The document summarizes the founding and early history of the Jamestown colony, the first permanent English settlement in North America. It details how the colony struggled at first due to a lack of preparation and farming skills among the colonists. Disease and conflict with the local Powhatan Confederacy led to many deaths in the early years. The colony became more successful after John Smith took control and instituted new rules. The introduction of tobacco as a cash crop by John Rolfe helped the colony become profitable. However, the headright system of rewarding land for transporting colonists led to the rise of indentured servitude and later slavery to meet the need for labor on the large plantations.