![]() ![]() ![]() Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. The colony’s leaders wrote, and probably believed, that the colony was in good condition and on track for success. ![]() However, when Newport left for England on June 22 with the Susan Constant and the Godspeed-leaving the smaller Discovery behind for the colonists-he brought with him a positive report from the council in Jamestown to the Virginia Company. On returning, they found that the colony had endured a surprise attack and had managed to drive the attackers away only with cannon fire from the ships. On May 21, 1607, a week after the colonists began occupying Jamestown, Newport took five colonists (including Smith) and 18 sailors with him on an expedition to explore the rivers flowing into the Chesapeake and to search for a way to the Pacific Ocean. On other occasions, encounters between the colonists and the tribes turned violent, and the Native Americans occasionally killed colonists who strayed alone outside the fort. At times the Indians showed generosity in providing gifts of food to the colony. The two sides conducted business with each other, the English trading their metal tools and other goods for the Native Americans’ food supplies. The colonists’ relations with the local tribes were mixed from the beginning. Most Indian tribes of the region were part of the Powhatan empire, with Chief Powhatan as its head. The settlement, named for James I, was known variously during its existence as James Forte, James Towne, and James Cittie. The site’s marshy setting and humidity would prove to be unhealthful, but the site had several apparent advantages at the time the colony’s leaders chose it: ships could pull up close to it in deep water for easy loading and unloading, it was unoccupied, and it was joined to the mainland only by a narrow neck of land, making it simpler to defend. Smith had been accused of plotting a mutiny during the ocean voyage and was not admitted to the council until weeks later, on June 10.Īfter a period of searching for a settlement site, the colonists moored the ships off a peninsula (now an island) in the James River on the night of May 13 and began to unload them on May 14. Wingfield became the colony’s first president. Soon afterward the captains of the three ships met to open a box containing the names of members of the colony’s governing council: Newport Bartholomew Gosnold, one of the behind-the-scenes initiators of the Virginia Company Edward-Maria Wingfield, a major investor John Ratcliffe George Kendall John Martin and Captain John Smith, a former mercenary who had fought in the Netherlands and Hungary. They reached Chesapeake Bay on April 26, 1607. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!Ī contingent of approximately 105 colonists departed England in late December 1606 in three ships-the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery-under the command of Christopher Newport.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.COVID-19 Portal While this global health crisis continues to evolve, it can be useful to look to past pandemics to better understand how to respond today.Student Portal Britannica is the ultimate student resource for key school subjects like history, government, literature, and more.This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions. ![]()
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