10 European colonies in America that failed before Jamestown

National Constitution Center ^ | Tue, May 14, 2013..

[presidio9]

The Jamestown settlement in Virginia, which officially was started on May 14, 1607, was one of the first European colonies to last in North America, and was historically significant for hosting the first parliamentary assembly in America.

But Jamestown barely survived, as recent headlines about the confirmation of cannibalism at the colony confirm. The adaption to the North American continent by the early Europeans was extremely problematic.

The success of tobacco as an early cash crop helped Jamestown weather the loss of most early colonists to disease, starvation, and attacks by the resident population of Native Americans.

A turning point in Jamestown’s fortunes was in 1619, when a General Assembly met at a church on July 30. Two representatives from 11 regions of the area debated the qualifications of membership and other matters for six days. A heat wave ended the session of what would be known as the House of Burgesses.

The session established a government that citizens could address to settle grievances and end legal disputes.

It was a huge step forward, since numerous European attempts to establish any foothold in North America had failed for almost a century.

Spain has tried to establish at least five colonial settlements in North America during the 16th century. It had established footholds in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Peru.

But Spanish efforts failed in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, and Virginia, in short order.

The settlement of San Miguel de Gualdape in what is now Georgia or South Carolina was built in 1526 with the first use of African slaves in North America. It only lasted three months. The colonists dealt with same problems as the Jamestown residents,

[presidio9]

Actually they extended the borders of the Empire whenever and wherever practical. It took a lot of farmland to feed the citizens on Eternal City. I agree with your point that they didn’t have the technology at the time because they didn’t need it. My original point was that if someone HAD made it back such a need would have immediately materialized. In which case, I have no doubt that Roman minds would have been up to the task of developing seagoing vessels.

[colorado tanker]

It was a very painful process of trial and error for Europeans to figure out how to plant successful colonies in areas that did not have precious metals to exploit. How to deal with Indians. What crops to grow. What cash crops to grow. Jamestown darn near didn’t make it. Plymouth wouldn’t have without Indian help, showing them how to grow crops in sandy soil, which flummoxed the English.

[Verginius Rufus]

A Norse settlement from about the year 1000 has been excavated near the northern tip of Newfoundland, at L’Anse aux Meadows. The items found there are definitely of European origin, not Native American. Of course the settlement doesn’t seem to have lasted very long. It isn’t clear if any of the Norse explorations reached the areas that are now part of the US. There was a medieval Norwegian coin found in an archaeological site in Maine, but perhspa it was traded from one tribe to another, so perhaps was acquired through contacts in what is now Canada.

[vladimir998]

“Basically, if the Greeks and Romans could make statues as well as Michelangelo, they should have been able to build boats that were comparable to those of Columbus’ time.”

With no keel, no knowledge of “clinker” building, no “hulk”, and no carrack development? Sure. Right.

[Rebelbase]

“Fort San Juan was another failed Spanish effort in what is now western North Carolina in 1566 and 1567. “

This fort is now known as the Jora site and has been located and currently being excavated.

It wasn’t so much a settlement as it was a fort in Western NC to cover the back door while Juan Pardido raided into TN.

Speculation goes that a skeleton force stayed behind while Pardido and most of the troops returned to SC. The indians grew tired of the europeans puny presence and dispatched them.

[Pharmboy]

Thanks for the post, presidio9, and for the ping, SunkenCiv. Great summary.

San Miguel de Gualdape, 1526

The RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list

[gop4lyf]

I have a confirmed, direct ancestor, my 14th great grandfather, who helped settle Jamestown. He arrived in 1609 on the Star.

[livius]

The Spanish actually explored that territory in the late 16th century...in fact, they sailed up the Hudson. But they felt it was too cold and hostile, since they weren’t used to that climate at home, and furthermore, it was the “little ice age” and temperatures were a lot lower than they are now. It warmed up and then there was another severe cold spell in the late 19th-early 20th centuries.

But the Spanish withdrew to areas that were more like home and didn’t bother to drive out the British when they landed in the area around Virginia, even though it had been claimed by Spain. The Spanish then went on to convert thousands of Indians and establish a huge mission chain based in St Augustine, Florida.

The missions were destroyed by the raids of British colonists from South Carolina and Georgia in 1702-1705. Many Indians (not to mention Spanish friars and settlers) were killed and some 11,000 Indians were taken captive and sold as slaves to the sugar plantations in the English Caribbean.

[SkyPilot]

I guess they didn’t have EBT cards back then.

[Ditter]

Is there anything left of that 1565 settlement?

[Amberdawn]

Wow!

