Jamestown, a colony in Virginia, to me was arguably the greatest success for America today. When the English sailed to Virginia they were expecting to find gold and an easy life there. They were struck with the complete opposite. There was illness, starvation, and the local Native Americans they had to struggle with before things started going their way. The colonists had a lot to handle.
Illness was a big threat to the colony. The colonists were falling ill mostly due to water and food. When the area around Jamestown was in drought the river turned to a swamp making the water in the river unsafe causing typhoid. Food could have been tainted with poison from Spanish spies or plain undercooked meat.
Starvation could have caused an even bigger problem in the colony. After months of arriving the colony was almost out of their its supply. At one time the men had resulted to cannibalism and eating their pets this time was called the starving time. John Smith, the colony's leader, decided to make a risky bargain with the Native Americans, he decided to trade trinkets in exchange for food. The Native American leader and his daughter, Pocahontas, were dazzled by them, so Pocahontas urged her father to trade which saved the colony.
The local Native American tribe was the biggest issue for the colony. When the colony arrived the tribe killed colonists causing the colony to build a large wall around their camp. The colony was trapped there. While the tribe did save the colony John Smith later had his leg almost blown off, and returned to England. After he left, the tribe waged war on the colony, during the time of starvation.
Even though this was a nightmare for the colonists there was a greater good on this. This was the start of America. The colony did survive, and then continued to branch out until America was formed. Without the colonists we wouldn't be here today.
