Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Jamestown & Plymouth: England's First Two Successful North American Colonies

So America, as we know it, is beginning to take shape.  European rivals are not competing for the land and resources of a "New World": The Americas.  England has taken her place on the Atlantic Coast and by 1733 will establish her original thirteen colonies-which will eventually become the first thirteen American states.

For this week's blog, you are going to take an in-depth look at England's first two successful colonies: Jamestown (1607) and Plymouth (1620).  These two sites will be your main sources of info: Jamestown & Plymouth. Be sure on the Jamestown site to focus on the Jamestown info only by selecting the "Jamestown Settlement" tab on the left side of the page.  On the Plymouth site be sure to look at all the links under "Important Sources" and "Children of Plymouth".

For the comment section this week, please compare and contrast Jamestown with Plymouth.  How were these settlements similar? In what ways were they different?  Think about geography, motive for settlement, religion, politics and the many other things that might separate OR link together these two places.  I'm looking for some advanced analysis here.  Give it some real thought!

15 comments:

  1. After looking over both articles, I noticed that each had a section on what Christmas was like in each colony. Because I love Christmas so much, I just had to find out. They’re actually quite similar (mostly because the settlers came from the same traditions as each other). In fact, there was even Christmas on the Mayflower! It’s a time of joy and celebration for both colonies, and to end it, they both partake in a big feast. The only thing that I saw different was that Jamestown’s Christmas season was December 25- January 6, while they suggested that Plymouth’s season came in a little earlier. Christmas in colonial times was so different from now. The focus was completely on Christ’s birth and being joyful because of it.
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  2. As i read these articles i concluded that the people of these colonial times worked very hard for what they had to do. these children started working younger than any of us in america have to do. probably in third world countries they do though. these children of Plymouth work at a very young age because of farmer lives and things of that nature. Jamestown was not as serious i think because they were here longer than the Plymouth group. i feel like the Plymouth people were more serious about work and safety because they probably weren't here as long as the Jamestown settlement. (104)

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  3. After reading over these articles I found that very hard they just didn't go in to their refrigerator and grab some juice off the top shelf. The children started at a very young age. If the children didn't obey they would get some blows. Some of the children would be banded from their house for a couple of days. The moms would make butta and cheese!!!!! Their diet was bread, fish, and meat. Vegetables were not in their common diet. I would like the fish and some of the meats and maybe the bread if it was not stale. I love Jamestown better!!!!!
    (100)

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  4. I found that Jamestown and Plymouth had more differences than similarities. Plymouth came with only one ship, while Jamestown came with three. Jamestown was sponsored by the Virginia Co., but Plymouth was just a group of men, women, and children who paid for their own way over to the "New World". Jamestown was mainly upper-class Englishmen; Plymouth was regular people who wanted to have religious freedoms. Both Plymouth and Jamestown fought with the Natives. Jamestown began in 1607, then 13 years later in 1620 Plymouth was established. Jamestown had a hard time finding food, but Plymouth had excellent land to plant, and a good source of water. (109)

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  5. While there are many differences in the colonies of Jamestown and Plymouth, one of the main differences is that Jamestown was a colony that had been set up by the English government. Plymouth, on the other hand, was a colony set up solely by pilgrims in order to gain religious freedom from England. Another difference is that Plymouth was in the modern day area of Massachusetts while Jamestown was located near modern day Virginia. In Plymouth, because of the Puritan background, they did not celebrate birthdays of any sort. In Jamestown, they celebrated birthdays normally because they did not have a religious background as strong as the Plymouth colony. (109)

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  6. How were these settlements similar? Diet was controlled by the seasons. Children starred to work at the age of five which is almost ten years younger than when we can star work. Children would get whippings if they did some thing wrong.
    In what ways were they different? Jamestown had three ships. The Susan Constant, Godspeed and the Discovery. Plymouth only had one ship the Mayflower. Plymouths reason for exploration was they had originally emigrated from England to Holland in order to worship as they believed right. Jamestown’s reason for exploration was investors hoped to make a profit from the resources of the New World.


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  7. They are similar and different in many ways. I’ll start with some of the differences. First of all, to get to America, the Jamestown settlers had three ships: The Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. The Plymouth settlers had one, the Mayflower. The Jamestown crew was sponsored by the Virginia Company, and was hoping to make profit from it. The Plymouth crew was going for religious practices. The two crews didn’t land in the same place when they got to America either. Jamestown’s people landed in Virginia and Plymouth’s people landed in Massachusetts.

    Now for some of the similarities, both crews were obviously going to America. They both were English and were the first two settlements in America. Also, they ran into Native Americans at some point. Neither groups had a peaceful relationship with the natives, at first. When both of the settlements started, there were many deaths because of starvation. (151)

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  8. Well, to start from the basics, Jamestown and Plymouth were settled at two different times. Jamestown was settled in 1607 and Plymouth was settled in 1620. Also, when the people came to settle Jamestown they took three ships. The people who settled Plymouth took just one ship called the Mayflower. Jamestown was settled quicker too. They came looking for gold. The people of Plymouth looked for the right place to settle for about 6 months. They came for religious purposes. They wanted to be able to be any religion they wanted. But they both built forts. They both ate the normal food. They didn't have anything fancy. Just corn and stuff. (111)

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  9. Each settlement was very different in their own way, but they also had similarities. To start with their differences. The Jamestown settlement ended up in Virginia, and the Plymouth settlement ended up in Massachusetts. The Plymouth Settlement only had one ship, while the Jamestown Settlement had three ships. on both of the websites, both Settlements seemed to make a big deal. They both also mentioned children. Both settlements came for different reasons. The Plymouth Settlement went to america for religious practices. And the Jamestown Settlement went in search to make profit off of the trip.

