Rethinking Jamestown

For English travelers who waded ashore in chesapeake bay on a warm day in April 1607, after four and a half months at sea, the lush Virginia scenery must be like a garden paradise. An enthusiastic adventurer later wrote that when he first landed in Henry,Cape, he was "almost fascinated" when he saw fresh water streams and "beautiful grasslands and tall trees". After a small incident with a group of local people and planting a cross, the people of the Virginia Expedition returned to their ships "Susan Constant", "God's Speed" and "Discovery", and 65,438+004 passengers and crew continued to look for a safer place along the powhatan River (which will be renamed James in memory of their king James I).

They think they found this place on the swamp peninsula 50 miles upstream. They think that this place can resist the attacks of Indians from the mainland, and it is far enough away from the coast to ensure adequate warning for approaching Spanish warships. They set out to build a fort and clear the land for the commercial outpost they were sent to build, which was called "James Siti". They are eager to start mining gold, wood and other items and transport them back to London.

But Jamestown proved to be neither a paradise nor a gold mine. In the heat of the first summer, 46 colonists died of fever, hunger or Indian arrows in mosquito-infested settlements. By the end of the year, there were only 38 left. If it weren't for the timely arrival of the British supply ship in June 1608, and the subsequent June 10, Jamestown would almost certainly disappear like Luo Anaker a few years ago.

No wonder history doesn't smile at the colonists in Jamestown. Although Jamestown is regarded as the first permanent British colony in North America, and it is also the background of the fascinating story of pocahontas and Captain John Smith (if it is fiction), Jamestown is largely ignored in colonial legends and replaced by Plymouth colony in Massachusetts. What survived was not flattery, especially compared with the image of hardworking and devout pilgrims seeking religious freedom in the new world. By contrast, most settlers in Jamestown are regarded as a group of incompetent and lazy English gentlemen. They came here looking for easy money, only to find their own disaster. Historian W.E. Woodward wrote in 1936 "A New History of America": "There is no foresight and enterprising spirit. They wandered around and looked around the country, dreaming of gold mines.

But today, the secret of the James River has been hidden for nearly 400 years, which seems to tell a different story. Archaeologists working in settlements found what they thought was dramatic evidence that the colonists were not unprepared and backward. Perhaps Plymouth is not the only Virginia colony that suffered disasters. It is a hotbed of the American nation-bold democratic experiments, perseverance and enterprising spirit.

The breakthrough occurred in 1996, when a team of archaeologists working for the Antiquities Conservation Society of Virginia (APVA) discovered some decaying ruins of Jamestown Castle in 1607. Many historians believe that this triangular wooden structure was destroyed by a river a long time ago. By the end of the excavation season in 2003, archaeologists had found the entire periphery of the castle in the open area of the western part of this 65,438+0,500-acre wooded island. Only one corner was flooded by the river. "This is a huge discovery," said William kelso, the chief archaeologist of the site, shortly after the discovery. "Now we know where the heart is, the center of colonial efforts, the bull's-eye. Now that we know the exact excavation site, we will concentrate our time and resources on excavating and analyzing the interior of Fort James.

Since then, kelso and his team have excavated several architectural ruins around the fortress, as well as thousands of cultural relics and sk. This date helps to show the contents of the wine cellar, including the glass making and distillation equipment on display at Apoil headquarters, dating back to the crucial first year of the colony. It is from these early handicrafts that kelso and straub revised their colonial history.

Kelso and his team recently discovered an amazing number of Indian pottery, arrows and other objects by screening the cellars and trenches inside and outside the castle. This shows that the colonists had extensive contact with the local people. In a cellar, next to a big glass bead used by an Englishman to do business with Indians, an Indian pot with turtle shells was found. Straub said, "Here, we think there is evidence that an Indian woman is cooking for an English gentleman in the fortress. Kelso added that although such an arrangement may be rare, this discovery strongly shows that before the arrival of a large number of British women in 1620, indigenous people occasionally appeared in the fortress for peaceful purposes, and may even live with the British.

What is known in Virginia company documents is that the colonists were instructed to cooperate with the Indians. Literature and archaeological records confirm that British copper and glass products were originally used at least in exchange for Indian corn and other foods. But this relationship did not last long, and the result was fatal to both the British and Indians.

