2. The Brides Were Considered “Seasoned” After Surviving a Year of Disease and Attacks
No matter what offers the Virginia Company gave the Jamestown brides, they could not eliminate the harsh realities of the colony. Not much had changed for colonists from 1607 to 1620. The certainty of disease and death were just as high for the Jamestown brides as they had been for the first group of women. Thus, so many people passed away within weeks and months once they came to Jamestown that if the brides lived for more than a year, they were considered to be “seasoned.” This phrase indicated that if they lived through a whole year of disease, a harsh winter, and possibly Native American attacks, they were believed to be “seasoned” and would live to old age.
A couple of years after the Jamestown bride ships arrived in Jamestown Colony, they suffered through one of the most significant conflicts with the Native Americans in the colony’s history. Today, the attack is known as the 1622 Powhatan Uprising or the Indian Massacre of 1622. Because of all the land needed for the Jamestown brides in 1619, Powhatan and his tribe feared the settlers would take more land as more colonists came over. This notion threatened the survival of the tribe. On top of this, the colonists started to preach the Christian way of life and tried to convert the Native Americans, whom the colonists referred to as savages. Therefore, the Native Americans felt they needed to protect themselves and way of life by attacking Jamestown. It is believed at least one bride perished in the assault. The rest of the brides were then considered “seasoned.”