Question

“I your child am in a most heavy case by reason of the country, [which] is such that it causes much sickness, [such] as the scurvy and the bloody flux and diverse other diseases, which makes the body very poor and weak.”

–Richard Frethorne, Jamestown, 1623

What does this southern colonist blame for the widespread sickness in his colony?

The colonists brought the diseases with them.

The country itself causes the sickness.

The colonists are too weak and poor to resist the diseases.

Answer 1

The southern colonist, Richard Frethorne, is blaming "the country itself" for the widespread sickness in his colony. He refers to the conditions in the colony as causing much sickness, indicating that he attributes the health issues to the environment and circumstances of the colony rather than solely to the diseases brought by the colonists or their lack of resilience.