Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126
Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127
The introduction of Jamestown Project keys in on the struggles of English colonization in North America and how Jamestown was the first successful English settlement and model for future colonization. Jamestown was successful because of ownership of land, a society that included women, and a marketable product in tobacco that helped the economy, but what was interesting was how quickly Jamestown was able to learn from past mistakes in a short time, given how late England was in comparison to other European powers (Kupperman, 2). An important piece to Jamestown’s success was the ability to point out and solve failures, such as Roanoke, with a trial and error method. Also, this idea of European competition comes to play in talking about Jamestown’s location. Passed over by the Spanish who rejected the land, Jamestown’s location was picked to defend against any Spanish threat (Kupperman, 6). Also, it was imperative that the Jamestown colonists had good relations with the nearby Chesapeake Algonquians who had the power to attack and destroy the Jamestown settlement but just like the Spanish, they never did (Kupperman, 9). Hunter Loya posted on his blog a few days ago that there was a need for young able-bodied men in the growing colonies at the time. It goes along with the beginning stages of English settlement in North America with Sir Walter Ralegh in Roanoke, where he used a classic model of young men only to later realize that Roanoke needed a different model where families were needed for a settlement to grow and sustain (Kupperman, 4).
George E. Brooks writes about the movement of the Mande population as he argues that climate and ecological factors influenced the migration of the Mande and their successes in leaving their mark wherever they traveled. Major rainfall around the B.C./A.D. mark persuaded the Mande to migrate north and south, where they were forced to adapt to the different climate when it came to growing food and separation of the Mande added to their difficulties socially, culturally, and linguistically (Brooks, 30). Looking at both Kupperman and Brooks writings, both the Jamestown colonists and the Mande population migrated and adapted to their new destinations.
Brooks, George. “Ecological Perspectives on Mande Population Movements, Commercial Networks, and Settlements Patterns from the Atlantic Wet Phase (Ca. 5500-2500 B.C.) to the Present” History of Africa. 16, (1989), pp. 23-40.
Kupperman, Karen Ordahl. Jamestown Project. Harvard University Press: Feb. 2009