Sea Venture: Shipwreck, Survival, and the Salvation of the First English Colony in the New World, by Kieran Doherty: A Book Review

By James Barasch on December 28, 2014

Kieran Doherty, in “Sea Venture: Shipwreck, Survival, and the Salvation of the First English Colony in the New World” brings to vivid life a series of events that, if one had gone another way, might have spelled the end of not only Jamestown, but also English colonization and the United States as we know it. Jamestown’s early settlement of Virginia, far from being part of a triumphal march of British worldwide expansion and prosperity, was instead in an unknown land thousands of miles from home and reinforcement, surrounded by hostile natives, and burdened with inefficient leadership. However, fortuitous events and the heroic actions of individual leaders kept Jamestown from joining Roanoke in the list of failed English colonial efforts.  Instead, England’s successful settlement of Virginia led to the accidental colonization of Bermuda, sparked a flood of European settlement of North America in the 17th and 18th centuries, and triggered an unfortunate conflict with the native North American peoples that spanned over three centuries.

Due to its relatively small size and preoccupation with dynastic struggles during the 16th century, England was a latecomer to European colonial efforts. Lured by the fabulous riches of Spanish South America, and following the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, the English Crown chartered the London Virginia Company to explore, settle, and exploit England’s claimed lands on the North American Atlantic coast. In 1608, a preliminary settlement was established in a swampy, yet defensible and seaworthy, location on the modern-day James River. The colonists, however, many of whom were gentlemen unused to the difficult and dangerous work of building their homes out of the dense tidewater forest, suffered greatly and nearly 60% perished in the first winter from starvation, exposure, and native attacks. A fleet of seven ships carrying over 600 settlers and hundreds of tons of supplies was dispatched in 1609 as reinforcement, only to sail directly into a mid-Atlantic hurricane. Amazingly, most of the flotilla survived the ordeal and arrived at Jamestown, only to have over 500 colonists perish over the next six months. The Sea Venture, flagship of the reinforcing fleet, however, ran aground on the Bermuda archipelago, where the islands’ plentiful wood and wildlife not only sheltered the 150 colonists and crew and provided them the means to sail the remaining 650 miles to Virginia. It also recommended itself for colonization as a resupply station for transatlantic ships. The heroism of Sea Venture survivors such as Governor Thomas Gates, John Rolfe, William Strachey, and others, brought the mismanaged Jamestown colony from the brink of annihilation by starvation and native attack orchestrated by the wily Chief Powhatan. Thus encouraged, the backers of the Virginia Company successfully continued settlement and resupply efforts, without which the colony and perhaps the English colonial effort might have been doomed.

Many diaries and first-hand accounts of the settlement of Jamestown by Sea Venture survivors provide excellent primary source material for Sea Venture, and are amply utilized by Doherty, who spins a gripping tale that leaps off the pages like an adventure novel. Amply supplied with sources, maps, and a sparkling writing-style, Sea Venture is an excellent reading choice.

 

Rating: ****

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