The Paradox of Jamestown

1585-1700

By: Christopher Collier, James Lincoln Collier

Narrated by: Jim Manchester

Length: 1 hr and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

History is dramatic - and the renowned, award-winning authors Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier demonstrate this in a compelling series aimed at young listeners. Covering American history from the founding of Jamestown through present day, these volumes explore far beyond the dates and events of a historical chronicle to present a moving illumination of the ideas, opinions, attitudes, and tribulations that led to the birth of this great nation.

The Paradox of Jamestown discusses the circumstances surrounding English colonization of Virginia and the evolution of slavery in that colony. Beginning with an examination of 16th- and 17th-century life in England, the authors explain many of the reasons - social, political, religious, and economic - people chose to leave the Old World for a new life in the Americas. They describe the early interactions between the settlers and the Indians, the difficulties those groups had in establishing cooperative relationships, and the many difficulties the settlers had in adjusting to life in the New World. Hear about the effects of the growing market for tobacco back in England, the gradual changes in how the new colony was governed, and the growing dependence on the slave trade.

©1997 Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier (P)2013 AudioGO

Another quality offering

I've listened to a few of the audiobooks in this series and I've always liked the concept of focusing one one topic and condensing it I to a relatively short production. But I lately realized that the other thing that I found appealing was the quality of the scholarship. The authors seem to be free of any agenda, and they dont appear to me to practice revisionist history. They point out the good and the bad in the issues of the time.

great read!

I love all of the Collier history series. so.e parts are difficult to hear, nevertheless, it is our history and what has contributed to the quilt of our nation. great resd!

Outstanding Summary of Jamestown History

The authors provided an unbiased, objective examination of key themes in the history of Jamestown. The books places the events of early Jamestown within its historical context. Given the over abundance of so-called “historians” who use their writings to push their personal political agendas, the Paradox of Jamestown was refreshing. Well done!

Great Historical Series

Easy to follow making learning history read like a novel. I look forward to all the books in the series

A lot of Retread

I know that there is an introduction that explains how that even tho these are in a series, they need to stand alone so there is information repeated or reiterated in certain entries that appears elsewhere...
BUT,
This entry has so much material borrowed from the first in the series "Clash of Cultures" and is so short by itself that they should have just merged the two together and called the whole thing "Clash of Cultures". It probably would have been closer to 3 hours to fit all the material, but it would have felt like a complete single product. After enjoying other entries more I was somewhat disappointed with these earlier entries when judged together.
Judging it as a standalone product it is good on its own terms.

mispronounced

The history was accurate, but narrator kept mispronouncing Native names. It would be helpful for the listener to review Powhatan pronunciation. The Virginia Indians maintain websites with information about their people.

Well done

I love history and this seemed to be a fair rendering of the Jamestown story.

Well Done and Informative

Mostly the headline covers it. It's not long, but I learned what I wanted to learn. I'll be continuing with the series.

Good, balanced summary of 2 important, opposing topics

The Paradox of Jamestown continues the series by Christopher and James Collier geared to younger readers of history. and, instead of a chronological and dates/people focus, attempts to focus on periods, movements, and locations that were important to the overall progress of American history. They are all relatively short, about 100 pages or 2 hours for the audio versions.
This one goes to the first of the colonization that resulted in the group that formed the United States, the colonies of Virginia. It also deals with the origin and development of slavery in Virginia that eventually spread throughout the colonies but especially those in the south. They also explain how such a small group of colonists were able to become established in a place where the Native Americans were strong and relatively united, unlike the later situation when the Pilgrims and Puritans landed in Massachusetts. There is a lot of discussion of the situation in England at the time and the reasons that drove the settlers to leave and risk their lives on a long sea voyage on very small, often leaky ships, with limited supplies and support to come and settle in the Americas where there would be nothing to start with and no one to welcome them. Then there was tobacco, those leaves that the Spanish had introduced to Europe and was becoming quite popular but still expensive. The king at first despised the habit and even though Virginia also had a form of tobacco, it was much lower quality. However, as the king found that it could also be a good source of tax revenue and Virginia almost simultaneously received some higher quality plants, that disgust gradually turned to acceptance. The authors showed how that completely changed the economy of the colony, but also increased its demand for labor, and especially the kind of labor that would work hard with less financial outlay.
It was the very system of the colony that introduced the seeds of democratic thought. They explained how the slow process of communication across the ocean made it impossible to keep all decision making in the homeland and resulted in the practical business arrangement of a group of Burgesses who could make certain decisions on-site. At first those men were appointed but, to encourage more settlers to join, eventually they allowed some to be elected on-site. It was that experience of having some part of the decision making process and of choosing some leaders even though that was quite limited (not just no women, but only certain men could vote), it planted a seed in the mindset of the colonists that continued to develop over the next 150 years. It is no accident that so many of our founding fathers were from Virginia.
And the “paradox” in the title is that the very state that was so instrumental in shaping our democracy and our independence is also the state that really started the economy that resulted in enslaving people based on race. Both of those topics were covered well and in a balanced way. Another good historical treatise that deals with difficult issues with care and openness.

it knows that the term Indian is incorrect....

the nose of the term Indian is incorrect, talks about it for a little bit, and then goes on to use the word Indian for the entire story. well the events here describe are mostly accurate many pieces are missing, and the fact that they use the word Indian Even though they knew it was inaccurate, is all you need to know.