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I really liked the way you focused on the servant’s expression in the painting because that is something many people might overlook at first. Your point about how everyone else appears joyful while the servant looks exhausted really helps show the harsh reality behind early colonial life. I also think you connected Richard Frethorne’s account well because his letter gives direct evidence of how terrible the living conditions were for servants during this time. What stood out to me most in both the painting and Frethorne’s experience is how the success of the colonies often came at the expense of people who were overworked and treated unfairly. Your conclusion about the American Dream for some becoming an “American Nightmare” for others was especially powerful and really captures the inequality that existed in early colonial society.

Great work!

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I think this is a good comparison with what we know in the Troubled Colony Document. The relatively simply huts, the poor living conditions. Though the letter from Richard also supports this, noted from his quotes on how much diseases they experienced and how many people died from said diseases "for wee are in great danger, for o[u]r Plantac[i]on is very weake, by reason of the dearth, and sicknes, of o[u]r Companie, for wee came but Twentie for the marchaunts, and they are halfe dead"

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Part of a series of Paintings painted by Keith Rocco, according to the National Park Service

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Gabriel Stoner -Jamestown in the Winter of 1690

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Gabriel Stoner -Jamestown in the Winter of 1690

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This is a painting done by Keith Rocco depicting one of theearliest winters in James Town occuring 1690, the majority of the painting itself is not much to speak for... But the key to thispainting is the Servant's face. While everyone elsein this painting is Jolly and Joyous, laughing away... The servant's face is tire... Not angry, not sad... Just... weary...

This was not an uncommon face to find in the early colonialism days... Servants were rarely treated with kindness... And were often subjected to awful conditions that made them weary and exhausted, while the rich settlers sang and ate happily.

The account from Richard Frethorne supports this... Despite him being an Englishman, him being cast into a servant role had made him begging for a chance to return to England. They rarely had enough for much more than Gruel and Penny Bread. They often stole from one another for even barely decent meat and vegetables "My Cloke is stollen by one of my owne fellowes, and to his dying hower would not tell mee what he did with it but some of my fel lows saw him have butter and beife out of a ship, wch my Cloke I doubt [not] paid for" (Frethorne, 1623)

All and all, while some may have had the chance to experience the American Dream, the servants that they built it on experienced something closer to an American Nightmare... One that left them completely exhausted to the world around them.

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I liked your post and thought it was a good representation of the hardships faced by settlers in Jamestown. You mentioned Richard Frethorne's letter to his parents to illustrate the unstable living conditions in relation to the little access to food and supplies. It made me think of another part of his letter that I had read, where he says

"and when wee went up to Towne as it may bee on Moonedaye [Monday], at noone, and come there by night, then load the next day by noone, and goe homes in the afternoone, and unload, and then away againe in the night, and bee up about midnight, then if it rayned, or blowed never so hard wee must lye in the boate on the water, and have nothing but alitle bread, for when wee go into the boate wee have a loafe allowed to two men". This is somewhat of a long quote but I think it is a good representation of how much people relied on the boats for supplies. There is a continuation of the same cycle of checking the boat to unload supplies, yet not having enough bread for one person to have their own, as they end up sharing a small portion of bread between two people. It highlights the scarcity of food during this time and what daily living was like near these Chesapeake settlements.

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The image is the "First trading post of Clayborne on Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay 1631", found on the Alamy website. I chose this image because I found it to be a good representation of the Chesapeake colonial living conditions, specifically the plantations that were mentioned in "Virginia, A Troubled Colony". Within the reading, the plantations are described as muddy areas with lakes and creeks that sit on salt marshes. The document compares the conditions of these near-water plantations to the harshest conditions within the "most unhealthy parts of England". This comparison is made to highlight and emphasize how poor the living conditions truly were, as the average plantation of Virginia, and areas bordering Maryland, were similar to some of the worst parts of England. It is tied to the culture of Chesapeake times as it was not only brutal for the duration of settlement, but for the time leading into it as well. The harsh weather as a result of winter conditions, on top of the already present disease and illnesses, were also a major factor of the hardships described.

