From Why Nations Fail:
There was no possibility of a get-rich-quick exploitation of Virginia along the lines of Mexico and Peru. There were no gold or precious metals, and the indigenous people could not be forced to work or provide food. Smith realized that if there were going to be a viable colony, it was the colonists who would have to work. He therefore pleaded with the directors to send the right sort of people: "When you send againe I entreat you rather to send some thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and diggers up of trees, roots, well provided, then a thousand of such as we have."
I like the phrase “diggers up of trees, roots.”
The get-rich-quick exploitation referred to here is what the Europeans did in South America. They’d take a national leader hostage, make him give up all the gold, then kill him. The indigenous people, not knowing what to do without him, would then end up enslaved by the Europeans. It is amazing how savage they were. The Somali pirates of today are forthright and ethical conpared to the Europeans of the 1500s-1900s. At least the pirates actually release hostages after demands are met instead of killing them.