Why Did So Many Colonists Die In Jamestown

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“Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.” -John F. Kennedy. A lot of colonists died in Jamestown because of fights and/or wars. Although, there were other reasons as well, such as disease, Indian Attacks, and the lack of important occupations. Many things contributed to death in Jamestown. A lot of people died from various diseases, or Indian attacks. They also died from the lack of important occupations.One interesting fact is that from 1609-1610, there was a drought. This led to starvation. Also, another interesting fact is that the first settlers were men, women, and children from ages 17-35. Colonists died because of three main problems that overtook the colony. These problems were, as stated before, disease, Indian attacks, and the lack of important occupations.

The first reason colonists died in Jamestown was that the colonists had no clean water. Drinking dirty water gave them disease. Blanton said, “...filth introduced into the river tended to fester rather than flush away.” (55). The colonists put their waste in the river,
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According to the ship list John Smith recorded,“Druggists-0.” (59).There were no druggists in the colony in May 1607 (Smith 59). Since there were no druggists to make medicine, if someone got sick, there was really nothing to help them get better. There was also a lot of disease, and only one druggist trying to make medicine for the whole colony. John Smith also showed in May 1607, “Surgeons-1.” (59). Therefore, in May of 1607 there was only one surgeon (Smith 59). If someone got injured, there was only one person to help. During the Indian attacks, there was a lot of people injured. There was one person trying to help about 50 people. If that one surgeon was one of the ones to get hurt or die, there was no one to help. The colonists were lacking important occupations, so a lot of them died from diseases or