a fact
Does your
reason support your claim?
Present evidence
Must quote
and cite your sources
Several
pieces of evidence help in convincing your reader you are correct
The more
evidence the easier your warrant will be
Reasoning (Warrant, Justification,
Argument)
How does
your evidence support your reason? Claim? Answering this question
will provide you with a warrant

Body Paragraph #2

Subclaim - State your Reason

Is it
arguable? This is like a subclaim, cant be a fact
Does your
reason support your claim?
Prent evidence
Must quote
and cite your sources
Several
pieces of evidence help in convincing your reader you are correct
The more
evidence the easier your warrant will be
Reasoning (Warrant, Justification,
Argument)
How does
your evidence support your reason? Claim? Answering this question
will provide you with a warrant

Body Paragraph #3

Subclaim - State your Reason

Is it
arguable? This is like a subclaim, cant be a fact
Does your
reason support your claim?
Present evidence
Must quote
and cite your sources
Several
pieces of evidence help in convincing your reader you are correct
The more
evidence the easier your warrant will be
Reasoning - Warrant (Justification,
Argument)

 How does
your evidence support your reason? Claim? Answering this question
will provide you with a warrant

Restate your
claim- (It can be worded a little differently if you wish)
Provide
Insight A short summary of your reasoning.
Provide a
Wrinkle (Give your reader something to further think about after
reading your paper)

Conclusion