To begin, I have learned many things during this project. While studying different layouts, structural components, and historical accounts of colonial houses and forts, I found and learned many fascinating things. In my project, I included the basics of a fort, for there are many aspects of fort building that were not needed or necessary to the fort itself. Here are some of the things I learned:

 

One of the first things that I learned about the process of colonial fort building is that you need a detailed plan. Many of my resources point out those forts start out with a plan. This helped the laborers and servants to know what they were doing, and helped them to see the finished piece. It helped to put down confusion and errors during the building process. This however, was only one of the crucial parts of building a colonial fort.

 

Second, to build forts, companies and investors needed a lot of men and even slaves. These men worked long hours building these forts. In my project, I made it sound pretty easy to build a fort, but in reality, it was a very hard, grueling process. Many fell ill from this. Another factor into illness is the fact that after their long hours working, they would be crammed into crowded lodging, where they had more of a chance to contract an illness.

 

To add to the problem, many settlers arrived in the New World late in the season, which hindered the process of building the fort. The settlers had to work much harder to get the fort done by the winter, or face death by the elements. The Pilgrims for example, arrived late, couldn’t produce enough homes quick enough, and many died. This happened to many other settlements during the time.

 

Another problem was some of the men themselves. As referred to in Blood on the River, there were many gentlemen, who sometimes refused to work to help the settlement as a whole. This placed greater burdens on the working men because of the fewer workers, yet the same amount of work to do. This created turmoil and arguments between the working settlers and the upper class.

 

One of the final things I learned about this entire process is that you need a good leader to help and move the process along. Captain Smith, one of the leaders of the settlement Jamestown, worked hard with the settlers and was well liked. Conversely, Master Wingfield of Jamestown, requested a huge mansion in the woods, and was taken down from the leadership position by the settlers. Overall, to build a fort in a good time and keep it running, you need a good leader.

 

In conclusion, colonial forts are a fascinating part of the settlements of the Americas. They were hard to build and took many long man hours. Some of the men refused to help, which caused arguments. These forts needed a detailed plan, which helped to eliminate errors in the building process. They also needed a good leader to manage the fort. All in all, colonial forts were a cool, strong fortification for settlers making a new home in the Americas.