Why+the+Jamestown+Settlers+Stayed?

== Throughout the sixteenth century European countries were expanding and exploring the New World. Spain and Portugal were the primary leaders and prospered immensely. England, a country in depression, needed to compete and so in 1606 three ships set sail for the New World and, soon after, colonized Jamestown. The colony was established by 100 “gentlemen” looking for gold. They had no intensions of staying and did not know how to work. So why did the settler stay and endure the hard winters? The English settlers needed to stay and their country standards would not always it. ==

== The settlers died by the dozens, but had to prove their worth and could not go back empty handed. The Virginia Company invested so much time and effort. It took about a decade to finalize all of the preparations for the voyage. The Englishmen, back home, were expecting gold and riches. The Jamestown settlers could never go back until gold was found. They would be looked down upon and seen as failures in all of England. ==

== Even though some colonists had converted to cannibalism they all still had hope and pride. These two factors can change the outcome of any situation. In //Richard Hakluyts Call for an Empire// he describes his hopes for the New World and how he thinks the colony can succeed. If the Jamestown settlers had no hope they would have been back to England after the first year, but they stayed. They knew that one day they would overcome the hardships and prosper. They also did not want their pride ruined. In the 16th and 17th centuries pride and name determined the majority of ones life. The men who traveled to The New World were all high on the social scale. The men had reputations that they would not ruin for any circumstance. ==

== At this time England was also in a depression. William Pelham, an English landlord, described the hardships in England in a letter to his brother. He stated that many had sold their properties and could not work to earn money. The settlers did not want to return to the depression. They hoped to prosper in the New World and create a bountiful colony. Even though Jamestown was still considered part of England and under rule of the King the majority of the time they could not be controlled and the King had little influence. The settlers had so much more freedom and land. The size of land was very desirable. Each man had a large plantation which was 100 acres. They could do whatever was pleased with it. The Jamestown settlers were also free from the depression, the king, society, and Jamestown was their colony. They could make it anything they wanted. ==

== Jamestown and the New World had infinite possibilities. The settlers only needed to learn how to use them. England, at the time, was a failing country with no future, but Jamestown was new and fresh. It could have been transformed into anything. ==