How to survive a voyage to America in the 17th century

The very first English colony established in North America was Jamestown on May 14, 1607, a tiny fort-like village built on the banks of the James River. It didn’t take long for people back home to realise the potential of this new land, and unlike before not only could anyone go, but were actively encouraged to do so by the crown.

Attractive rewards for serving a working contract were handed out, such as 50 acres of land in exchange for 10 years of labor, and prisoners of certain crimes were given the choice to remain in jail or live in the new world, an easy decision for most.

England wanted to show the world this new land was theirs, and filling it with ordinary citizens was not only a good way to do this, but also profitable. Crops like sugar and tobacco no longer had to be bought from a foreign country, and the people working the farms growing these things made more money than they ever could back in England.

After James Town was properly established, the promise of wealth and freedom saw thousands trying to get there to start a new life, with the number of migrants averaging 38,000 people per year during the 17th century.

The only problem was getting there!

The distance from Plymouth in England to Jamestown, Virginia was close to 3,700 miles, and on a 17th-century sailing ship would take between 12 and 14 weeks on average, depending on the wind. The other problem was the cost, but since the crown wanted ordinary people to make the trip prices were made as low as possible.

People still had to sell everything they had to go to a place where they’d start again with nothing, and what little money they had left after the ticket cost was to buy food for the journey. Here’s a list of foods people would have taken depending on their social class.

(The world’s oldest known surviving piece of hardtack. It was a popular choice on ships because it lasted for years)

Working class daily ratio:

1 pound of hardtack
50-100 grams of salt pork or fish

This may not seem like a lot, and that’s because it isn’t. This level of rationing led to many people dying over the years on the trip and being thrown overboard before they got there. It’s likely that travelers took a few fresh vegetables with them but these wouldn’t have lasted for long, and on a 3-month voyage you needed to have enough food for the whole trip or you starve. Peasants at the time would most likely only be growing a small variety of crops and didn’t have access to beef or large amounts of preservable meat products, and so rock-hard bread was the main food.

Upper-class daily rations:

1 pound hardtack
100-200 grams salt pork
2-4 pints of small beer (beer with a low alcohol content, normally between 1% and 2%)
250 grams of cereal grain (oats and barley)
250 grams of potted meat, beef jerky, or dried/ salted fish
50-100 grams hard cheese

Even though they had the money to buy as much food as they needed, the captain made money from ticket sales, and the more people on board the more money he’d make. This meant that space for everyone was limited and so was hand luggage, leading to the wealthy having to pick and choose their food instead of stocking up on large amounts of everything.

Crew daily ration:

1 or 2 pounds of hardtack
1 gallon of small beer

Life as a sailor in the 17th century would not have been fun, with cramped living conditions, a complete lack of privacy, and a life at sea. It also meant they could earn 3 times what they could be working in a normal peasant-class job, and because of how life was during the time, there was no shortage of people wanting to work on a ship.

Hardtack was the main staple food, and small beer made their drinking water safe and also gave a welcomed calorie boost, not to mention a slight buzz. They would have stocked up on personally paid-for goods when they made port, but the regular meal of the day was weak beer and bread hard enough to knock someone out with.

V.I.P’s:

(the Captain, especially rich or important guests, members of Parliament or settlement officials, etc…)

The daily ration of someone of this importance was pretty much whatever they wanted. If an official of the colony turned up at a port to book passage on a private boat, not only could that person not be refused, but were also an official representative of the crown, someone a private boat captain wouldn’t dare argue with.

A sufficient amount of preservable meats like salt pork, jerky, potted meat and dried or salted fish would have been taken, and so would animal products like lard and pickled eggs. As for something to drink, there would be various alcohols for personal use along with a good amount of small beer since it guaranteed a safe supply of something to drink if the water went bad.

Hard cheeses, cereal grains, dried vegetables like beans, peas, onions, and any other amount of food that would be able to last the trip. The captain would also stock up on whatever he wanted, since it was his boat and he could choose as much space as he liked, not to mention being able to afford it from all those ticket sales.

One of the biggest risks to the people on board would be sickness, not only because they didn’t have the medicine to cure it, but also risked infecting and possibly killing the entire crew. There are stories of sick people being thrown overboard along the way to save the rest of the ship, but how often this happened is unknown. It is well documented that when someone did die, they would always be thrown over the side instead of being taken for burial on land when they reached their destination.