I've chosen to look at John Smith's account on the Starving Times. It starts off in 1609, and details the early Jamestown settlement. The account is written from many different viewpoints inter cut with John Smith's own opinions and views. The beginning of the account details captains Martin and West "having lost their boats and near half their men among the Savages" This gives quite a negative view of the Native Americans, attacking settlers and killing half of a a captain's crew and destroying their boat.
It goes onto say that Captain Sicklemore with thirty people, were all slain apart from one, which the Native American princess Pocahontas saved. It details the great starvation that the settlers went through, during the early years of the Jamestown. It says "then swords, armes, peices, or anything, wee traded with the Salvages, whose cruell fingers were so oft inbrewed in our blouds, that by their crueltie our Governours indiscretion, and the losse of our ships" From what I can gather from this, it says that they traded with the Native Americans their weapons, and anything they could find, for food, which in turn caused devastation as they Natives used these weapons against the settlers supply ships.
It describes the condition of the lack of food with "there remained not past sixtie men, women and children, most miserable and poor creatures..." it likens them to the horses they have not feed, because of the major lack of food. It even details circumstances of cannibalism, as the writer says "a Salvage we slew and buried, the poorer tooke him up againe and eat him" and another case of a man killing his wife and eating her, before being found out and executed.
It seems that during the very first few years after establishing Jamestown, the settlers had many things to worry about, for example the food situation after their supplies from England ran dry, they did not know how to farm from the land as they did in England. Other problems included the Natives attacking them and destroying ships and killing men. The fact that they had the settlers had to rely on the Natives in a way, created some sort of friendship, yet still one that would be broken by both parties.
Source
It goes onto say that Captain Sicklemore with thirty people, were all slain apart from one, which the Native American princess Pocahontas saved. It details the great starvation that the settlers went through, during the early years of the Jamestown. It says "then swords, armes, peices, or anything, wee traded with the Salvages, whose cruell fingers were so oft inbrewed in our blouds, that by their crueltie our Governours indiscretion, and the losse of our ships" From what I can gather from this, it says that they traded with the Native Americans their weapons, and anything they could find, for food, which in turn caused devastation as they Natives used these weapons against the settlers supply ships.
It describes the condition of the lack of food with "there remained not past sixtie men, women and children, most miserable and poor creatures..." it likens them to the horses they have not feed, because of the major lack of food. It even details circumstances of cannibalism, as the writer says "a Salvage we slew and buried, the poorer tooke him up againe and eat him" and another case of a man killing his wife and eating her, before being found out and executed.
It seems that during the very first few years after establishing Jamestown, the settlers had many things to worry about, for example the food situation after their supplies from England ran dry, they did not know how to farm from the land as they did in England. Other problems included the Natives attacking them and destroying ships and killing men. The fact that they had the settlers had to rely on the Natives in a way, created some sort of friendship, yet still one that would be broken by both parties.
Source
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