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The Early Jamestown Settlement

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The early Jamestown settlement was not an ideal place to live, and several times it was nearly decimated by indians, disease and starvation. Without reinforcements and resupply from England, it would not have succeeded. It tells several stories from the bones found in the area. First is a body with a musket ball in his leg. They conclude this ball would have killed him, as it would have severed an artery. By studying the wound, the concluded it could not have been suicide. This left accidental shooting by another or a Native had stolen a weapon. As the Indian threat was pervasive, and they drilled considerably, with men who were not sure around guns, the accidental shooting looking probably. Another body was buried outside the fort, and placed in a position of respect, was discovered to be Gosnold. He was the energy behind the expedition to Jamestown. He recruited backers, and people, including his cousin John Smith. The only problem was he died just five months after they landed in Jamestown. With pending starvation, the demise of the company was imminent.   John Smith took over leadership with the death of Gosnold. He did something bold. He went to the Indians with beads and trinkets, to trade for something to eat. The Indians had killed many of the company, but with the intervention of Pocahontas, John Smith was successful. Pocahontas intervened and turned the heart of her father Powhatan, chief of the Indian Confederation. However, it is very unlikely there was a romantic relationship between them. Pocahontas was around 12, and John Smith a grown man, around 30 years old. They have been able to excavate the fort, because of the wood falling. There was a fort, with towers for canon in each corner. They arrived in a time of drought, and the river would have been down, and backed up. Consequently the men would have been drinking salt water, which likely cause salt poisoning. It wasn't until there was a good rain that condit

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