John Smith of Jamestown
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John Smith (1580–1631) was an English soldier, sailor, and author. He is chiefly remembered for his role in establishing the first permanent English settlement in North America, and his brief association with the Native American princess Pocahontas. He led an interesting life, although his boastful nature makes it difficult for historians to separate fact from fiction.
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Biography
Smith was baptized in Willoughby near Alford, Lincolnshire where his parents rented a farm from Lord Willoughby.
Smith left home at age 16 after his father died, and ran off to sea. He served as a mercenary in the army of King Henry IV of France against the Spaniards and later fought against the Ottoman Empire. Smith was promoted to captain while fighting for the Habsburgs in Hungary, in the campaign of Mihai Viteazul in 1600-1601. After the death of Mihai Viteazul, he fought for Radu Serban in Wallachia against Ieremia Movila, but in 1602 he was wounded, captured and sold as a slave. Smith claimed the Turk sent him as a gift to his sweetheart, who fell in love with Smith and inadvertently helped him escape. Smith then traveled through Europe and Northern Africa, returning to England in 1604.
Virginia Colony
In 1606, Smith became involved with plans to colonize Virginia for profit by the Virginia Company of London, which had been granted a charter from King James I of England. The expedition set sail in three small ships on December 20, 1606.
Smith was apparently a troublemaker on the voyage, and Captain Christopher Newport (in charge of the three ships) had planned to execute him upon arrival in Virginia. However, upon first landing at what it now Cape Henry on April 26, 1607, sealed orders from the Virginia Company were opened, and they designated Smith to be one of the leaders of the new colony, forcing Newport to spare him. After searching for a suitable site, on May 13, 1607, the settlers landed at Jamestown.
Harsh weather, lack of water and attacks from Algonquian tribes of the Native Americans almost destroyed the colony. In December 1607, Smith was captured and taken to meet the Chief Powhatan at Werowocomoco, the chief village of the Powhatan Confederacy about 15 miles north of Jamestown on the north shore of the York River. Although he feared for his life, Smith was eventually released without harm and later attributed this in part to the chief's daughter, Pocahontas, who was around the age of 11 to 13 at the time. He said she threw herself on him to prevent his execution, but there is considerable uncertainty about this story.
Image:Virginia map john smith large.jpg Later, Smith left Jamestown to explore the Chesapeake Bay region and search for badly needed food, covering an estimated 3,000 miles. He was eventually elected president of the local council in September 1608 and instituted a policy of discipline, encouraging farming with a famous admonishment: "He who does not work, will not eat."
The settlement grew under his leadership. During this period, Smith took the chief of the neighboring tribe hostage and, according to Smith he did, "take this mudering Opechancanough...by the long lock of his head; and with my pistol at his breast, I led im {out of his house} amongst his greatest forces, and before we parted made him [agree to] fill our bark with twenty tons of corn." A year later full scale war broke out between the Powhatans and the Virginia colonists. Smith was seriously injured by a gunpowder burn and had to return to England for treatment in October 1609, never to return to Virginia.
New England
In 1614, Smith returned to the New World in a voyage to the Maine and Massachusetts Bay areas, which he named New England. He spent the rest of his life writing books until his death in 1631 at age 51.
John Smith in film
John Smith is one of the main characters in Disney's 1995 film Pocahontas and its straight-to-video sequel Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World; he is portrayed as conventionally handsome and blond, and Pocahontas is portrayed as an adult. Smith and Pocahontas are also central characters in the Terrence Malick film The New World, in which he is played by Colin Farrell.
Further reading
- David A. Price, Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Start of A New Nation, Alfred A. Knopf, 2003
- James Horn, A Land as God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America, Basic Books, 2005
- Karen Ordahl Kupperman ed., John Smith: A Select Edition of His Writings, University of North Carolina Press, 1988