Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and The Start of a New Nation

The expedition left London in 1606 without fanfare, with the Susan Constant as its flagship. The three ships were small, and conditions were cramped for the 105 colonists and 39 crewmen split between the vessels. Slavery would not reach the Americas for another 12 years; the colonists were instead contracted in exchange for passage and provisions across the Atlantic. John Smith travelled on the flagship captained by one-armed veteran sailor Christopher Newport. A significant but unknown number of voyagers were highborn unaccustomed to difficult labor, seeking treasure in the form of gold and silver.

The ships immediately experienced bad weather and had to anchor within sight of England for nearly a month. Tempers flared between the highborn Edward-Maria Wingfield, allotted his own cabin on the cramped quarters of the Susan Constant, and John Smith. Smith successfully argued that the expedition should stay its course at sea rather than return home to wait for better weather. In February, the expedition continued: It followed Newport’s trade winds-route to the Canary Islands (off the coast of present-day Morocco), across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, and then 1,500 miles north to Virginia. Time and distance were tracked by rudimentary tools such as compasses, hourglasses, log lines, and observations of the sky.

Near the Canary Islands, Wingfield and Smith fought yet again, resulting in the latter’s confinement for the remainder of the voyage. Smith used the opportunity to write. The ships sailed westward for a month, reaching the West Indies on March 23, 1607, and landing in Dominica a day later to replenish their stores. For 16 days, the expedition traversed the islands. The expedition was met with fear and distrust from the Carib people indigenous to the islands due to mistreatment by the Spanish in the past. Many of the voyagers were afflicted by the manchineel plant, the sap of which produces burning and itching. Their first fatality occurred near modern Haiti, where a man died of heatstroke during a hunting trip. Soon after April 9th, the expedition took the 1,500-mile journey north to Virginia.

On April 26th, the three ships reached the Chesapeake Bay and anchored at a spot they named Port Henry, after one of King James’s sons. As a few highborn men explored the island, local scouts of an unknown tribe tracked them back to their ship. The scouts attacked and then disappeared, injuring two of the English. The English overestimated their guns as the scouts were able to shoot farther and more accurately with their bows.

The Virginia Company’s secret orders were revealed within 24 hours of reaching the Virginia shore. The seven men appointed to leadership included Wingfield and two other highborn investors along with the three ship captains. Surprisingly, John Smith was among the named leadership, yet he remained a prisoner aboard the Susan Constant. The instructions dissuaded the men from choosing a site too heavily wooded or removed from shore. They also advised taking “great care not to offend the naturals” (i.e., the local population; 31) or cross the Spanish, far more powerful and numerous, south of Virginia. Trade relations were prioritized as a necessary supplement to farming and hunting.

A shallop (a small boat) was constructed from parts in the caravan. It held up to 24 men, who scouted ahead of the other ships along the coastline. The men met a small tribe called the Kecoughtan. While neither side could speak the other’s language, the English took note of the tribe’s colorful dress, utilitarian mode of housing, and feasting and dancing rituals. They peacefully met other tribes in the next two weeks while they searched for a settlement site along the James River. Finally, the expedition found a peninsular outcropping for their settlement, naming it Jamestown, after the King of England. The Virginia Company’s instructions demanded that the council vote for a president of the newly founded colony, and Wingfield was chosen. The six council members then defied the Company’s instructions by voting to exclude John Smith from a leadership role.

John Smith was stripped of his council seat but released from captivity on the Susan Constant to help prepare Jamestown. Soon, representatives of the nearby Paspahegh tribe sent greetings from their chief, Wowinchopunck.

Following the Virginia Company’s orders, President Wingfield decreed that no fortifications be built and that guns should remain in their crates. Within four days, Wowinchopunck arrived with an armed party of 100 men. Misinterpreting their intentions, a few of the English hastily took up arms. The Paspahegh left in anger; several more tense meetings followed. Wingfield ordered Jamestown to remain unarmed, to John Smith’s disapproval.

