USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -They fished regularly and planted crops. Even so, the colony continued to depend on trade with the Indians for much of its food supply. During Smith’s administration no settlers died of starvation. More colonists joined the colony, including Jamestown’s first women.

Detailed explanation-2: -By the winter of 1609/10, the English had been at Jamestown for two-and-a-half years, and still they starved. They had yet to grow crops to feed themselves, relying instead on Indians’ corn.

Detailed explanation-3: -Initially, English colonists sought to rely on trade with the Powhatan Indians for corn and meat. The first colonists were also preoccupied with searching for gold, so they did not spend adequate time planting corn or other crops to become self-sufficient without help from the Indians.

Detailed explanation-4: -Corn was the most important staple food grown by Native Americans, but corn stalks also provided a pole for beans to climb and the shade from the corn benefited squash that grew under the leaves. The beans, as with all legumes, provided nitrogen for the corn and squash.

Detailed explanation-5: -Anthropologists have found petrified corncobs over 5000 years old in Indian ruins. Columbus took corn back to Spain, and from there, corn was introduced to western European farmers. The Indian name for corn is maize (ma-hiz). Indians helped early European settlers by teaching them how to grow corn to eat.