Posted on 05/15/2013 3:01:48 PM PDT by 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,
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Hurricanes are quite violent.
When you come to America, whether from the Pacific or the Atlantic, that's a one one trip without the right kind of hull.
The subtropics have shipworms that eat wood ~ quickly.
There are many reasons to believe nobody ever made it in good weather until modern times, nor did they land in South America and go anywhere else, even locally, without making new boats.
The Sa'ami made it in winter at the edge of the Sea Ice about 20,000 years ago.
Thank God, they were not Lutherans. Hah!
Was John Prince a good dancer?
http://science.howstuffworks.com/transparent-aluminum-armor.htm
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2940263/posts?page=21#21
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