    Now for the similarities. on both of the websites, both Settlements seemed to make a big deal about Christmas. They both also mentioned children. They both went to america(obviously). (124)

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  10. One of the ways the Jamestown colony and Plymouth colony are different is because of what they came for. The people from Jamestown came to make money, and the people from Plymouth came for religious freedom. The Plymouth colony came on the Mayflower, and later also came on the Fortune, Anne, and Little James. After that, more colonists came on the Talbot and the Handmaid. The Jamestown colony came on the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. The Jamestown was also governed by seven council members and a president, but Plymouth, to my knowledge, had only a governor. Jamestown colonists had to give a portion of their crops to the colony for everyone to use. But for Plymouth, it is not mentioned in the article that the colonists had to give a portion of their crops to the colony for everyone to use like Jamestown did. (145)

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  11. The colony of Jamestown was founded in 1607, thirteen years before the Pilgrims got to Massachusetts. While Plymouth was settled with basically no help or problems from the natives, Jamestown had both for periods of time. Plymouth was naturally colder than Jamestown so the people had a harder time surviving in the rough weather and making food but Jamestown had the same problem. The difference was that Jamestown was helped through their tough times by the Indians because if them being close together. They soon broke out into war but that’s another issue. My main point was that while both colonies had it hard at first Jamestown had the easiest road to success because of their connections with the natives and their raw determination to find gold and succeed which led to them running the Indians out and taking over.(140 words)

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  12. To start with some things about Jamestown, Jamestown is surrounded by marshland. The people of Jamestown were Anglican Christianity. Jamestown had a council to govern the settlement, John Smith was one of these councilmen. The group of explorers made up of men and children came on the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. They sailed for the Virginia Company in 1607. When they got there they made the fort called Jamestown, which was in the shape of a triangle. The explorers were looking for gold in America. The people of Jamestown also had a very hard time with the natives that were under Powhatan, Pocahantas' father.
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  13. There are more differences than similarities between the Jamestown and Plymouth settlements. While both were established by the English, Jamestown was a for profit venture for exploration abroad to find a Northwest passage to the Orient and to convert Indians to the Anglican religion. Plymouth’s main reason for being was freedom of religion. Jamestown was settled 13 years before Plymouth. Both settlements had about 100 people at first. Jamestown landed with three ships while Plymouth settlers came with only one ship. The Jamestown area had bitter water for drinking but Plymouth had clear springs with good water. Jamestown settlers were far from sources of wood for building while Plymouth was near an abundance of trees. Jamestown had a worse climate, drought and lack of food which led to disease and deaths. Plymouth had a good harbor, good defensive area and land which had not been cleared. Both settlements were plagued with diseases and death. Jamestown’s founders were upper class Englishmen who were not good at labor or farming. Plymouth’s settlers were working class people. In Jamestown there was a shortage of eligible females for wives but Plymouth pilgrims brought families with them. Jamestown settlers tried a number of small industries at first but ended up growing tobacco. Plymouth settlers grew Indian corn, barley and peas.
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  14. There were some very interesting things about both colonies. Here are some of their differences. The Jamestown settlement did celebrate Christmas, but we don't know much about their celebrations. However, Plymouth celebrated all the time! Most of their celebrations were Christmas, Easter, weddings, births, baptisms, and the list goes on and on! At most of the parties, there would be a feast or some type of meal, dancing and music, games, and socializing. Another different thing between the two, is that the people of Jamestown didn't have many deaths in their first few months. However, Plymouth is a totally different story! Almost half of their original population had died off! This was caused by poisoning, starvation, and more. One more difference is that when the colonists arrived at Jamestown, they had to start from scratch and build their own town. For the people of Plymouth, they had a great location, and had a little town almost pre-built for them! Their area was abandoned by some earlier Indians. Some similarities are that they were coming to America to seek new world and riches. There is no doubt about it. Another similarity is that they both had problems with the natives. They just can't seem to get along! Like any other group of people from England, they always seemed to have some kind of a problem with them. Well, I really don't blame them! But overall, there are good and bad traits about both settlements. (242)

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  15. Some of the differences between the two settlements were that the Jamestown settlers traveled on the three ships the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery. The Plymouth settlers came on one ship, the Mayflower. Also, the settlers of Jamestown came thirteen years before the settlers of Plymouth came to America. Both groups brought almost the same amount of people to America. The Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery left with 105 and one died on the way, so they had 104 people come to America, while the Mayflower came with only two less than that. Another difference was that the Jamestown settlers came looking for gold, while the Plymouth settlers came for religious freedom.
    One of the similarities is that they all came from England. They all traveled on ships (airplanes haven’t been around forever). Also, the Jamestown settlers settled in Virginia while the pilgrims settled up in Massachusetts. English children started working at a much younger age than they do now. Most kids my age would already have jobs.
    (168)

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