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First trading post of Clayborne on Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay 1631. Hand-colored woodcut Stock Photo - Alamy

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Download this stock image: First trading post of Clayborne on Kent Island in Chesapeake Bay 1631. Hand-colored woodcut - A8WJW9 from Alamy’s library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

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This drawing is called "Settlers at Jamestown" Source: 1876 NY Public Library"

This drawing shows the struggles and the lack of any living necessities that the settlers would have been accustomed to back in England or even on the ship.

It reminds me of the letter that Richard Frethorne wrote to his parents to tell of the hardships that he was encountering in New England. I can imagine that these people depicted here just landed and although there may have been others here that previously settled, it shows the nothingness on this land, and that the settlers would have been totally dependent on the supplies that came with them on the ship. Richard, tells of life past that point owhere he was only eating "ani thing but pease [porridge] and loblolllie [that is water grue]. How different than probably their expectations of living and seeing a "new world", New England. In the document "Virginia, A Troubled Colony" 1622, much later, I get the impression that the marketing campaign for the New World was a glossy misrepresentation as the document states "... and the pamphlets that had published [there] being sent thither by hundreds, were laughed to scorn, and every base fellow boldly gave them the lye in divers particulars....".

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Reading “Virginia, A Troubled Colony” and Chapter 3 of The American Yawp helped me understand how unstable and difficult early Chesapeake society really was. The region struggled with high death rates, disease, food shortages, and conflict, especially in Jamestown’s early years (“Virginia, A Troubled Colony”). One major factor was the reliance on tobacco cultivation, which required a large labor force and created a demand for indentured servants. The American Yawp also notes that Virginia’s early mortality rate was extremely high, so the colony constantly needed new laborers just to keep the tobacco economy going (American Yawp, ch. 3).

This connects directly to Richard Frethorne’s letter, where he describes the reality of indentured servitude as extremely harsh. Instead of the opportunity he expected, he experienced hunger and suffering, showing the gap between expectations and reality for many laborers (Frethorne, “Letter to Father and Mother”). The American Yawp explains that Virginia’s economy depended heavily on tobacco, which made labor exploitation central to survival and profit in the colony (American Yawp, ch. 3).

Lastly, these sources show that Chesapeake society was not stable or prosperous in its early years, but instead was shaped by survival struggles, labor exploitation, and harsh living conditions that affected both settlers and indentured servants (“Virginia, A Troubled Colony”; Frethorne).

(Apologies, I didn't know if you meant two posts separate or two posts, including peers' response) :)

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For this post, I chose an image depicting an early Jamestown settlement during the “starving time,” showing settlers struggling to survive in harsh colonial conditions with very limited food and shelter. This kind of illustration is usually a modern historical reconstruction created in the 20th or 21st century to represent Jamestown around 1609–1610.

I believe this image shows the extreme hardship, hunger, and survival conditions faced by early settlers. It highlights how unprepared many colonists were for the environment they encountered and how dependent they became on inconsistent food supplies and, at times, Native assistance. This ties directly to Chesapeake culture because the region was heavily shaped by tobacco farming, labor shortages, and unstable living conditions that led to high death rates and reliance on indentured servants.

A specific piece of evidence from Richard Frethorne’s “Letter to Father and Mother” supports this. Frethorne writes that he is “almost starved” and has little access to food or proper supplies. His letter shows how desperate life was for indentured servants, many of whom expected opportunity but instead experienced extreme hunger and hardship in Virginia.

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After reading document 3-1 and “Virginia, A Troubled Colony,” make TWO posts:

(Be sure to put your name in the title of each post)

ONE: Choose and post any image (that does not appear in the textbook or lecture) that you feel is a good representation of Chesapeake colonial living conditions.
Then explain:

-         Who created it and when

-         What you believe it shows

-         How it is tied to Chesapeake culture

-         Be sure to include at least one specific piece of evidence from the documents.

TWO: Pick which one of your other group member's posts you think was best - make a new post next to it explaining why. Be sure to include one piece of evidence backing up your decision.