VOICE ONE:
Almost four-hundred years ago, three British ships loaded withpassengers and supplies sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. Their tripwas long and difficult. They settled on the edge of the James Riverin sixteen-oh-seven. They immediately began building what was tobecome England’s first permanent settlement in America. I’m SarahLong.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. The colony of Jamestown, Virginia is ourreport today on the VOA Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
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VOICE ONE:
Unlike the first colonists on Jamestown Island, people todayarrive by car. As they drive up, visitors can either stop at theJamestown Settlement or they can see the very place where thecolonists first settled on Jamestown Island.
The Jamestown Settlement is a re-created version of the colonyand a nearby Powhatan Indian village. Visitors can see what life waslike in the colony almost four-hundred years ago. The people whowork at the settlement speak English the way people did in theseventeenth-century. They also wear clothes from that time periodand fire musket guns from colonial days. Visitors can see the kindof food the settlers ate, the games they played and the way theylived.
There are also recreated versionsof the ships that carried the colonists to Jamestown Island. Theships were called the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery.
VOICE TWO:
Jamestown Settlement was built by the state of Virginia innineteen-fifty-seven to celebrate the three-hundred-fiftiethanniversary of the former colony. The goal was to bring morevisitors to the area. This is because the true place where thesettlers landed on Jamestown Island offered visitors little to see.Today, however, this has changed. Historians, archeologists andresearch experts are now working to uncover the remains of the oldcolony.
The United States National Parks Service and a Virginiahistorical organization jointly run Jamestown Island. The two groupswork together to provide visitors with a full understanding of thehistorical value of the land and the remains that are beingdiscovered there.
VOICE ONE:
For example, several months after arriving in America inSixteen-Oh-Seven, the colonists built a three-sided structure, orfort, along the edge of the island. Some of the remains of that fortstill exist today. However, for years, researchers believed the forthad worn away into the James River.
People visiting Jamestown Island will see a huge archeologicalproject. Guides answer questions about the discoveries being made.Several hundred-thousand historical objects have already beenrecovered from the colony, including the remains of an earlysettler. Visitors can see many of these historic objects at thevisitor center at the entrance to Jamestown.
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VOICE TWO:
The first few years of life in the Jamestown colony wereextremely difficult. The colonists suffered from lack of food anddiseases. They clashed with the Native American Indians who livedthere. The winter of Sixteen-Oh-Nine was one of the worst periods inthe colony’s history. It was called “the starving time” becauseeveryone went hungry. Almost ninety percent of the colonists diedthat year. Weapons and valuable farming tools were traded to theIndians for small amounts of food. Wood from people’s homes wasburned for heat. There were no crops, and no hope.
To mark this difficult time, a memorial cross was built on theeastern coast of Jamestown Island. It honors some of thethree-hundred burial places dug by the settlers during “the starvingtime.” Queen Elizabeth of England attended the observance inJamestown in Nineteen-Fifty-Seven when the Memorial Cross wasraised.
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VOICE ONE:
Jamestown is divided into two areas — “Old Towne” and “NewTowne.” The new area of the settlement was built in sixteen-twenty.This is when the colonists had become economically secure throughthe trade of smoking tobacco. Many settlers built homes in the NewTowne area. Visitors can still see parts of these buildings,including the ruins of the Ambler Mansion. This was a two-floor homebuilt in the mid-seventeen-hundreds. It is one of the oldeststanding structures at Jamestown.
VOICE TWO:
Another historic building on Jamestown Island is the old colonialchurch. A wood version of this church was first built inSixteen-Seventeen. Years later, in Sixteen-Thirty-Nine, a stonechurch was built in its place. Jamestown Church has great historicalvalue. The first representative legislature in America met here inSixteen-Nineteen. During this meeting, a plan of self-government wasestablished for all future American colonies.
VOICE ONE:
People can also visit the Old Colonial Tower next to theJamestown Church. This tall building was added to the church inSixteen-Forty-Seven. Traditionally, builders of seventeenth centuryEnglish churches added the bell tower after the church was finished.At one time, the Old Colonial Tower stood fourteen meters high andhad two upper floors. Six small windows were on the top floor. Thoseopenings permitted light to enter the upper room. They also let thesound of the church bell be heard across the colony.
VOICE TWO:
Near the historic Old Church Tower is a statue of the Indianwoman, Pocahontas. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan. Shemarried English colonist John Rolfe in Sixteen-Fourteen. Thismarriage began an eight-year period of peace between the settlersand the Powhatan Indians. Jamestown used this peaceful time todevelop and grow a new crop– tobacco. With the help of Pocahontas,tobacco for smoking became as valuable as gold. By Sixteen-Nineteen,the colony had exported more than nine-thousand kilograms of tobaccoto Europe.
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VOICE ONE:
Near the statue of Pocahontas is the Tercentenary Monument. Thistall memorial stands thirty-one meters high. It was built inNineteen-Oh-Seven to mark the three-hundredth anniversary ofJamestown. The monument is made of smooth white stone. TercentenaryMonument is a place where visitors gather before a Jamestown guideleads them on a walk around the former colony.
For visitors who want to drive around the island, there is a fouror eight-kilometer road that circles Jamestown. The drive providesvisitors with a look at the natural environment first discovered bythe settlers. Signs along the drive tell about the early industriesand agricultural traditions of the colonists.
Down the road from Jamestown is a stone building known as theglasshouse. Local artists work here every day. They demonstrate forvisitors how the Jamestown settlers made glass products.Glass-blowing was one of the early industries started by the Englishcolonists in Virginia.
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VOICE TWO:
Nearly one-hundred years after Jamestown was settled, a rebellionled by colonist Nathaniel Bacon burned the settlement to the ground.The colony fell into ruin in sixteen-ninety-nine, when the capitalof Virginia moved to Williamsburg. Jamestown never became the greatcity its first settlers imagined. But it did allow England toestablish a permanent presence in North America. Jamestown,America’s first colony, started a culture that would shape thiscountry forever.
In two-thousand-seven, Jamestown will celebrate itsfour-hundredth anniversary. State and federal officials are planningspecial events. They want Jamestown to be remembered as the placewhere America’s government, economy and culture were born.
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VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Jill Moss. It was produced by CatyWeaver. Our studio engineer was Mick Shaw. I’m Sarah Long.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another reportabout life in the United States on the VOA Special English programThis is America.