John Smith’s Map of Virginia

Virginia Company

• Charter granted 10 April 1606 byKing James– North America

divided in half– “Virginia” runs from

34° to 45° North(Passamaquoddy Bay in

Maine to Cape Fear River in N.C.).

Virginia Company

• Charter guarantees– Proselytize natives– King James guarantees

“All colonists and descendants shall have and enjoy all liberties Franchises and Immunities without anie of our dominions… as if they had been abiding within this our Realme of England.”

London Company

• Chose seven leaders– 4 mariners: – Rich: Edward Maria Wingfield - foiled investor– Spy: George Kendall (for Lord Salisbury)– Soldier: John Smith

• Names of leaders kept in locked box.

Journey to Virginia

• London to Canary Islands - then west

• Smith & Wingfield– arrested & confined

for treason.

Journey to Virginia

• 4 month duration– all times below decks– cramped– no ventilation – no warm meals (fire risk) – garbage and excrement in bilges – constant sea-sickness

Jamestown

• Jamestown established

• Wingfield opposes fortification to avoid angering “the naturals.”

• Deaths begin– July - 21 dead

– Oct 1 - 46 dead (out of 104)

– Jan 1608 - only 38 of the 104 survive.

Jamestown 1607

John Smith

• 1580: John Smith born• C. 1595-6: Pocahontas born• Personality of Smith• May 1607: Smith and English

colonists settle at Jamestown• Supply Master• December 1607: Smith

ambushed and taken captive by Algonquians

John Smith• Reorganization

– everybody must work– work gangs and military drill– copy native practices

• disperse population in summer and winter

• send to Point Comfort and falls of the James

• survival though very harsh winter.

John Smith

• Dealing with neighbors– use of intimidation– dual purpose for

military drills

The Capture of John Smith

• December 1607 captured by Paspahegh warriors

• Other Englishmen killed

• Smith held in village and “tortured”

The Capture of John Smith

• Smith “saved” by Pocahontas.

John Smith

• Jan 1608 faces execution – responsible for two men with him in December raid who were

killed by Indians– condemned to death

• Saved by Newport’s arrival with supply ship– departs April with more lumber and sassafras– takes Wingfield back to England

• Spring/Summer 1608 explores Chesapeake

• September 1608 elected President.

Tales of Pocahontas

• Late December 1607: The traditional story of Pocahontas’ intervention on Smith’s behalf.

• August 1608: Smith’s A True Relation is published; tells of his captivity, but not of Pocahontas’ rescue, which was added later.

Cultural Work of Pocahontas Myth

• The Noble Indian Princess

• The First Christian

• The Mother of Us All

• Love in the Woods

• Avatar of Multicultural Princess Power

The Noble Indian Princess

The First Christian

The Mother of Us All