Jamestown and the Pilgrims at Plymouth

Early reports from Jamestown tell of hunger, death, disorder, and disappointment - partly due to the accusatory style of its competing settlers and partly a result of regional politics. Plagued though it was, the Jamestown experiment offered lessons in colonization that contributed to the success of other colonies, including Plymouth. Edward Winslow, a leader of the Plymouth colony, is known to have read John Smith's writings on colonization that drew heavily from his experience at Jamestown. So why does Plymouth get all the ink in history textbooks? Karen Kupperman, Crandall Shiflett, and James Whittenburg say that Jamestown's disorderly "Animal House" reputation, whether right or wrong, led to a loss of status in our national story. With Good Reason a Virginia Humanities Radio program.