Jamestown was founded in 1607.

John Smith ruled the colony with an "Iron Fist"! Yet the colony struggled because it lacked a direction. I lived there, and there were no rewards for the colonists to work, only the promise of starvation and punishment if they did not. Many died , not only from starvation, but also new diseases.

I was an indentured servant. Basically that meant I worked for free for a certain amount of time. Some other workers were slaves. John Smith worked for the Virginia Company and everything we had or produced was theirs. We had no incentive to work, except to avoid punishment.

We did not know how to survive and grow things in this new land, and this led to what was called "The Starving Time". We were reliant upon supplies from England, and when they did not come...many died.

Nathaniel Bacon led a successful rebellion in 1676, but it was temporary. However, we did get a promise of working toward owning land. Unfortunately, Bacon's ideas of dealing with Natives by "eliminating" them persisted long after his death.

When women finally were allowed to join the colony, along with the promise of land for work, we truly became invested in the success of Jamestown. We had a future! Thank you for listening to my story about our struggles in creating the first settlement in the New World!

The End