Starving Time
The Starving Time at Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia was a period of starvation during the winter of 1609–1610. There were about 500 Jamestown residents at the beginning of the winter; by spring only 61 people remained alive.
The colonists, the first group of whom had originally arrived on May 13, 1607, had never planned to grow all of their own food. Their plans depended upon trade with the local Powhatan to supply them with food between the arrivals of periodic supply ships from England. Lack of access to water and a severe drought crippled the agricultural production of the colonists. The water that the colonists drank was brackish and potable for only half of the year. A fleet from England, damaged by a hurricane, arrived months behind schedule with new colonists but without adequate food supplies.
On June 7, 1610, the survivors boarded ships, abandoned the colony site, and sailed downstream to the Chesapeake Bay. There, another supply convoy with new supplies, headed by newly appointed governor Francis West, intercepted them on the lower James River and returned them to Jamestown. Within a few years, the commercialization of tobacco by John Rolfe secured the settlement's long-term economic prosperity. There is historical and scientific evidence that the settlers at Jamestown had turned to cannibalism during the starving time.
Dependency upon outside resources
The English settlement at Jamestown had been established on May 24, 1607, with the arrival of three ships commanded by Captain Christopher Newport. The initial small group of 104 men and boys chose the location because it was favorable for defensive purposes, but it offered poor hunting prospects and a shortage of drinking water. Although they did some farming, few of the original settlers were accustomed to manual labor or were familiar with farming. Hunting on the island was poor, and they quickly exhausted the supply of small game. The colonists were largely dependent upon trade with the Native Americans and periodic supply ships from England for their food.A series of incidents with the Native Americans soon developed into serious conflicts, ending any hope of a commercial alliance with them. This forced the settlers into close quarters, behind fortified walls, severely limiting their ability to farm the area and trade with other Indian tribes. Various attempts at farming led to kidnappings and killings by the Powhatans, while expeditions to establish relations with other Native Americans resulted either in the emissaries being ambushed and killed by the Powhatans, or proved fruitless in gaining sufficient supplies. The combination of disease, killings, and kidnapping almost obliterated the initial English population.
First and second supply trips
After dropping off the settlers, and returning to England, Christopher Newport returned to Jamestown in January 1608 from England with what was called the "first supply" and about 100 additional settlers. Upon his return, he found that the effects of the lack of planning and lack of skills among the original colonists had combined with Powhatan attacks in reducing the original settlement to only 38 survivors.After expanding fortifications, reinforcing shelters, and placing armed men to defend crops from native attacks, Newport felt he had secured the settlement by the end of winter. He sailed for England again in April 1608, returning to Jamestown that October with the "second supply". On board were the colony's first two women—Mistress Forrest and her maid Anne Burras—as well as more supplies and additional settlers, including craftsmen trained to make glass.
Trading with the indigenous people for food
Among the leaders, Captain John Smith had emerged as most capable of successfully trading with the indigenous population. Over the first several months of settlement, the survivors had gained sufficient intelligence of the surrounding tribes to start more focused diplomatic initiatives with Powhatan's enemies. Using the Discovery, the smallest of the three ships which had been left behind for their use, the colonists explored the surrounding area including the Chesapeake Bay. Smith successfully traded for food with the Nansemonds, who were located along the Nansemond River. He had mixed results dealing with the various other tribes, most of whom were affiliated with the Powhatan Confederacy.With the coming arrival of the supply fleet, Smith felt the colony was sufficiently reinforced to engage the Powhatan directly with a diplomatic initiative aimed at securing at least a temporary respite from sniping, kidnapping, and assaulting. Taking a small escort they made their way through incessant attacks to the capital of the Powhatan Confederacy. During one legendary encounter with the warrior Opechancanough, Smith's life was spared by the intervention of Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhatan. This event initially proved fortuitous for the English, as Chief Powhatan was obviously unaware of the dire straits of the colony. However, shortly after Newport returned in early January 1608, bringing new colonists and supplies, one of the new colonists accidentally started a fire that leveled all of the colony's living quarters. The fire further deepened the settlement's dependence on the Native Americans for food and revealed to Chief Powhatan the weakness of the English colony. In August 1609, Smith, who had gained the respect of the Powhatans, was injured in a gunpowder accident and had to return to England for medical treatment, leaving on October 4, 1609. With Smith gone, Powhatans stopped trading with the colonists for food.
