Hello and welcome to a history of the United States. Episode 6. Aggressive Negotiations.

Remember that this is a listener-supported podcast. If you like the podcast and want to support it,

you can do that by signing up for membership at the website, the history ofpodcast.com.

Just click on the PayPal subscription button. If you think back to episode three, when we originally set up Jamestown, there were seven

leading councillors. Within 15 months, Gosnold died from illness. Candle had been shot,

Martin had left. Newport was commuting between Jamestown and London. Both Wingfield and Radcliffe had been disposed. There was only Smith left. Newport was commuting between James Town and London, both Wingfield and Radcliffe

had been disposed. There was only Smith left. So, when he became president of the colony in July

1608, what was his first action? He, uh, left. He didn't abandon the colony. He just decided to continue his exploring, and left

Scrivener, who you'll recall was added to the council last week, in charge for the moment.

I won't bore you with the details since Smith was looking for a river, which could take him to the

southern ocean, the kind of which didn't exist, and lots of dealing with local tribes.

Various attacks, trading missions, and diplomatic dealings took place, which you can find yourself if you wish.

But I really don't think you'd appreciate me throwing name after name

after name at you without any real context. But basically, this was a six-week expedition around

Chesapeake Bay, and they returned to Jamestown on September 7th. He'd gained much information,

but no gold.

The fort had been worse, but Jamestown couldn't be called in good condition.

These had been the sickly months and many had died, while the fort was not as already for Newport's expected arrival. First things first, they had to sort out the constitutional mess, just what was going on

with the leadership. On September 7th, Smith was formerly elected president, and he began to set about

improving things. The eastern wall was taken down so that the colony could expand, and it doubled in size.

The church and storehouse were rebuilt, and a military field was created called Smithfield.

This was how things were when Newport arrived with the second supply in mid-October, and Smith was not happy about it.

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