Starving Time (1609–1610)
E175574
The Starving Time (1609–1610) was a catastrophic period of famine, disease, and conflict that nearly wiped out the English settlers at Jamestown during the early years of the Virginia Colony.
All labels observed (6)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Starving Time in Jamestown | 2 |
| Jamestown settlement crisis | 1 |
| Starving Time | 1 |
| Starving Time (1609–1610) canonical | 1 |
| Starving Time at Jamestown | 1 |
| Starving Time winter of 1609–1610 | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1544372 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
Target entity: Starving Time (1609–1610) Context triple: [Jamestown, significantEvent, Starving Time (1609–1610)]
-
A.
Kieft's War
Kieft's War was a violent 1643–1645 conflict between Dutch colonists of New Netherland and local Native American tribes, sparked by Governor Willem Kieft’s aggressive policies and raids.
-
B.
Great Famine
The Great Famine was a catastrophic mid-19th-century potato blight in Ireland that caused mass starvation, disease, and a huge wave of emigration, particularly to North America.
-
C.
Great Famine of 1315–1317
The Great Famine of 1315–1317 was a devastating pan-European food crisis marked by widespread crop failures, mass starvation, and social upheaval that profoundly weakened medieval European society.
-
D.
Rampjaar (Disaster Year) 1672
Rampjaar (Disaster Year) 1672 was a catastrophic year in Dutch history marked by simultaneous invasions by France, England, and German states, leading to political upheaval and near-collapse of the Dutch Republic.
-
E.
King Philip's War
King Philip's War was a devastating 17th-century conflict between Native American inhabitants of New England and English colonists that resulted in massive casualties, the destruction of many Indigenous communities, and a lasting shift in regional power.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
Target entity: Starving Time (1609–1610) Target entity description: The Starving Time (1609–1610) was a catastrophic period of famine, disease, and conflict that nearly wiped out the English settlers at Jamestown during the early years of the Virginia Colony.
-
A.
Kieft's War
Kieft's War was a violent 1643–1645 conflict between Dutch colonists of New Netherland and local Native American tribes, sparked by Governor Willem Kieft’s aggressive policies and raids.
-
B.
Great Famine
The Great Famine was a catastrophic mid-19th-century potato blight in Ireland that caused mass starvation, disease, and a huge wave of emigration, particularly to North America.
-
C.
Great Famine of 1315–1317
The Great Famine of 1315–1317 was a devastating pan-European food crisis marked by widespread crop failures, mass starvation, and social upheaval that profoundly weakened medieval European society.
-
D.
Rampjaar (Disaster Year) 1672
Rampjaar (Disaster Year) 1672 was a catastrophic year in Dutch history marked by simultaneous invasions by France, England, and German states, leading to political upheaval and near-collapse of the Dutch Republic.
-
E.
King Philip's War
King Philip's War was a devastating 17th-century conflict between Native American inhabitants of New England and English colonists that resulted in massive casualties, the destruction of many Indigenous communities, and a lasting shift in regional power.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
disaster in Virginia Colony
ⓘ
famine ⓘ historical event ⓘ |
| appliesToJurisdiction |
Virginia Company of London
ⓘ
surface form:
London Company
|
| country | Kingdom of England ⓘ |
| describedIn |
colonial records of Virginia
ⓘ
surface form:
Virginia Company records
contemporary accounts by George Percy ⓘ |
| endTime | 1610 ⓘ |
| fieldOfWork | colonial American history ⓘ |
| followedBy |
arrival of relief fleet in 1610
ⓘ
reorganization of Virginia Colony ⓘ |
| hasCause |
brackish and contaminated water supply
ⓘ
conflict with Indigenous peoples ⓘ disease ⓘ famine ⓘ harsh winter weather ⓘ overreliance on resupply ships ⓘ poor harvests ⓘ shipwreck of the Sea Venture ⓘ siege by Powhatan Confederacy ⓘ supply shortages from England ⓘ |
| hasEffect |
high mortality among colonists
ⓘ
introduction of stricter martial law in the colony ⓘ mass starvation ⓘ near abandonment of Jamestown ⓘ policy changes by the Virginia Company ⓘ reassessment of settlement location and strategy ⓘ reports of cannibalism ⓘ |
| location |
Jamestown
ⓘ
surface form:
Jamestown, Virginia
Colony and Dominion of Virginia ⓘ
surface form:
Virginia Colony
|
| notableFor |
evidence of survival cannibalism at Jamestown
ⓘ
extreme mortality rate among English settlers ⓘ |
| numberOfInitialSettlers | approximately 240 ⓘ |
| numberOfSurvivors | approximately 60 ⓘ |
| partOf |
colonial history of the United States
ⓘ
history of the Thirteen Colonies ⓘ |
| precededBy | establishment of Jamestown in 1607 ⓘ |
| significantParticipant |
George Percy
ⓘ
Jamestown ⓘ
surface form:
Jamestown colonists
John Smith ⓘ Lord De La Warr ⓘ Powhatan peoples ⓘ
surface form:
Powhatan Confederacy
Sir Thomas Gates ⓘ
surface form:
Thomas Gates
Virginia Company of London ⓘ |
| significantPlace |
James Fort
ⓘ
James River ⓘ |
| startTime | 1609 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Subject: Starving Time (1609–1610) Description of subject: The Starving Time (1609–1610) was a catastrophic period of famine, disease, and conflict that nearly wiped out the English settlers at Jamestown during the early years of the Virginia Colony.
Referenced by (7)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.