Jamestown vs Plymouth
Several colonies and cities have gone through some mysterious and incredible pasts which cannot be forgotten for long. Similar kind of history has been witnessed in Jamestown and Plymouth. Jamestown in Virginia was the first permanent English settlement and Plymouth in Massachusetts being the second, with these two colonies English settlement in North America was started. Both places are famous for their historical background and that is why they hold the attention of people even today. Both communities have had their own set of conflicts between the people residing there already and those who came to that place later. In both these places, the reason for the arising problem was different. Problems such as economic and religious and racial problems were the most prominent ones among both these places. Jamestown and Plymouth, today, are quoted as two popular places although both of them are not even in the same territory but far off from each other.
Jamestown
Jamestown had been facing economic problems in the past and the local people Indians and those who came afterwards, Europeans did not share a very good rapport between each other. By the time Europeans reached Jamestown, they found out that Indians were already there and the land was well cultivated and everything was smooth but they had one issue with the Indians. They claimed that this civilization is extremely disorganized and inefficient and so the Europeans should take over. And they even tried to take over but because they didn’t know how to cultivate land, they faced problems with that and therefore had to seek help from the Indians.
Plymouth
On the other hand, the Indians of Plymouth faced extreme barbarism from the Pilgrims who landed to their place. These people loved to kill Indians for the sake of land, money or anything. They even had religious issues with the local Indians which caused even more problems between both the communities. Though they did have an appreciation for the Indians who had good cultivated land but since they their selves could cultivate the land too, they didn’t really have any issues of being dependant on the local people.
Difference between Jamestown and Plymouth
Basically both these regions, Plymouth and Jamestown had their locals as Indians. The differences, however, were those of the people who later on came to the region. In Jamestown, it was Europeans and in Plymouth it was Pilgrims. In Jamestown the conflicts were on the economical issue while in Plymouth, it were on economy and religion as well. In Jamestown, the Europeans were dependant on Indians because they could not cultivate land whereas in Plymouth, the Pilgrims were not dependant on Indians since they could cultivate the land. In Jamestown, there was no killing or barbarism whatsoever since the Indians were so generous and even though Europeans hated them, still there was no such thing. In Plymouth, the Pilgrims killed Indians for various reasons and enjoyed the fact they were slowly taking over the whole region with their power. There was a time when a disease badly hit the Indians of Plymouth and because their state was already low, they faced a lot of problems at that time.
I do not agree with what you said about the Pilgrims , “extreme barbarism” and that “these people loved to kill Indians for the sake of land, money or anything” They worked well with the local Native Americans, that is why we celebrate Thanksgiving today. It was the compact made between the leaders of both communities to work together after the colonies first starvation winter drafted from the Mayflower Compact. The Jamestown settlement hunted “Indians for sport” and suffered starvation to the point of documented cannibalism suffering a 80% mortality rate as opposed to the Plymouth colony’s 51% only during that first winter. Jamestown was King James’s First foothold on the American continent set up only to make a profit. They supplemented the high mortality rate with fleets of men and supplies to ensure its success even though today it remains a abandoned island. After surviving the first deadly winter the Pilgrims of Plymouth learned from the natives how to survive without constant supplies. Being outside of the Kings reach they devised a system of elected government that our Constitution was modeled after. The War of northern Aggression was a result of the differences in the two colonies and that once they established themselves as viable states with no English controlling powers war was inevitable because of the difference in ideology .
Daniel L. Hawk
10th great grandson of Plymouth Elder, William Brewster
Bullshit. Being the grandson doesn’t make what you said facts. Only your opinion. Opinions are like assholes,everyone has one. It eventually got to a point where they worked well with the local Native Americans. But there is plenty of evidence to support that in the beginning,Indians were killed for the land. Read up at the library instead of your familys journal.
History is recorded so it is not an opinion.
Nothing is perfect when new people arrive at a new place. It is no different than any other time in history. However, the Pilgrims gave America many key concepts including the first true democratic government through the Mayflower Compact, separation of Church & state, etc. People celebrating “Thanksgiving” may have occurred elsewhere, but its roots go back to Plymouth and presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln recognized its importance. Why don’t we celebrate the blessings from our roots rather than condemn people who tried to live according to God with flaws?