[SlowBoat407]

They came for a little while and then disappeared.

I believe you're thinking of Roanoke. Jamestown was actually the beginning of the permanent English presence in "Virginia", and it was from this colony that all of the others in the region grew.

Their contribution was not just significant. It was earth-shaking.

[blam]

"Their contribution was not just significant. It was earth-shaking."

That's why the Queen Of England visited it yesterday.

[SlowBoat407]

To add further detail, the Massachussetts Bay colony was part of the Plymouth Company, while the Jamestown Colony was founded by the Virginia company, both of which wanted to be the first to establish permanent colonies in the region. Their achievements were quite different from one another, and together created the nation we have now, but it was the Virginia Company that got there first.

The Virginia Company, while not finding the gold or the passage to the Western Ocean they expected, did however make a profitable crop out of tobacco, begin converting natives to Christianity, and keep the Eastern Seaboard out of Spanish hands. They nearly perished several times, but after Jamestown, England had a permanent presence on American soil. Some say that the Plymouth colony actually profited from the experiences of Jamestown.