From its start, the Virginia colony suffered from unrealistic expectations, political infighting, violence between Indians and settlers, and deprivation. Within weeks of being deposited on Jamestown Island by Captain Christopher Newport, the first settlers realized that the promises made by the Virginia Company of London that the settlement would be safe, prosperous, and bounteous had been greatly exaggerated. While the colonists futilely searched the forests for gold and the “other sea” (and a quick passage to the Far East), their leaders quarreled and alienated the powerful leader Powhatan (Wahunsonacock). Colonist George Percy quickly decided “There were never Englishmen left in a forreigne Countrey in such miserie as wee were in this new discovered Virginia.” Half the colonists who arrived in April 1607 were dead by October, and fewer than forty survived the winter. Newport made two supply trips to Virginia, in January and October 1608, both times bringing home more bad n
Under the military government instituted by Sir Thomas Dale after he arrived in Virginia in May 1611, military commanders were responsible for civil administration and local defense in the old and new Virginia settlements. Dale established at least five settlements by early in the 1610s, located from the present-day Richmond area to the Eastern Shore. Because no ecclesiastical courts existed in the colony, the governor and his Council proved and recorded wills and settled the estates of people who died. They also tried criminals and attended to all other business conducted by the various courts in England. By 1622, however, the population of the colony had grown to such an extent that early in the year, as the early American historian William Stith wrote in
Jamestown Colony
The Starving Time and near abandonment (1609–11)
In the autumn of 1609, after Smith left, Chief Powhatan began a campaign to starve the English out of Virginia. The tribes under his rule stopped bartering for food and carried out attacks on English parties that came in search of trade. Hunting became highly dangerous, as the Powhatan Indians also killed Englishmen they found outside the fort. Long reliant on the Indians, the colony found itself with far too little food for the winter.
As the food stocks ran out, the settlers ate the colony’s animals horses, dogs, and cats and then turned to eating rats, mice, and shoe leather. In their desperation, some practiced cannibalism. The winter of 1609–10, commonly known as the Starving Time, took a heavy toll. Of the 500 colonists living in Jamestown in the autumn, fewer than one-fifth were still alive by March 1610. Sixty were still in Jamestown; another 37, more fortunate, had escaped by ship.
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SUMMARY
Political organization in early Virginia Indian society likely was similar across the several distinct and culturally diverse groups that lived in the area; however, due to the records left by the English colonists, the most is known about the Powhatan Indians of Tsenacomoco. The alliance’s six core groups lived along the James, Mattaponi, and Pamunkey rivers, with their capital, Werowocomoco, situated on the present-day York River. Each constituent group consisted of one or more towns ruled by a
weroance, or chief, whose position was inherited matrilineally. For guidance, the
weroance consulted his council, or
cockarouses, and whenever he acted he was first obligated to seek the approval of his one or more