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- Written by King Monkey
Pocahontas was a young Indian girl of about 12 years of age. She was known for saving Captain John Smith form being kill at the behest of her father, Chief Powhatan. The two became great friends, but unlike the Walt Disney movie “Pocahontas” they did not have a love affair. Sometime later Pocahontas was captured and held hostage at Jamestown. She was being held in ransom for some English captives that her father was supposed to be holding. While she was at Jamestown she was married to John Rolfe and bore a son. They traveled to England were she was taken to the King and Queen. After which on her way home to Virginia, she died, and was buried at Gravesend.
The history of Pocahontas the American Princess. Pocahontas was born around 1595 to Powhatan and one of his many wives. The name Pocahontas is actually a nickname that means “Little Wanton,” playful, frolicsome little girl. Her real name was Matoaka, but we know her by Pocahontas. Chances are she had never seen whites until the Englishmen landed and founded Jamestown in 1607. Her father was a very important Chief among the Algonquian Indians in the Tidewater region of Virginia.
The history of Captain John Smith. Captain John Smith had been taken captive by the Indians while leading a expedition in December of 1607. John Smith was brought to the residence of Powhatan at Werowocomoco about 12 miles outside Jamestown. Here he was welcomed by the Chief and had a feast. After which the Indians forced him to starch out over two large, flat rocks as if they were going to beat him. Pocahontas then suddenly ran over to him and took his “head in her arms and laid her own upon his to save him from death.” Then she pulled him to his feet where Powhatan said they were now friends, and adopted Smith as a son. After this ritual mock “execution and salvation” ceremony Pocahontas and Smith became friends. She was the main provider of food and “good will” to the settlers. She may have married an Indian and was not seen for several years.
The History at Jamestown. Pocahontas was a kind of emissary or go-between for the tribes and the people of Jamestown. She was taken hostage by Captain Samuel Argall and brought to Jamestown. The Captain wanted to exchange her for English prisoners, held by her father. During her captivity at Jamestown she was converted to Christianity and baptized as Rebecca. With the consent of her father and the governor, Sir Tomas Dale, and in April of 1614 Pocahontas was married to John Rolfe, a settler. It is said that the union brought 8 years of peace between the Settlers and the Native Americans. The settlers never received the full ransom from the Indians. In 1616 Pocahontas with her husband, and a group of natives went to England. They were paraded in front of the King and Queen, and were said “to have made such an impression.” This exactly what the Virginia Company was looking for. The Virginia Company was using these Indians to show that they could be converted to Christianity and prompt the colonies. They headed back to America in1617, but Pocahontas became gravely ill, with disease she contracted in England, and died at Gravesend, where she was buried. She left behind a husband and a son, Tomas Rolfe, who after being educated in England went to Virginia, where he became very wealthy.
I was very disappointed in the fact that there is a lack of good information and genuine detail. In the end, Pocahontas sold her people out by helping the settlers win the friendship of the native people during troubled times. She was used by the settlers. Her trip to England promoted the colonies in America to others that might not have come over before. She kept Jamestown going they were unviable. Jamestown’s economic viability was precarious until the colony began to export tobacco to the Mother Country in 1613. We are very lucky that USA emerged for all the turmoil and death. It was inevitable that people of the world would meet someday. These meetings are usually the good fortune of one people over the other. But as we have improved the technology, we need to rely on plunder and slavery. Although I am not guilty of any crimes against others, it is still imperative to know the history of my country and that of the world.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATIONS
"Captain John Smith is Saved by Pocahontas, 1608," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2003).
The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities,Pocahontas,2000,< http://www.apva.org/history/pocahont.html>
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,Pocahontas,4/24/2006<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas>