Origins of the Later Southern Term Paper

The colonist's primary objective, as mentioned before, was to make money, and also try and drive out Spanish colonies. None of the colonists concentrated on survival and focused on their search for prosperity. Because of all the time spent on looking for gold or the route to China, and their lack of skills, the colonists were not prepared for the harsh upcoming winter. The results were devastating. During the winter of 1609-1610 almost ninety percent of the colony was wiped out, and only 50 out of the 500 colonists survived.

The government of the colony consisted of a governor and 12 council members, all whom were appointed. The government, named the Virginia Council, had no decision making power at all. Everything was sent over to England, settled there, and then sent back. This system was outrageously inefficient and often took several years for anything to be resolved. This absurd and inept council was another reason the death toll at the colony was so high. They couldn't force people to work on the colony.Finally, a man by the name of John Smith took control and opened the settler's eyes. They started to build adequate housing and started planting crops, and because of this they had a bid

Jamestown 3 at survival. In 1620 an attempt to reform the government by adding the Burgess was made. The Burgess consisted of nineteen elected members and went under the council. Both the council and the Burgess could draft laws and would debate on them. This gave the colonists at least some say in the government. The court was made up of thirteen members; the governor and the council. The most common punishment for most of the crimes committed in the colonies was public humiliation. Upper-class offenders would be locked into pillories and the lower class would be locked into the stockade. The punishment was quite effective.

Although the actually colony of Jamestown has long since been demolished, it will remain forever as the first successful colony of the United States of….....