As severe as Jamestown's first year, the darkest days of the colonists have not yet arrived. 1608, the Order replenished two new recruits and new food from London. But in August of 1609, when nearly 400 new immigrants arrived on seven British supply ships, they found that the colonists were struggling for survival. In September this year, a 50-member team led by former colonial president John ratcliffe met with Vahnan Sukock, known as "Chief Powhatan", in the upper reaches of the Pamukir River. Chief powhatan is a powerful negotiation leader of Indian in powhatan. The colonists were ambushed, ratcliffe was imprisoned and tortured to death, and only 65,438+06 soldiers returned to the fort alive (empty-handed). Jamestown autumn and winter

Will be recorded as the "hunger period". Because of lack of food, the colonists began to get sick. Few people have the strength to venture hunting, fishing, looking for plants or drinking water from their mud houses. Those people risked being caught by Indians waiting outside the fort and resigned themselves to fate. In desperation, the survivors ate their dogs and horses, then rats and other pests, and finally the bodies of their own kind. By spring, only 60 colonists were still alive, down from 500 last autumn.

Fragments found in the basement of the barracks indicate the time of starvation. There are traces of slaughter on the bones of horses, as well as the bones of black mice, dogs and cats. In the west of the fortress, potters hastily excavated cemeteries. Some cemeteries had 72 settlers as early as 16 10, and some bodies were randomly piled on 63 separate graves. The traditional view in Jamestown is that

The horror of Hunger Times dramatically shows the fatal flaws in the planning and behavior of settlements. Why are people in Jamestown still unable or unwilling to support themselves after three growing seasons? The verdict of history is once again blamed on the "gentleman" colonists, who are more interested in pursuing profits than farming the land. According to 1956 history textbook American beauty pageant, Virginia is "game in the forest, fish in the river" and "a soft-hearted English gentleman". They wasted precious time looking for gold when they should have hoed corn. They were "encouraged by the greedy directors of the London company to look for them crazily" and they "threatened that they would abandon the colonists if they didn't become rich."

But kelso and straub were convinced that the fate of the colony was the settlers who were not controlled by either side, or some of their patriots in London, and some rough records of the Virginia Company in London. Kelso said that such a document is a kind of "deliberate record", and it is usually "written in favor of the author". For example, Smith's diary often depicts many of his colonists as incompetent and incompetent. But kelso said that Smith's diary was "obviously tilted". "He is the star of his own film."

The story of Indian Princess pocahontas rescuing Smith is an example. Smith first mentioned this story in 1624, that is, 17 years after the incident. Because this story has never been mentioned in his early works, some historians now think it is a legend, even though romance in the wind does exist.

It's not that the archaeological evidence in Jamestown is beyond doubt. Some archaeologists believe that it is almost impossible to date Jamestown cultural relics, and it is impossible to distinguish the remains of the founding colonists from those left by later immigrants. Retired Virginia archaeologist Ivor Hume (Ivor No? Hume is the former archaeological director of the nearby Fort William colony. He pointed out that the fortress was occupied until the 1920s in 16, during which it was rebuilt many times. "It is difficult to determine what the original settlers brought and what they brought later," he said.

But kelso and straub said that they could accurately date most cultural relics and draw reasonable conclusions about when some buildings were built and abandoned. "If we find a piece of broken pottery in a garbage pit and another piece of the same container in a nearby well," straub explained, "we know that these two structures exist at the same time." In addition, she said that the appearance of some goods imported from Portugal, Spain or Germany said that the Virginia company lost its franchise in 1624 and the management of the colony was handed over to the British royal family. She said: "In the later period, Jamestown was really a different scene, and some historians still had doubts. Morgan of Yale University admits: "Their findings may require some adjustments to the views of historians who rely solely on literature. "... but Jamestown's reputation for failure will be hard to shake. He added: "More than 500,000 cultural relics are needed to prove that Virginia companies learned from their mistakes and succeeded in the colonies. "

Kelso is convinced that more colonial history is buried in the soil of this island. During the excavation season in 2004, the excavator found the footprint of a long and narrow building in the fortress. In Strabu's view, this is a high-class dining and entertainment place, and it is likely to be the governor's home. According to written records, it was built in 16 1 1 year. In the basement of another building, a student volunteer found the wine bottle intact, but it was empty. It is believed that these wine bottles can be traced back to the prosperity of Jamestown as a tobacco and trade center at the end of 17.

Are there any gentlemen in Jamestown? Kelso said. "Of course. Some of them are lazy and enterprising. But not all. The evidence in this regard is that the colony survived, and it survived because people persisted and made sacrifices. " The original British colony gradually evolved into something different, something new. "When the settlement expands, if you look up and down, you will find that it is not like Britain. These houses are different from towns, agriculture and commodities. They really laid the foundation of American society. " Despite the pain, tragedy and all the mistakes, kelso said, "This is the origin of modern America."