ABSTRACT
Western European colonies in the New World offer a valuable context in which to explore the influence of environment on colonizing efforts. In this chapter I explore the example of Jamestown in English “Virginia,” especially during the crucial first decades of colonization between 1607 and 1680, when the matter of learning the environment – or not – is a key element of the story. From practically the moment of arrival of the English, there has been considerable speculation over why they suffered as they did in the midst of a virtual Eden, brimming with natural resources, including native foods. Mortality rates were startling in the first years, typically exceeding 50 percent, with many deaths explicitly attributed to starvation. Their failure to become comfortable – to learn – mystified the Indians, who variably treated the struggling English with pity or scorn. What we discover is a lethal combination of ethnocentrism, ignorance, and misplaced priorities in their interaction with the environment, but over the long run they developed a more viable though still imported mode of existence.
