Late in 1606, English colonists set sail with a charter from the London Company to establish a colony in the New World.
The fleet consisted of the ships Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed, all under the leadership of Captain Christopher Newport.
They made a particularly long voyage of four months, including a stop in the Canary Islands, in Spain, and subsequently Puerto Rico, and finally departed for the American mainland on April 10, 1607.

The expedition made landfall on April 26, 1607 at a place which they named Cape Henry.
Under orders to select a more secure location, they set about exploring what is now Hampton Roads and an outlet to the Chesapeake Bay which they named the James River in honor of King James I of England.
Captain Edward Maria Wingfield was elected president of the governing council on April 25, 1607.
On May 14, he selected a piece of land on a large peninsula some 40 miles (64 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean as a prime location for a fortified settlement.
The river channel was a defensible strategic point due to a curve in the river, and it was close to the land, making it navigable and offering enough land for piers or wharves to be built in the future.
Perhaps the most favorable fact about the location was that it was uninhabited because the leaders of the nearby indigenous nations considered the site too poor and remote for agriculture.
The island was swampy and isolated, and it offered limited space, was plagued by mosquitoes, and afforded only brackish tidal river water unsuitable for drinking.

The Jamestown settlers arrived in Virginia during a severe drought, according to a research study conducted by the Jamestown Archaeological Assessment (JAA) team in the 1990s.
The JAA analyzed information from a study conducted in 1985 by David Stahle and others, who obtained drawings of 800 year-old bald cypress trees along the Nottoway and Blackwater rivers.
The lifespan of these trees is up to 1,000 years and their rings offer a good indication of an area's annual amount of rainfall.
The borings revealed that the worst drought in 700 years occurred between 1606 and 1612.
This severe drought affected the Jamestown colonists and Powhatan tribe's ability to produce food and obtain a safe supply of water.

The settlers also arrived too late in the year to get crops planted.
Many in the group were either gentlemen unused to work or their manservants, both equally unaccustomed to the hard labor demanded by the harsh task of carving out a viable colony.
One of these was Robert Hunt, a former vicar of Reculver, England who celebrated the first known Anglican Eucharist in the territory of the future United States on June 21, 1607.

In a few months, 80% of the party were dead; some of the survivors were deserting to the Indians whose land they had colonized.
Virginia Native Americans had established settlements long before the English settlers arrived, and there were an estimated 14,000 in the region who were politically known as Tsenacommacah and who spoke an Algonquian language.
They were the Powhatan Confederacy, ruled by their paramount chief known as Wahunsenacawh or "Chief Powhatan".
Wahunsenacawh initially sought to resettle the English colonists from Jamestown, considered part of Paspahegh territory, to another location known as Capahosick where they would make metal tools for him as members of his Confederacy, but this never happened.

The first explorers had been welcomed by the Indians with dancing, feasting, and tobacco ceremonies.
Despite the hospitality of Wahunsenacawh, the presence of the English settlers and perhaps a further expedition up the James River by Captain Christopher Newport provoked the Paspahegh, Weyanock, and other groups to mount a series of attacks on the fort during a period of violence lasting from May 27 to July 14, 1607.

Two-thirds of the settlers died before ships arrived in 1608 with supplies and German and Polish craftsmen, who helped to establish the first manufactories in the colony.
As a result, glassware became the foremost American products to be exported to Euro
Late in 1606, English colonists set sail with a charter from the London Company to establish a colony in the New World. The fleet consisted of the ships Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed, all under the leadership of Captain Christopher Newport. They made a particularly long voyage of four months, including a stop in the Canary Islands, in Spain, and subsequently Puerto Rico, and finally departed for the American mainland on April 10, 1607.
The expedition made landfall on April 26, 1607 at a place which they named Cape Henry. Under orders to select a more secure location, they set about exploring what is now Hampton Roads and an outlet to the Chesapeake Bay which they named the James River in honor of King James I of England. Captain Edward Maria Wingfield was elected president of the governing council on April 25, 1607. On May 14, he selected a piece of land on a large peninsula some 40 miles (64 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean as a prime location for a fortified settlement. The river channel was a defensible strategic point due to a curve in the river, and it was close to the land, making it navigable and offering enough land for piers or wharves to be built in the future. Perhaps the most favorable fact about the location was that it was uninhabited because the leaders of the nearby indigenous nations considered the site too poor and remote for agriculture. The island was swampy and isolated, and it offered limited space, was plagued by mosquitoes, and afforded only brackish tidal river water unsuitable for drinking.
The Jamestown settlers arrived in Virginia during a severe drought, according to a research study conducted by the Jamestown Archaeological Assessment (JAA) team in the 1990s. The JAA analyzed information from a study conducted in 1985 by David Stahle and others, who obtained drawings of 800 year-old bald cypress trees along the Nottoway and Blackwater rivers. The lifespan of these trees is up to 1,000 years and their rings offer a good indication of an area's annual amount of rainfall. The borings revealed that the worst drought in 700 years occurred between 1606 and 1612. This severe drought affected the Jamestown colonists and Powhatan tribe's ability to produce food and obtain a safe supply of water.
The settlers also arrived too late in the year to get crops planted. Many in the group were either gentlemen unused to work or their manservants, both equally unaccustomed to the hard labor demanded by the harsh task of carving out a viable colony. One of these was Robert Hunt, a former vicar of Reculver, England who celebrated the first known Anglican Eucharist in the territory of the future United States on June 21, 1607.
In a few months, 80% of the party were dead; some of the survivors were deserting to the Indians whose land they had colonized. Virginia Native Americans had established settlements long before the English settlers arrived, and there were an estimated 14,000 in the region who were politically known as Tsenacommacah and who spoke an Algonquian language. They were the Powhatan Confederacy, ruled by their paramount chief known as Wahunsenacawh or "Chief Powhatan". Wahunsenacawh initially sought to resettle the English colonists from Jamestown, considered part of Paspahegh territory, to another location known as Capahosick where they would make metal tools for him as members of his Confederacy, but this never happened.
The first explorers had been welcomed by the Indians with dancing, feasting, and tobacco ceremonies. Despite the hospitality of Wahunsenacawh, the presence of the English settlers and perhaps a further expedition up the James River by Captain Christopher Newport provoked the Paspahegh, Weyanock, and other groups to mount a series of attacks on the fort during a period of violence lasting from May 27 to July 14, 1607.
Two-thirds of the settlers died before ships arrived in 1608 with supplies and German and Polish craftsmen, who helped to establish the first manufactories in the colony. As a result, glassware became the foremost American products to be exported to Euro
Jamestown, Virginia