This horrific episode, which nearly led to the complete dissolution of the Jamestown settlement, was characterized by widespread famine, disease, and conflict with the local Powhatan Confederacy. The starving time in Jamestown began in the winter of 1609 and extended into the spring of 1610, marking a period of extreme hardship and scarcity for the English colonists.
Who Starved Time Jamestown 1609 1610
The death toll was staggering; of the approximately 500 colonists who had entered the fort the previous fall, only about 60 survived the starving time. Their focus on finding gold and other valuables, rather than securing food, led to critical early missteps.
Trapped within the fortifications of Jamestown, the colonists soon exhausted their meager grain stores. By early 1610, the situation had deteriorated to the point where settlers were resorting to eating rats, shoe leather, and even exhuming corpses from graves.
Who Starved Time Jamestown 1609 1610
This represents a mortality rate of nearly 90%, making it one of the deadliest periods in early American history. Severe injuries from a gunpowder explosion forced Smith to return to England in October of that year.
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