"jamestown virginia" Top 5 Page for this destination Jamestown by doug48

after the failure of the roanoke colony in north carolina england sent a second expedition to north america in 1607. three ships, the susan constant, discovery, and godspeed commaned by captian christopher newport arrived in the area in may 1607. captain edward wingfield was elected president of the colony and built a wooden fort on james island on the james river. many of the settlers were english gentleman and with their manservents were unacustomed to physical labor. as a result of a poor labor force and the swampy condition of the area many of the original settlers died of starvation and disease. in the period between 1609 and 1610 only 61 settlers survived from the original 500 colonists. the most famous member of the early jamestown colonists was captain john smith. in december 1607 smith and a group of settlers were looking for food along the chickahominy river. smith was captured by powhatan indians and was taken to the chief of the powhatans at werowocomoco. according to smith's writings the powhatan chief was gong to execute him but his daughter pocahontas intervened in his behalf. in 1610 the supply ship the deliverance commanded by lord de le warr came to the rescue of the starving colonists with food and additional settlers. one of these settlers was john rolfe who brought tabacco seed from the caribbean and later married pocahontas. over the years the jamestown colony grew but was plagued by indian attacks in 1622 and again in 1644. the town was burned during bacon's rebellion in 1676. the colony was abandoned in 1699 when the capital of virginia was moved the williamsburg. prior to the civil war jamestown island was owned by william allen. after the battle of williamsburg during union general george mc clellan's peninsula campaign allen fled to richmond. runaway slaves occupied the island and burned the amber house and the jamestown church. in 1872 the island was purchased by edward barney who donated the land of the original colony to the association for the preservation of virginia antiquities.
for those interested in early american history jamestown is a very worth while place to visit when in the williamsburg area.