Starving Time

Starving Time
source
Name	Starving Time
Caption	A reconstruction of James Fort, where the events occurred.
Location	Jamestown, Virginia
Period	Winter 1609–1610
Total deaths	Approximately 80% of the population
Causes	Severe drought, siege by Powhatan Confederacy, poor leadership, failed supply missions
Consequences	Near-abandonment of the colony; arrival of Lord De La Warr; shift towards tobacco cultivation

Starving Time refers to the winter of 1609–1610 during which the English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia faced catastrophic famine and population collapse. Triggered by a combination of a severe regional drought, a blockade by the Powhatan Confederacy, and failed supply missions from England, the event nearly caused the permanent failure of the Virginia Company of London's enterprise. The period is a pivotal and dark chapter in the early history of Colonial America and the broader British colonization of the Americas.

Background and context

The Jamestown settlement, established in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London, faced persistent challenges from its inception, including poor location, disease, and tense relations with the indigenous Powhatan Confederacy. The colony's leadership was often fractious, exemplified by the deposing of Captain John Smith in the fall of 1609 and his subsequent return to England. This departure removed a key figure who had enforced discipline and managed a precarious trade relationship with Wahunsenacawh's people. Furthermore, the colony was critically dependent on supply ships from England, which were often delayed or lost, and on cultivating local food sources, a task for which many English colonists were ill-prepared. A prolonged drought, identified through modern study of dendrochronology from Chesapeake Bay cypress trees, had created a period of exceptional aridity known as the Jamestown drought, severely reducing agricultural yields for both the English and the Powhatan.

The winter of 1609–1610

With Smith gone, the colony, under the ineffective presidency of George Percy, was isolated by a Powhatan siege intended to starve the English out of Tsenacommacah. The expected relief fleet, the Third Supply, was disrupted when its flagship, the Sea Venture, was wrecked in Bermuda, stranding new leaders like Sir Thomas Gates and John Rolfe. Trapped within James Fort and unable to hunt or forage, the approximately 500 colonists began to perish rapidly from starvation and disease. Contemporary accounts, such as those by Percy and settler William Strachey, describe desperate conditions where food stores were exhausted, and the population resorted to eating horses, dogs, rats, and even snakes. The death toll was staggering, reducing the population to about 60 survivors by May 1610.

Survival strategies and extreme measures

As conditions deteriorated, colonists engaged in increasingly extreme measures for survival. There are multiple documented accusations, later investigated by the Virginia Company, of colonists resorting to cannibalism, including the consumption of a deceased individual. Others attempted to flee to the Powhatan, often being captured and executed, or ventured out in search of shellfish, risking attack. The leadership under Percy proved incapable of maintaining order or equitable distribution of the vanishing food supplies. The psychological and social breakdown was nearly complete, with the community's survival hinging on the faint hope of rescue from England or the arrival of the lost Sea Venture survivors.

Aftermath and historical impact

In May 1610, the survivors, having decided to abandon Jamestown, were met at the mouth of the James River by the long-delayed relief expedition. This fleet, commanded by Gates and Lord De La Warr, who had been shipwrecked on Bermuda, forced the colonists to return and re-fortify the settlement. De La Warr's arrival marked the beginning of a more militaristic and aggressive policy against the Powhatan Confederacy, leading to the First Anglo-Powhatan War. The near-disaster prompted the Virginia Company to reorganize its governance, culminating in the harsh but effective Lawes Divine, Morall and Martiall. The colony's economic salvation soon followed with John Rolfe's introduction of a profitable strain of tobacco, cementing Virginia's future. The event remains a central case study in the perils of early colonial ventures and environmental history.

In popular culture

The Starving Time has been depicted in several notable works of historical fiction and drama. It features prominently in the 2005 film *The New World*, directed by Terrence Malick, which dramatizes the early years of Jamestown. The period is also a key narrative element in the Matthew Sharpe novel *Jamestown* and has been the subject of numerous television documentaries, including episodes of the PBS series *American Experience* and the History Channel's *America: The Story of Us*. These portrayals often emphasize the extreme hardship and the complex interactions between the English colonists and the Powhatan people.

Category:History of Virginia Category:1609 in the British Empire Category:1610 in the British Empire Category:Famines in the United States Category:Jamestown, Virginia