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Colonial America (1492-1765)

Jamestown

Jamestown
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.75

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    disease-bearing, malnutrition, unwelcoming, original, provided, finding, riches, travelers, drought, entire, tobacco, roots, settlement, export, income, aboard
     content words:    Susan Constant, Cape Henry, James River, Virginia Company, New World, Many Jamestown, Captain John Smith, Lord De La Warr

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Jamestown
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     On May 6, 1607, three ships, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery landed on the American shore at Cape Henry. They decided to sail on into the James River, a wide and deep river that was safe for large sailing ships. Finally, they settled at the place that would soon become known as Jamestown.
 
2     Aboard the ships were 105 men and boys, but no women or girls. Some of the men were English gentlemen; some were adventurers. They all came to America with one thing in mind - becoming rich. Their trip had been sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, a company that hoped to make money by financing voyages to the New World.
 
3     Jamestown was a less than ideal place to settle. It was swampy and prone to bad weather. One of its unwelcoming features was hordes of disease-bearing mosquitoes.
 
4     Nevertheless, the travelers from England moved in. Right away, they began working on what they had come to America to do - hunt for treasure. They hoped to find gold, or silver, or other riches.

Paragraphs 5 to 14:
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