Why Did So Many Jamestown Settlers Die

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You are on a ship, heading for a new mysterious land you know as America. You are joyful to be able to start a new life in this new world. After months on the ship, you arrive in Jamestown. You settle in your new home and after a few weeks everything is looking fine, until winter arrives. All of your livestock has died from the extreme cold, and same goes for your crops. Now you are left to freeze in the cold harsh winter. This is what it would be like to be a Jamestown settler. Many new settlers faced these exact hardships, and many suffered the consequences. There were three main causes of why so many Jamestown settlers died. These factors included the environment, disease, and conflict with Native Americans over land. You will be informed upon these reasons and will know why so many Jamestown settlers died. …show more content…
One example was that many of the settlers dug shallow wells to supply themselves with fresh water. However, the wells they dug were vulnerable to saltwater intrusion, which in most cases happened to many settlers and contaminated their fresh drinking water. This reveals one reason why the settlers died. A second example would be the lack of fish in local streams. Although there were were many fish in the river during the spring and summer, the population of fish decreased during the long cold months. The final example for the death of the settlers due to the environment was that since the settlement was on an island, there was not a great abundance of wild animals to hunt. This would lead to the starvation of many colonists in this new settlement. These are three of the many examples that caused an abundance of the Jamestown settlers to miraculously die trying to get this “cursed” settlement on its