Bibliograph

The shipwreck that saved Jamestown, the Sea Venture castaways and the fate of America, Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith

Type

Label

The shipwreck that saved Jamestown, the Sea Venture castaways and the fate of America, Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-310) and index

Illustrations

illustrationsmaps

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The shipwreck that saved Jamestown

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

177818614

Responsibility statement

Lorri Glover and Daniel Blake Smith

Sub title

the Sea Venture castaways and the fate of America

Summary

The English had long dreamed of colonizing America, especially after Sir Francis Drake brought home Spanish treasure and dramatic tales from his raids in the Caribbean. Ambitions of finding gold and planting a New World colony seemed within reach when in 1606 Thomas Smythe extended overseas trade with the launch of the Virginia Company. But from the beginning the American enterprise was a disaster. Within two years warfare with Indians and dissent among the settlers threatened to destroy Smythe<U+2019>s Jamestown just as it had Raleigh<U+2019>s Roanoke a generation earlier. To rescue the doomed colonists and restore order, the company chose a new leader, Thomas Gates. Nine ships left Plymouth in the summer of 1609<U+2014>the largest fleet England had ever assembled<U+2014>and sailed into the teeth of a storm so violent that “it beat all light from Heaven.” The inspiration for Shakespeare<U+2019>s The Tempest, the hurricane separated the flagship from the fleet, driving it onto reefs off the coast of Bermuda<U+2014>a lucky shipwreck (all hands survived) which proved the turning point in the colony<U+2019>s fortune

Target audience

adult

Classification