Settling Jamestown would be no small feat. Despite the odds of landing in a rather uninhabitable space with malaria and contaminated water, Jamestown was up against many struggles. The direction the colony could and did take reflect upon the leadership and plan set in place before even arriving. If I had made the plan, it would be much more quickly successful and beneficial to the mother country. There was no leadership established early on. The colonists were simply trying to survive day by day, instead of planning a strategy to get them further on into the future. They relied heavily on the shipments, which were never good enough, and didn’t supply enough of their own. Survival would have been easier if a plan had been created before, and some research conducted perhaps of the new land. The settlement would have had a better chance at survival if I had been in charge.

To begin, I would have sent strong leadership. Perhaps an old military general, or some other trusted official would be sent. The leader must be someone people would look up to and respect. With him, I’d send a few cabinet members to help make decisions and rule over smaller portions of the people. The leaders would set up housing and regulation rules first thing, and continue to keep them in check. Monthly, a routine inspection and evaluation of what needed to be completed and what had been done. Celebrations every three months after a shipment from our mother country would be a way to keep the forces strong. A group would be delegated for each task, IE: gardening, indian protection, animal hunting, and exploration of the New World. The leader’s cabinet would be of the leaders of these groups. There would also be a caretaking section where the doctors would live with a small staff to help the sick and the broken.

If I had run the settlement of Jamestown, things would be much more organized. A town without any leadership, organization, or opportunities to relax and realize how much it’s accomplished, will suffer; just as Jamestown suffered. Planning in advance would have saved many lives, and pushed the colony towards success much quicker.