Why Did So Many Colonists Die?

October 3rd, 2012 

S.S.

Author's Note: Many of us have had this driving question, 'Why did so many colonists die?'. Well, through out this DWA, you will find out the answer.

In the spring of 1607, English settlers began to arrive in the Chesapeake Bay region of Virginia. All the different colonists had different ideas for the future in this new land, like becoming rich and building new homes. But their little fairytale ideas would soon come to a end, because by 1611, 400 of the 500 colonists were dead. People wonder now... Why did so many colonists die in Jamestown? Disease, lack of water, and conflicts with the Powhatan Indians might lead to the answer to the question.

Disease is one of the ways that colonists died. The conditions there were HORRIBLE! They dumped waist into the brackish water and with the tides, it made it worse because it just moved the waste back and froth. The colonists drank that water because there was nothing else to drink. Another reason they people died from disease was because they didn’t bring over the right people. They didn’t have anyone who carried proscription medication and they only had one surgeon. But this wasn’t the only way the colonists died.

The second reason was of drought. The first drought was in 1607 and ended in 1612. In this time, the colonists couldn’t grow the crops that they needed to survive. There was only one way that they could get the food and water that they needed. They would have to get if from the Powhatan Indians.

The Powhatans served as help for the colonists and a threat. The colonists traded with them so then they could get the food that they needed in the drought or ‘starving time’. But after a while, the Indians saw that the colonists were trying to take their land. This was bad news for the colonists. They weren't fit for a war. They were starving and had no strength. But through studies, we have found out that the Indians weren't as big of the threat as we thought, because only 7 people died from the Indians, and 78 died from disease in the years 1607-1608.

So, the answer to the question, ‘Why did so many colonists die?’, showed that disease, lack of water, and conflicts with the Powhatan Indians lead to all of the deaths in Jamestown. The colonists thought that they would be living a great, new life in this new land, but the only price they payed was suffering.