Do we really need others? For the past 15 years, I have made the issue of “community” a major issue in my life. The more I’ve taught & studied US history over the years, the more intense comes my belief that without a clear sense of holding together, the country fails. I’ve written about this recently, first looking at a comparison of Samson and David, then more recently by looking at the Pilgrims in Plymouth. Let’s turn now to Jamestown.
Last month I told you of my amazing discovery that the colony at Jamestown was initially founded with only men. For those who think society can easily be maintained with a large percentage of same-sex only relationships, they will be disappointed to discover that the colony almost failed because there were no women, no families. The leaders of the business that was funding the colony quickly learned their lesson and women were encouraged to move to Virginia. By 1620, a large number of ladies had taken the incredible risk to move to the New World for the entire purpose of marrying the men who were already there, founding families; through those families, and the families that established the Plymouth colony, the Maryland colony and the Massachusetts colony would be the foundation of a new nation.
But, that’s not the only lesson from Jamestown. As I told you last month, the colony didn’t really work at first. Initially, the English found out that unlike the Spanish, there was no easy gold to find, and unlike the French, they did not discover a wealth in furs. By September of 1608, the colony was in real trouble and over the next ten years, things remained in doubt. By 1610, the colony had lost about 80% of their settlers, but slowly but surely, more settlers arrived, including women. Over those years, the Jamestown settlers finally figured out that their future lay with agriculture. But, that finding had other issues than just not having families to support the farming. No, their other crisis was that they didn’t initially understand the focus of community.
I wrote previously of the wonderful statement from one of my church members, when he wrote, quoting a new book he was reading, that community works when it is “a living, breathing organism whose members are so intimately connected that they can only move together. On any given day, every member of that body needs help, and every member has some help to give.” The men of Jamestown didn’t really understand that. I suppose that’s natural since, basically, they were all just employees of this company, the Virginia Company of London. If I was sent to colonize the moon with several people from my work, I might not really think that we needed to be “so intimately connected that we can only move together.” Of course, the Pilgrims understood this, but they were Christians, devout and determined, having already spent the past decade or so only able to lean on each other.
Back in Virginia, if they didn’t figure this issue out, they were in trouble. Part of the issue was that many of the original 100 colonists were from the upper class in England. In the 1500s, all of Europe was still a feudal society with Lords and Ladies, a very small percentage of people, controlling the lives of the majority, peasants or serfs. England had become the more liberal location, with most of the feudal structure abandoned, but the basic concept still remained. Under the King, the only house of Parliament that really mattered was the House of Lords. Wealth and land ownership was centered still in the hands of the Nobility. It had been the Spanish Nobility that had come to dominate their holdings in the New World, and young sons of the English Lords wanted their shot.
After it became clear that there wasn’t just gold lying around in Virginia, this problem of rich and poor, nobility and peasants, came to a head. The colony leaders were in a crisis as the summer of 1608 came to an end. Many of the rich nobility simply had no plans to actually work in the fields nor really take up arms to protect the colony (though they’d more eagerly carry a gun than a plow). Into the story comes John Smith.
Smith is typically better known by most young American children through the story with Pocahontas. The story of her helping in some way to save Smith from a ritual sacrifice is well known; the subsequent love affair or marriage is the mythical part, though Pocahontas does end up marrying a John, John Rolfe. Well, in September 1608, Smith, who had been away from the colony, returned to find things in a shambles. He immediately saw the problem–the colonists were not acting like a community, but rather a group of isolated individuals. The nobility would not help much at all for the success of the group.
So, Smith took over. It is unclear as to if he was elected or if he just carried out a coup of sorts, but in any case, upon becoming in charge, he instituted a “no work, no food” policy. Obviously, this was resisted by some of the nobility, so in what some today might consider a dictatorial move, Smith had to use “tough love” on those rich sons of nobles who initially refused to work. And, as the Pilgrims could have told them, it worked. As the winter went on, things were not going to be great. After 1610, in what was called “the starving time,” about 80% of the population died, but rather than folding, the group was able to pull together.
Why? Because Smith’s tough love had confirmed the idea that community is critical.
We are equally in our own national crisis. Want an easy answer? We need to be reminded that in order to survive, we need each other.
Students have started a new semester. Want a better grade? Build community in your classroom; studies continue to show that students who study with others, prep for exams together and generally build friendships in their classrooms perform better.
In a new job? Back in your college dorm? Trying to start a non-profit movement for some passion of yours? Build a community.
It worked for the USA, thanks to John Smith. It will work for you too.