John Ratcliffe, captain of the Discovery, became colony president and tried to improve the colony's situation by obtaining food. Hoping to emulate Smith, Ratcliffe attempted a trade mission; shortly after being elected, he was captured by Chief Powhatan and tortured to death, leaving the colony without strong leadership. The Powhatans carried out additional attacks on other colonists who came in search of trade. Hunting also became very dangerous, as they killed any Englishmen they found outside of the fort.
Third supply misfortune
The Virginia Company's "third supply" mission was the largest yet, led by the Sea Venture flagship. The Sea Venture was considerably larger than the other eight ships traveling, carrying a large portion of the supplies intended for the Virginia Colony.The "third supply" to Jamestown with a nine-vessel fleet left London on June 2, 1609. Veteran Captain Christopher Newport commanded the Sea Venture as vice admiral. Also aboard the flagship were the Admiral of the Company, Sir George Somers, Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Gates, William Strachey and other notable personages in the early history of English colonization in North America.
While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the convoy transporting 500 new colonists and supplies ran into a severe tropical storm, possibly a hurricane, which lasted for three days. The Sea Venture and one other ship were separated from the seven other vessels of the fleet. Admiral Somers had the Sea Venture deliberately driven onto the reefs of Bermuda to prevent its sinking. The 150 passengers and crew members all landed safely on July 28, but the ship was beyond repair.
In the aftermath of the storm, one ship returned to England. The other seven ships arrived safely at Jamestown, delivering 200–300 men, women, and children, but relatively few supplies. In the colony, there was no word of the fate of the Sea Venture, its supplies, passengers, or the leaders. Captain Samuel Argall, commanding one of the ships of the third supply which made it to Jamestown, was among those who hurried back to England to advise of Jamestown's plight. However, no further supply ships from England arrived that year nor the following spring of 1610.
Winter 1609–1610: Hunger and cannibalism
At Jamestown, a drought earlier in 1609 during the normal growing season had left the fields of the colonists of Virginia barren. Combined with the lack of trade with the Native Americans and the failure of the third supply to arrive with expected supplies, the colony found itself with far too little food for the winter. A diet of only maize results in vitamin deficiency. With the new arrivals, there were many more mouths to feed. There are few records of the hardships the colonists experienced in Virginia that winter. Arms and valuable work tools were traded to the Powhatans for a pittance in food. Houses were used as firewood. Settlers ate laundry starch intended for gentleman fashion. Archaeologists have found evidence that they ate cats, dogs, horses, and rats.Cannibalism was confirmed in 2013 to have occurred in at least one case; the remains of a teenage girl of about fourteen years were forensically analyzed and shown to have telltale marks consistent with butchering meat. The excavators found the girl's skull and leg bones, together with bones of "butchered horses and dogs" in a "trash deposit" in an underground room that had been used as a kitchen at that time. According to the forensic evidence, cuts made to the skull and bones clearly indicate that brain and edible tissue had been separated from the bones in the same way as with butchered animals, providing "clear evidence of cannibalism." An analysis of the teeth and bones shows that the girl – who was named Jane by the excavators, while her real name is not known – had only recently immigrated, probably from southern England.
That cannibalism had been practiced during the Starving Time had already been known from half a dozen accounts written about the period. George Percy, who had been president of the city council during the crisis, later reported "that the living dug up and ate corpses, and that a husband killed his wife and then butchered her, preserved her with salt, and ate parts of her before he was caught." The husband was executed. That a woman was murdered and eaten by her husband is confirmed by four other accounts of the famine time. A further account does not mention her but states that dead settlers, as well as one Native American who had died in a fight, were eaten.
It is possible that Jane was the murdered wife – she was young, but, according to the customs of the time, not necessarily too young to be married. However, based on her age, her diet, and the fact that she had apparently arrived only a short time before, the archaeologists who studied the case conclude that she might rather have been "a maidservant for a gentlemen's household" – her diet was not as good as typical for upper-class people, but better than usual for the lower classes. Jane's cause of death is unknown. There are no traces of violence preceding her death, but she could have been murdered in a way that left no traces on the bones that have been found, or she might have died of hunger or illness.