Chapter 1: John Smith
Captain John Smith was an adventurer, explorer and author.
He was noted as the dominate force that brought the success of
Jamestown, Virginia and its establishment as the first permanent English settlement in North America. John Smith became the
Governor of Virginia and in 1607 began conducting expeditions
to Powhatan villages in order to save his people from starvation.
The English arrived in the Powhatan Nation in search of
food supplies for their people. John sought to make friends
with the Powhatan tribe and arrange an agreement to trade guns
for their food. John Smith was captured by Opechancanough which
was the brother of Pocahontas. Perhaps the most famous event in
Pocahontas’s life was her rescue of John Smith. Pocahontas was
responsible for saving John Smith from execution by placing her
head over his as he was about to be struck. This event triggered the relationships with the English that cemented an alliance for trade. Pocahontas became known to the English as a
“Symbol of Peace”. Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas’s father welcomed
John Smith as a son.