jamestown adventure

J a m e s t o w n

(1 6 0 7 )

Jamestown Settlement

• In 1607, 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and boys began a settlement on the banks of Virginia's James River.

• They were sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, whose stockholders hoped to make a profit from the resources of the New World. The community suffered terrible hardships in its early years and it was a real challenge to survive.

You are those settlers. The King and Queen of England have given you and your group

their blessing to settle the first permanent town in the new world by the English.

The day is June 6, 1606. King James I of England has given you and your company the go ahead to set sail.

Start:

Jeremiah Cook steps into your board room on the largest of your three ships, the Godspeed.

• Cook- “Captains and deck chiefs, as weather advisor for our exploration, I must inform you against sailing off during the summer months. The seas can be very rough and we might never reach our destination.”

Financial officer Larkin-

“Wait to set sail? Are you crazy? The King and Queen have given us the go ahead and they expect us to get to the New World and start making a profit as soon as possible. This isn’t a game Cook.”

Decision 1

• Choice A: Sail now while the weather is warm. The faster we leave the faster we will arrive in the New World. Plus the King told us that he wanted us to leave in the month of June.

• Choice B: Listen to officer Cook and wait to set sail. We are heading out to create a permanent colony, what is the reason to rush and possibly get ourselves killed.

After waiting months, you set sail in calmer seas. The voyage isn’t easy but no one dies. After weeks at sea, crew chief

Johnny Flint spots land.

Land

June 6, 1606 you set sail for the New World. The seas are rough and violently throw your wooden vessels back and forth like rag dolls. The voyage is long and brutal and around 1/3 of your crew become horribly sea sick. You lose many to the sickness and you long for the day of dry land again.

After months at sea your crew is tired and weak. Land is spotted on the horizon. Due to your tired crew, two of your three ships are destroyed on the rocky coast.

Your group sails up a river and inland. They figure it will be safe from coastal attack if the Spanish come by. At the edge of the river, you make land fall.

Now it’s time to start a colony…

You and your crew finally make it across the ocean to the New World.

The land you find yourselves on is swampy and hot. Brush covers everything and you

will find it hard to clear this land.

You notice two men fighting off to the side so you approach them to find out the problem.

Thomas Ballad- “We should keep looking for a clear plot of land. This land is cursed and too muddy to build on.”

William Townsend- “No you idiot, this is the best there is, if we keep looking we are all going to starve to death looking for land that we already have found.”

Decision 2

• Choice A: Listen to Thomas Ballad and keep looking for dry cleared land. The work involved in clearing this land would exhaust us all.

• Choice B: Listen to William Townsend and clear this land you are already on. The sooner you get started the sooner you’ll have buildings set up.

Your group continues to look around but you find no land suitable for settling on. After days and days, you start to get very tired and begin to starve. You go back to the land you found originally and settle there for fear that if you wait any longer you could be dead.

Working on the harsh land is not easy, but you and your group manage. Through weeks of hard work you chop down the surrounding trees and clear the land. Before long you have what resembles a colony fort.

Days begin to pass by.

Day in and day out, you all work harder than you have

ever imagined possible.

Days turn into months!

Your colony grows…

A tall women approaches you after two months of hard work and farming. Her name is Susan Teller and she has never spoken out before. “Captain, my name is Susan and I am one of the workers trying to farm. I don’t think we will be ready for the coming winter Captain. I mean we are going to run out of food.”

Decision 3

• Choice A: Send a group of soldiers to a neighboring Native tribe and take their food. You figure that the Native Americans have yet to come and offer help, so you take that to mean they aren’t friendly.

• Choice B: Send a peace offering to a neighboring Native tribe and ask for help to get through the winter.

Your armed group of soldiers approach a small group of Native Americans sitting peacefully in a field. One young soldier that you sent starts yelling at Indians to give them food. The Indians looked confused and can’t understand. When they get frightened and begin to run, your soldiers shoot and kill them.

Angered by your act of violence. The Powhatan send their warriors to your camp and slaughter your colony.

You send a small group of colonists to the neighboring Powhatan tribe. Offering them weapons and metal helmets . You get them to give you five bushels of corn. It looks like you will get through the winter this year.

The Powhatan tribe and your colony develop a close friendship. In the late fall they come to your colony to share food. All is well!

Being so far from the King of England, it’s is time to build a colonial government.

A government to put forward rules, settle disputes, and protect the colony.

Decision 4

• Choice A: Select a ruler who will take care of all issues pertaining to the colony.

• Choice B: Select a group of rulers (council) and they will argue and vote to make all the decisions for the colony.

• Choice C: Select a group to hold votes for the entire colony every time something needs to be decoded based on the colonies well being.

Gerald, a hunter, has gone missing for over a

week.

A rumor has spread that the Croatian’s, a

Native tribe to the north are the cause. People are worried

that they are planning an attack

More information comes in over the next few days that Croatians and Spanish fur trappers

have been seen together.

The same day that this information comes in, a Spanish Galleon is

spotted off the coast.

You have a serious problem.A Spanish Galleon has trained

soldiers that your colonists are no match for.

Decision 5

• Choice A: Send a small group of colonists to the Powhatan tribe begging for help. If the Spanish attack maybe you can fight them off with their help.

• Choice B: Gather your colonists and set sail on your ship the Godspeed. You have a better chance of defeating the Spanish at sea then you do on land.

• Choice C: Close the gates to Jamestown and pray for the best. If the Spanish attack maybe you can beat them by having a strong defense.

The Powhatan help you plan an attack against the Spanish. Together your force is too much for the Spanish and they retreat back to Europe. As for the Croatians, you have shown that your colony is strong and they won’t be bothering you anytime soon.

While your men are off fighting the Spanish at sea, your colony is attacked on land by the Croatians. Because your force is divided, it doesn't take much for them to kill every colonist.

You fight hard and defend your fort, but after several months the Spanish surround your colony. They begin to starve your people. Your only hope is to wait for rescue by English war ships, or surrender to the Spanish.

No English ship arrives to rescue you. You are forced to surrender and leave

your colony.

Your colony survives its first couple of years and things begin to get easier. You have built a successful colony.

You have died.