Jamestown, Virginia is considered as the first, still existing, settlement made by the Europeans in America. The colonists from Jamestown, like the men of many other firsts, had hardships even before they arrived in America. From the original 144 men who sailed from England, only 104 made it to land. Their first mistake came at when they decided on where they would make their settlement. After learning from the lost settlement of Roanoke, they choose a site that was farther inland and seemed more defensible from attacks. This ended up being very fatal mistake that costed the lives roughly 90% of all those who lived in Jamestown over the first five years. Their site, although well defensible, was in a low land valley surrounded by deep forests. The valley land became very hot and humid in the summer months and was a haven for insects and deadly diseases, such as malaria. Brackish drinking water, little cultivating land for harvests, and being surrounded by hostile Indian tribes created many more problems for the colonists. .
The stockholders back in England thought of Jamestown as an investment that would quickly bring money back to England. They saw little long-term advantages and therefore did not see a purpose to make a full fledge society at Jamestown. With this low idea to make a family oriented settlement, women were not brought to Jamestown for a few years. This made the men at Jamestown homesick and lacking of good home life. Most of the original colonists were of upper class nobility and adventurous men. These types of people however, proved to be the worst type of people to start a new town. Instead of laboring these men believed that they would have others serving them. Poor eating habits, malnutrition, and poor drinking water later amplified this laziness. The slothfulness grew so much that men would rather starve in idleness than gorge themselves in labor. Much of the food that the colonists ate was received from Indians through trade.