Jamestown, America's First English Colony

Jamestown, established on a marshy peninsula along the James River on May 14, 1607, was the first permanent English settlement in North America and the beginning of what would become the United States. The early years were catastrophic: of the 104 original colonists, more than half were dead within six months from disease, starvation, and conflict with the Powhatan Confederacy. During the winter of 1609 to 1610, known as the Starving Time, the population fell from 500 to 60. The colony survived through tobacco cultivation and became the template for English colonial settlement in North America.

Source: Wikipedia