Jamestown: The First English Colony

by Susan Harkins

In 1606, one hundred and five men left England for the western shores of the Chesapeake Bay. They were looking for adventure, land, and treasure. Instead of gold and silver, the men found a dark and mysterious wilderness. A few, like John Smith, found friendship with the local natives. Others found new lives, hacked out of the Virginia wilderness. Most, however, found disease, starvation, and eventually death. Two-thirds of the original Jamestown settlers died within the first year. Still, the English kept coming. Land and opportunity were worth the risks. By the 1621, Jamestown had grown to 1,200 settlers, and people from the first successful English colony began to branch out and settle other towns. The Building America series tells the story of the early years in which America struggled to become an independent nation. The First English Colony details the extraordinary circumstances and often harrowing experiences overcome by the persistent Englishmen who wanted to settle in Virginia.

Library Binding

First published June 15, 2006

Reviews

[Gail Sacharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another in the series, this book tells the story of the first English settlement in the new land, Jamestown, along with the truest version of the Pocahontas tale. Very godd book.

[Larrullo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for any age student. Probably written for a late elementary/middle school level, it was useful for my six year old, and I learned a lot that I never learned even in college history courses.

Well written, short chapters, fantastic artwork, references given in the index: this is the best short history of Jamestown I've read yet. Many underlying factors and alternative explanations as well as where historians disagree are covered concisely.

I found one error in the timeline where it is stated that the first white child born in North America was born on Roanoke...other histories share that actually a child was born on the settlement of Norsemen led to North America by Leif Erikson who would be the first white child known to be born in North America....but this may be splitting hairs.

I was impressed with this book to the point that I am now looking for other books in this series to check out in deciding if I want to purchase the whole series for reference books...for homeschool as well as my own studies.