ASSERTION BEFORE EVIDENCE Provide specific, accurate, relevant information to support or deny the following assertions. As you read, determine through APPARTS & Yes/But analysis, if the doc affirms or denies the assertion Although Jamestown became a successful permanent settlement in the New World, they were forced to overcome many hardships. Document A: First and Second Jamestown Ship Lists Occupation Original Settlers May 1607 1 st Resupply January 1609 Council 6 1 Gentlemen 47 28 Labourers 12 21 Cooper (barrel maker) 0 1 Carpenter 4 0 Blacksmith 1 1 Sailer (sail maker) 1 0 Barber 1 0 Bricklayer 1 0 Mason 1 0 Tobacco pipe maker 0 1 Tailor 1 6 Drummer 1 0 Preacher 1 0 Boyes 4 0 Jeweler 0 1 Refiners and goldsmiths 0 4 Gunsmith 0 1 Perfumer (wig maker) 0 1 Apothecaries (druggists) 0 2 Surgeon 1 1 Occupation unknown 28 51 TOTAL MALE 110 120 TOTAL FEMALE 0 0 Note: A gentleman was a person of wealth who was not used to working with his hands. Adapted from John Smith, The General Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles, Book III, 1624
Document B: Each family has its own land and gardens. They do their own work. For clothes they wear animal skins. In winter they wear skins with the fur and hair left on...they build their homes near rivers or springs. They tie long slender branches together in bundles and weave them into a frame for the house, like a giant basket The houses are warm and snug...their houses are surrounded by their own fields and gardens. This farmland can be a small plot or large fields... Near their homes are piles of wood for burning in their home fires... Women have babies easily, and love them very much. To make babies strong, on the coldest mornings they wash them in rivers. They also put oils and lotions on the skin of babies to protect them against the weather. Men fish, hunt, and go to war. Women often work while the men are idle. Women and children do all the work. They make mats, baskets, pots, and grinding tools, grind corn into flour, bake bread, and do all the cooking. They also do the farming, planting, raising, and gathering of corn. Women do the hauling and all the other heavy work They use boats for fishing... John Smith's Description of the Powhatans, 1612. Document C: Arrived in Jamestown on September 20 th, the year of our Lord 1615, with 140 passengers. Twenty-five died during the voyage. Of the 140 survivors (most are young men) all but 36 have had their passage paid by investors. The majority of the immigrants are of ill health, and many are weak from the lack of a good diet Captain s Diary from the ship Bona Nova, 1615 Document D: Dear Sirs, We welcome the increase of new settlers to our land. There is much to do, and we need hardworking men of strong body and character. However, I request that you decrease the number of passangers in favor of carrying increased amounts of food supplies Respectfully, Governor Samuel Argall Letter from Governor of Virginia Colony to Virginia Company in London
Document E: Immigration and Population in Olde Virginia Immigration 1613 600 1615.2,000 1618.3,750 Surviving Population of Colony after 2 years 1613..70 1617 200 1620 700 Comparative Death Rates Europe during the Plague (14 th century)..30% Plymouth Colony (first winter only, 1620)..40% Olde Virginia (first 20 years) 80% Document F: Six months after Captain Smith left, the cruelty of the [Powhatans], the stupidity of our leaders, and the loss of our ships [when they sailed away] caused 440 of the 500 people in Jamestown to die... We still call this time the "Starving Time." What we suffered was too terrible to talk about and too hard to believe. But the fault was our own. We starved because we did not plan well, work hard, or have good government. Our problems were not because the land was bad, as most people believe. Excerpted from Travels and Works of Captain John Smith, President of Virginia, and Admiral of New England, 1610.
Document G: Bulletins Two soldiers who deserted were found murdered in the town square, their mouths stuffed with bread George Sanders has been arrested for the murder of his wife. He was apprehended sitting on the floor of his house rubbing salt on her body. Document H: Thanks to God, our deadly enemies saved us by bringing food - great amounts of bread, corn, fish, and meat. This food saved all of us weak and starving men. Otherwise we would all have died. Leaders from other tribes also brought us food and supplies which made us comfortable. Excerpted from "George Percy's Account of the Voyage to Virginia and the Colony's First Days", 1607 Document I: Dear Sirs, The colony is in great disarray. Only five or six houses are standing. The palisade (fence surrounding the town) has fallen down. The complete store of horses, goats, hens, sheeps, and even cats and dogs have disappeared. The church is being used as a storehouse for produce, and every in of the town has been ploughed [for tobacco] and planted, including the streets themselves. Letter from Third Governor of Virginia Colony
Document J: Interesting Laws in Virginia Every man in the colony shall plant two acres of corn or be fined $50.00 2 Years Later Every man in the colony shall plant two acres of corn or be fined $100.00 1 Year Later Every man in the colony shall plant two acres of corn or forfeit all his crops and be whipped 2 Years Later Every man in the colony shall plant two acres of corn or forfeit all his crops, be whipped and be made a slave for one year. Hay may be used only for the care and feeding of animals. Penalty $200.00 Document K: Tobacco Production and Income in Virginia Worker Production Income 1 Worker 300 lbs per year..$2,200.00 1 Man and 2 Boys (family) 500 lbs per year.. $4,500.00 4 Workers 900 lbs per year $13,950.00 Average Tobacco Exports from Virginia 1613....200 lbs. 1616.....2,500 lbs. 1617....18,839 lbs. 1618....49,518 lbs.