[meadsjn]

Lazy or stupid, or both.

For people who had crossed about 4000 miles of ocean, and parked alongside an overwhelming abundance of seafood, this is just unfathomable.

[redfreedom]

“Lazy or stupid, or both.”

You just defined the modern day libtard.

Pluck a handful of anti gun tree hugging libs from the middle of NYC or LA, drop them off in a wilderness area full of game and you would likely get similar results.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Lazy or stupid, or both.

Captain John Smith agrees

The investors of the London Company expected to reap rewards from their speculative investments. With the Second Supply, they expressed their frustrations and made demands upon the leaders of Jamestown in written form. They specifically demanded that the colonists send commodities sufficient to pay the cost of the voyage, a lump of gold, assurance that they had found the South Sea, and one member of the lost Roanoke Colony.

It fell to the third president of the Council to deliver a reply. Ever bold, Captain John Smith delivered what must have been a wake-up call to the investors in London. In what has been termed "Smith's Rude Answer", he composed a letter, writing (in part):

When you send againe I entreat you rather send but thirty Carpenters, husbandmen, gardiners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons and diggers up of trees, roots, well provided; than a thousand of such as wee have: for except wee be able both to lodge them and feed them, the most will consume with want of necessaries before they can be made good for anything.

[1] Smith did begin his letter with something of an apology, saying "I humbly intreat your Pardons if I offend you with my rude Answer..

I am descended from one of the members of the relief party, Stephen Hopkins, who is the only person believed to have sailed on both the Sea Venture and the Mayflower. The Sea Venture ran aground on the then uncharted and uninhabited Bermuda during a hurricane, an event believed to inspired Shakespeare's The Temptest, wherein Hopkins is depicted unfavorably as the somewhat buffoonish character Stephano. (Hopkins was convicted mutiny while stranded on Bermuda and sentenced to hang, but he was popular and apparently useful, so he was spared. Or else I won't be here to tell you about it.)

[PowderMonkey]

Mother England basically sent its labor class. They lacked hunting, trapping, or fishing skills. They were mostly planters, coppersmiths, cobblers, etc. Completely unprepared to establish a foothold in the New World. And, wild game makes itself scarce in response to the slightest hunting pressure. Bang for the buck: I've heard it said, on average, it takes approximately 20 attempts before successfully harvesting a single deer or elk with modern weapons. That's a lot of wasted energy for very little venison. Dependent upon hunting? You are going to go hungry most of the time. Note to preppers: traps are the way to go. Quiet and efficient; working 24/7. No stalking. No wasted energy or ammo.

[centurion316]

Fishing and Farming require skill. The original Jamestown colonists were adventurers and investors. They were there to make money and came in large measure from the gentry. The craftsmen were carpenters, blacksmiths, armorers, etc. They were unfamiliar with local crops and with farming in general. They didn’t have much of a chance.

Virginia, at the time of the landings, was in the midst of a severe drought. Crops failed, not only for the English settlers, but for the Indians as well. As the Indians were short of food themselves, they were less willing to barter with the English. In short, they were ill prepared for the hardships that they faced.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

. . .and parked alongside an overwhelming abundance of seafood . . . .

* * *

You bring up an excellent question. Why couldn’t, wouldn’t, or didn’t they fish? Or clam or go after lobster or whatever? I’m pretty ignorant of both fishing and the East Coast, so I can’t have any opinion myself, but I’d find it interesting if someone wants to explain this.