Topic > Treatment of Women in the Jamestown Settlement

American women are known to be strong and resilient due to the endurance and perseverance that early colonial women modeled at Jamestown. The women of Jamestown were raped, forced to stifle their ambitions, and forced to endure intense manual labor. Researchers have discovered diaries and stories passed down from generation to generation that describe these women's devastating events. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In 1606, three ships arrived in Virginia, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. They chose the Jamestown area because it was surrounded by water on three sides but was far inland. Jamestown was named after King James the First. The settlement was completed in June and was in the shape of a triangle with lookouts at each corner. Soon after, colonists began dying of diseases (said to be caused by the river water they drank from). Their food was also running out and the leader of the local native group, Chief Powhatan, decided to give them some food to help them. They were forced to face a devastating food shortage. This period was known as “The Hunger Time”. They ended up eating everything they could, sometimes even settlers who had previously died. This caused the death of 80-90% of the people. Another test the colonists faced was the threat of the Powhatan tribe. After the initial hardships of Jamestown, they endured wars between others already living on their land and those who wanted what they had. Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America. It was located in eastern Virginia and was founded in 1607. Nearly a year after the men arrived, the first two English women arrived. Men outnumbered women for much of the 17th century. In 1620, ninety unmarried women arrived with the intention of founding the colony and paying respect to the colony. Women were known to be the backbone of Jamestown. At first, women did not have enough rights as previously in England. They could not vote, own land or even hold political office. If a woman was unmarried, her father would retain rights to her until she married and had a decent husband. The only time a woman could escape her husband's control was when he died. If that woman chose to remarry, she could finally control her own land. Mrs. Forest and her servant Anne Burras were said to be the only two women in the colony until 1609, when another ship arrived bringing more. These were just two of the many women who influenced the success of Jamestown and the building of colonial America. Mistress Forest arrived in Jamestown in 1608 during the Second Supply with her husband, Thomas Forest, and her servant, Anne Burras. Mistress Forest was said to have died soon after arriving in Jamestown. Anne Burras was only fourteen when she arrived. She married John Laydon, who was twenty-eight years of age. This union ended as the first official Jamestown marriage. About a year later they gave birth to their first daughter named Virginia. She was the first child to be born in the settlement. This birth provided a sense of hope and stability to the settlers. They eventually had three more children, all girls. These two women were just the beginning of the impact the women of Jamestown had. Pocahontas was born around 1595 and was the daughter of the Powahatan chief. Pocahantas' relationship with the colonists was a turning point for the alliance between Jamestown and the tribe. During the winter of 1607, his brother kidnapped a colonist captain named John Smith. Pocahontas has.