On May 21st, Newport took a crew of 23 men—including John Smith—on a search for minerals. They met a man who drew a map of the region and soon came across Arrohattoc territory—where they dined, rested, and learned of Chief Powhatan, the mamanotowick (paramount chief) of the region. Chief Powhatan, whose tribe bore his name, took tributes from other tribes. When one of Powhatan’s sons, Parahunt, arrived in the evening, Newport’s company mistook him for his father and showered him with diverse gifts.

The crew arrived at the unnavigable falls of modern Richmond and decided to leave. Upon their return, they discovered that Jamestown was attacked by a force of 100 men. The English suffered two deaths and about a dozen injuries. Wingfield called for stronger defenses, though he and the other highborn men did not participate in their construction. Paranoia overtook the camp as it was continually attacked by small but largely ineffectual forces. A friendly pair arrived and explained that the tribes immediately surrounding Jamestown were hostile to the settlers, including the Paspahegh who had territorial claim to their land. Tribes further inland sought trade and good relations with Jamestown, if only to vex the rival coastal tribes.

As scheduled, Newport left with the majority of Jamestown’s workforce via the Susan Constant and the Godspeed on June 22nd. A rivalry grew between Wingfield, who had no experience in military or engineering matters, and the settlement’s equally highborn secretary and recorder, Gabriel Archer. Wingfield was slow to institute necessary changes, such as the clearing of tall grass and the construction of permanent housing, and Archer’s fellow discontents grew in number. Rather than take up hunting and fishing, records indicate that the settlers waited six months for Newport to return and resupply them with food and necessities. The area was swampy and mosquito-ridden, and as no one dug a well, clean water became an issue. Starting in August, records showed several deaths not only from skirmishes, but environmental disease. Nearly half the colony, including council members, died by the end of the year—though they were bolstered by an unexpected gift of food by an emissary of Chief Powhatan.

With the deaths of Wingfield’s closest supporters, his political fortune declined. On September 10, Wingfield was placed on trial and voted out of the council—and John Ratcliffe, another highborn council member, was voted into the presidency. John Smith was finally vindicated and put in charge of construction and relations with the local Indigenous tribes.

Though Spain considered all of North America under its rule, they made no effort to uproot Jamestown. This left John Smith free to pursue diplomacy with the surrounding tribes. Such diplomacy was of immediate importance as it was the only method by which the settlers could obtain food. Many in Jamestown refused to work to feed themselves, either out of despair or upper-class parasitism.

While John Smith’s negotiations with the Paspahegh were fraught with threats of violence, he successfully traded with the nearby Kecoughtans and Warraskoyack, bringing back thirty bushels of corn and other food. Smith’s strategy was that of classic salesmanship, in which he pretended to have a wealth of copper, tools, and beads, while feigning indifference to the food he so desperately needed. Through these efforts, he picked up the Algonquin language and learned the tribes’ means of hunting, fishing, and domestic work.

Newport was expected to return but had yet to show by November. Smith was sent further down the Chickahominy River in hopes of more trade and a route to the Pacific. The shallop was detained 50 miles inland, and Smith enlisted two men from a nearby village and two of his own to scout ahead via canoe. According to Smith, the canoe and shallop were waylaid by hundreds of local hunters, with the latter escaping and Smith being taken prisoner as a rival leader. Smith’s English companions were killed (one in a gruesome ritual), their captor being Powhatan’s youngest brother, Opechancanough.

John Smith’s life depended on exaggerating his position as a leader of the English (by linking himself to Newport as his “son”). Through language barriers and lies, Smith managed to stall his death and convinced his captor to send a messenger back to Jamestown. The messenger returned with placating gifts. Over the next few weeks, Smith met each of Powhatan’s brothers, and on December 30, he was brought to the village of Werowocomoco to meet Powhatan himself. After deliberation, Powhatan determined that Smith should be put to death by beating. In Smith’s telling, he was spared by Powhatan’s 10-year-old daughter Pocahontas, who pleaded for his life.

Powhatan released Smith with 12 guides and demanded that he bring back two cannons and a grindstone.