Public land and free-riders in history

While reading through some history, I came across the Jamestown settlement, you know, from 1607. Naturally, this is grade-school history, but I found an interesting example of economics. Specifically, the Common Store System, wherein land and food were public goods and everyone received an equal supply from the common storehouse into which everyone contributed. This was a nice idea, until the free-riders exploded, I found out. Apparently, everyone got the same, regardless of contribution, so it became that a few supported all; everyone almost starved , until the captain took control, abolished that, and instituted private land as the primary means to eat.