The history of Jamestown is important not only because it was the first English colony that survived the onslaught of hunger, disease and weather but also because it is widely acclaimed as a bastion of Christian (the Anglican version) civilisation in North America where the first democratic system of government was introduced. On the flip side of Jamestown's history are the facts that it started a process which led to the virtual extermination of the original inhabitants of America and that it also introduced slavery and racism in North America.

The colonists did not come from a wealthy background. Many of them were artisans, tenant farmers, and adventurers. Unlike the Plymouth pilgrims they did not go to America to escape from religious persecution. Dramatic demographic, social and economic changes had taken place in England over a hundred year period before their departure. The population had nearly doubled, wages had fallen, inflation had risen, and the cities had become overcrowded with country people seeking jobs.

It was because of these difficult socio-economic circumstances that the Jamestown settlers wanted to leave England. They were driven by a desire to escape from the miseries in England and to make their fortunes in America. They hoped to find gold and other precious minerals. An English joint stock company called the London Company (later known as the Virginia Company), which had obtained a charter from the king of England to colonise America provided the opportunity.

Life was difficult in their new land. Many of them died of disease and hunger. The project was about to fail when help came from the Indians in the form of corn and other foodstuffs. According to Professors Norton and Katzman, "that the colony survived at all was a tribute not to the English but to the Indians whose territories they settled."

At the beginning the relationship between the Indians and the settlers was good because the Indians accepted them as peaceful neighbours. Of course, they never imagined that a handful of impoverished Englishmen would one day threaten their very existence.

The colonists did not find much gold. Instead, they discovered that tobacco cultivation would give them enormous financial benefits. Since successful tobacco plantation needed more and more land, the settlers soon started encroaching on lands which were until then considered as Indian lands. By the time the Indians realised that the colonists' lust for land was insatiable, it was too late.

In 1622, they launched a series of attacks on the settlements but the English because of their superior technological skills were able to resist and ultimately prevail. This was the beginning of the end of the Indians. Over the next two hundred years or so, as the spread of European settlement activity continued unabated in North America, the Indians as a people were virtually exterminated and the few survivors were incarcerated in reservations.

In his commemoration speech, President Bush spoke in glowing terms about the democratic spirit and the values of Jamestown settlers. He was referring to the House of Burgesses. Following the tradition of the landowners in England, as early as in 1619, the settlers set up a representative legislature, which was responsible for local matters.

This indeed was praiseworthy. But President Bush forgot to mention that in this model democracy only certain property-owners could vote. Everybody else -- English women, English indentured servants and other free Englishmen without properties -- was excluded. He also conveniently forgot to mention that the east-coast Algonquian tribes, who had welcomed the settlers among their midst and saved them from sure death due to starvation, had a highly developed democratic form of government. Actually, in many respects, it was more democratic than the English system. While in England, political power and social status were often inherited through the male line, the Indian leaders were not born into automatic positions of power. They had to be elected by their people and all major decisions had to be taken with the consent of the tribal members.

Tobacco cultivation was a highly labour-intensive venture. Until the middle of the 17th century, tobacco farmers relied on indentured servants from England to work the land. Roughly 85% of English migrants to English America were indentured servants. The farmers used to pay for their passage, food, clothing and shelter, and in return they had to work for between four and seven years for the planters. A planter could inflict punishment on an indentured servant or even sell him. But he had no legal rights to kill him. In cases of extreme abuse, the servant had the right to go to the courts. On the whole, the planters considered their indentured servants as lazy and rebellious. They also could not count on the servants for ever because once the terms of the indentures were fulfilled, there were no legal bars for the servants to acquire land and become independent planters.

These were the reasons why the planters introduced slavery in Jamestown. Slavery as an institution provided other significant advantages. The African slaves were considered as chattels. Therefore, they could be held in perpetual slavery. Even their children belonged to the master. The master could not only punish a slave or sell him, but also kill him. In other words, an African slave had no legal rights as a human being because he was not considered a human being. Unlike other slave societies in the hemisphere, Jamestown was unique in deporting manumitted slaves from the colony. There was no room in Jamestown for any other free person except a white one. Thus, the Jamestown settlers became the first Europeans to introduce the concept of building exclusive societies based on race.

From their own experience, the planters knew that in England class was the distinguishing factor which marked an individual's social position and power. In America indentured servants and slaves formed the lowest rungs of the social ladder. The vast majority of English migrants were indentured servants. In order to build a racially exclusive society, the elite wanted the English servants to identify themselves with the planters and not with their fellow workers, the African slaves. It was important for them to ensure that the servants would never make a common cause with the slaves and the Indians against the planters.

How to achieve this goal? This is where racism came in to play. Racism is the theory or idea that "there is a causal link between inherited physical traits and certain traits of personality, intellect and culture and combined within the notion that some races are inherently superior to others."

The settlers actively promoted the theory that race was something fixed and immutable -- that God had created His chosen people "the whites" to rule the world. As a consequence, "From the initially common term Christian, at mid [17th] century there was a marked shift toward the terms English and Free. After about 1680, taking the colonies as a whole, a new term of self-identification appeared -- White." (Prof. Winthrop D. Jordan in his groundbreaking work White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812; p.95)

Although the initial objective of this theory was to perpetuate a system of "exploitation based on racial logic" and to exclude African-Americans permanently from the body politic, over the centuries it has had wider repercussions across the globe. This seventeenth century racist theory was used to justify European colonialism in other parts of the world.

During the last three hundred years, language and belief systems have been moulded in such a manner that today "white" has come to be considered as synonymous with power, wealth, civilisation and culture. What is different or purported to be different has come to be treated as irredeemably the "other." This is a part of Jamestown legacy which the "other world" is still desperately trying to get rid of.

The writer is a columnist for the Daily Star