[muawiyah]

in the Treaty of London (1604) KIng Filipe of Spain II/III carved up North America. He gave away Acadia to James of Scotland ~ a fellow he'd known well as a child while he was growing up. He gave away New France to other relatives. He gave away Alaska (Whenever it could be discovered) to the Czar of Russia. He retained plenty of the rest of it. Spanish surveyors actually carried out part of the work of drawing the line between Acadia to the North and Virginia to the South ~ that line is today the state line between New York and Virginia ~ as well as the MA/CT/RI Stateline ~ it extends from the tip of Cape Code to Chicago!

Cold weather might have been one of the reasons they had for hiring Swedes and Bretons.

Virginia was not given to the English ~ but they weren't prohibited. When you read through the codicils laying out standards of conduct when it came to Protestants and Catholics giving offense to the other it's pretty clear that the Eastern Seaboard from New York (Acadia) to Carolana (North Carolina) was to be a Protestant refuge in a Catholic sea.

I believe the Spanish thought they'd be rid of the Protestant problem for centuries!,

History turned out far different than they could have ever anticipated.

[muawiyah]

We still have people who imagine trains are a wave of the future. I"m sure the Romans thought highly of Triremes, never imagining that Lepanto, far in the future, would see the last use of such ships in battle.

Worth noting that the Spanish and French and the English and the Scots and the Scandinavians and the Portuguese all had ships suitable for traveling in the Atlantic. The Italians and Greeks and Turks are generally believed to not have such ships.

Colon, raised in Italy, sailed French and Spanish ships. Cabot, raised in Italy, sailed English and Spanish ships (and I think Portuguese ships as well)

By 1531 several nations had ships capable of sailing completely around the globe. Magellan, raised in warm climates, did it first. (Magelheis = MacWallace ~ He was from Galicia, as were the various Carvajals in the early voyages)

[Peter Libra]

Your post #47.

I have a confirmed direct ancestor, my 14th great grandfather who helped settle Jamestown. He arrived in 1609 on the Star.

It was in 1960 when I made my excursions into the United States from Canada. I got out my old photo album and there are two persons dressed in traditional native dress at the Jamestown memorial grounds. Also an exact replica of the "Susan Constant", the fine looking ship that carried the colonists. I remember the two vessels that were with her. They looked no more than long barges. Hopefully the great job the parks people had done at Williamsburg/ Jamestown is still an great experience .

I note that the website VDARE is dedicated to the "lost colony at Roanoke, Virginia. I believe it was established in 1593. Alas, years later, all the colonists had disappeared from Roanoke. I understand a white female was born there and might have been one of the first children born in the Eastern part of the Americas. She was Virginia Dare.

I hope your ancestor thrived and do you know what part of England he was from? If he was from England.

[muawiyah]

BTW, don't misconstrue the War of Spanish Secession with some sort of colonial war ~ there were, in any case, almost no English colonists in the Carolinas then, nor now ~ they were, for the most part, former Scottish warriors taken prisoner by the Brits and sent to the Carolinas to hold the line against possible Spanish attempts to recover their earlier claims.

"sent to Carolina" usually meant being taken by prison barge to the Potomac River and then getting tossed naked into Smuggler's Creek. Tens of thousands of Scots were treated that way. By the time they reached Alexander county they had shoes, clothing and were manufacturing firearms.

[Peter Libra]

Whoops! The date of the birth of Virginia Dare was August 1587 at what is known as Roanoke. Her date of death unknown.

[bert]

The earlier Florida settlement is at Ft Caroline at Daytona Beach/ Mayport. It was French

St Agustine was established to destroy Ft Caroline

Also, Santa Fe New Mexico precedes St Agustine.hs

[BenLurkin]

I fear the same fate will befall the first colonies on Mars.

[gop4lyf]

John Price, from Wales.

[SunkenCiv]

I agree that it’ll be generations before there are any successful ones.

Deep pockets (gubmint, basically) would be necessary.

Sapphire (or sapphire metallic foam) domes could be extruded in space (sapphire is a form of aluminum oxide) using readily available asteroidal materials, and dropped right down onto the Martian surface. These could be quite large, sufficient for an agricultural lifestyle for an entire family, or quite a bit larger.

They’d be built by robotic manufacturing, and they’d be fairly reasonable for something that’s pretty effin’ expensive to support independent agriculture. They’d also have to have some ready supply of water, nitrogen, and oxygen. This approach represents probably the only practical way to sustainably “terraform” Mars.

http://www.google.com/search?q=sapphire+dome

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/21/tech/mobile/sapphire-smartphone-screens