Pocahontas: Saving John Smith's Life

With this policy, the survival rate grew to nearly ninety percent that year. He organized successful trading with the Native American Powhattan. Smith was however captured by him and only spared when Powhattan’s daughter Pocahontas pleaded for his life. This is where the story of Pocahontas comes from. Smith wrote a letter about this encounter to Queen Anne when he heard of her coming to England years later. He wanted to ensure that she would not be treated as someone that could not be trusted. He wanted to show her loyalty to him and to England.

Pocahontas was born in 1595, with the given name of Matoaka and later got the nickname Pocahontas. She has been known as the favorite daughter of the powerful Powhatan Chief but she is also famous in history for contributing greatly toward the survival of the Jamestown

Allen argues that, by emphasizing an ideal romance, attention is taken away from the true economic motive of Smith and the colonists: attaining wealth, prosperity and progress at any cost. The mythological romance between John Smith and Pocahontas lends a “mystique to those original corporate executives” where it otherwise would not exist. George Orwell once wrote, “Who controls the past controls the future.” I applaud Allen for challenging the traditional narrative about this historical figure and for giving readers a chance to look at human relations with the environment in our present and our future. I would recommend this book because it tells you Pocahontas’s story in way that is easy to understand, and challenges what historians believe about her.

Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma Professor Foust Daisy Aguilar It is said that there are many different versions to a story. There is one persons story, then there is an other person’s story, and then, there is the truth. “Our memories change each time they are recalled. What we recall is only a facsimile of things gone by.” Dobrin, Arthur. "Your Memory Isn't What You Think It Is." (online magazine). Psychology Today. July 16, 2013. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/am-i-right/201307/your-memory-isnt-what-you-think-it-is. Every time a story is told, it changes. From Disney movies to books, to what we tell our friends and colleagues. Sometimes the different sides to the story challenge the

The book is written in narrative flow and shows Pocahontas’s development from a little girl to a grown woman. The author is showing how big of an impact a woman made to her people and culture. Even at the age of nine she was a main concern of her people because her father was Powhatan, the paramount chief. At that time she experienced strangers who came to her father’s kingdom in big ships. As the story progresses, she is more and more as a greatly influential person. Townsend portrays that she is the one who saved John Smith’s life. She also explains who Kocoom is and his relationship ties to Pocahontas.

After reading both of John Smith's accounts, I think that Pocahontas never saved John Smith. Both his pieces of writing give many clues to why this is true. From background information, it is known that the Virginia Company censored what writing was being sent back to Europe and England. They were instructed to write

Pocahontas Introduction [1] Disney’s Pocahontas has understandably received a lot of flak about the historically inaccurate story that is told about the legendary Pocahontas and Captain John Smith. There is a good reason for that. The movie does little that can be construed as historically accurate, yet Disney claims that was never their intent. Disney, in their previous movies, has been attacked for being racist and unsympathetic to racial minorities. Their answer was a movie whose sole purpose, as stated by Disney, was to promote racial tolerance. The question is, then can a movie promote racial tolerance when the issue is built on false history, history that if told accurately would depict the exact opposite?

As young children we are often misled to believe that the stories and movies we are exposed to are presumably based on factual history, but are in reality myths, keeping the truthful, important, and fair facts hidden. Amonute is an accurate example of learning the real events that occurred in a person’s life while the typical myth of Pocahontas saved an Englishmen from being killed by her father. In the beginning of the book we are briefly introduced to Pocahontas, the Powhatan people and the English colonists. As the book continues we follow Pocahontas when she is kidnapped, her married life, and her trip to London where she got sick because of foreign illnesses and died. Camilla Townsends “Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma” wants Pocahontas’ true story to unfold because she is worthy of respect for her bravery and sacrifice and because “everyone subverted her life to satisfy their own needs to believe that the Indians loved and admired them” (Townsend, pg. xi). I also believe that the author was trying to argue that even though the Englishmen believed that the Native Americans were uncivilized and lived like savages, that instead they were wise people.

Laterrica Hunter 10-06-17 9:00 MWF U.S History Mike Lee Bibliography http://historicjamestowne.org/history/pocahontas/john-smith/ http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/smith.cfm John Smith was a very influential man for the settler in Jamestown he became a key a key component to survival in its early years. They can quote his order: “He that will not work shall not eat.” But only a couple know that John Smith’s adventures started many years before Jamestown. (http://historicjamestowne.org/history/pocahontas/john-smith/)

This book begins by describing all of the many different events that are occurring around the world during the year 1606, such as the opening of the play Macbeth and Galileo Galilei publishing a book of the observations of supernova in the sky. During the same year, in late December, three small ships were anchored in London’s River Thames waiting to depart to a new settlement. The three ships were the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. The Virginia Company of London organized and financed the voyage to begin the new settlement of Jamestown. The crew is very excited to search for gold, silver, and other riches that have supposedly been found in North America. Their previous knowledge of the Spanish enrichment of gold and silver created a group dominated by money hungry, wealthy gentlemen. Aboard the ships were a great deal of gentlemen, but unfortunately lacked in soldiers and working men. The majority of the men were not accustomed to any type of hard labor, and this caused many problems because the conditions the crew were in clearly called for difficult laborious work. One of the few commoners on board was John Smith, a former soldier who proved to be a key leader to the survival of the colony. Although he was looked down upon by the upper class, he was a hard worker, and also very intelligent and a jack of all trades.

Throughout time, more and more discoveries have been made each year. New planets, bugs, animals, and even land. In 1608, Jamestown and the lost city were founded, but only after those taking the trip had acquired the money and supplies to take this journey across the ocean. They had to

They were about to kill him but they saved his life instead. Causing Smith to rightfully feel confused and conflicted. However the feast did not last. He was taken to the chief of all the tribes, Powhatan. Before his execution Smith was given water to wash his hands and feathers to dry them. A sign of hospitality and kindness. However, the tune quickly changes when Powhatan lays Smith’s head on two rocks, ready to smash Smith’s skull. Luckily, “Pocahontas, the King’s dearest daughter, when no entreaty could prevail, got his head in her arms, and laid her own upon his to save him from death” (15). The Native Americans change their tune quite frequently from treating Smith with respect, to trying to kill him, to saving his life. He liked their kindness, feasts, and the fact that he saved his life. But he did not like their constant shifts in attitude or the fact that they captured him. No wonder Smith feels ambivalent about these people. Their mannerisms and attitudes toward him change so often that it is hard to intently them as just “good” or

According to history, despite the fact that Pocahontas is most famous for saving the life of John Smith, she never marries him. Smith returns to find the situation at the fort desperate. They are running out of food and only 38 of the original 105 Colonists are alive. Smith was accused of causing the deaths of his men. He was overthrown from his position and almost condemned to hang. Lucky a ship arrived at Newport carrying

Barnett explains, "a number of unlucky Pocahontas figures populate the frontier romance, saving white beloveds only at the cost of their own lives" (93). Fortunately, Pocahontas's life was spared despite her willingness to sacrifice, although her later affiliations with a white man and Europe led to her death from disease. The notion of females rescuing white men and assimilating with their culture have traditionally been connected, which resulted in greater Indian deaths due to their exposure to a foreign culture from which they had not yet learned to protect themselves.

Pocahontas: A detailed interpretation and analysis of the historical accuracies and inaccuracies in Disney’s Pocahontas In Camilla Townsend’s book, Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma, Townsend points out that there are many historical inaccuracies and myths that are associated with the story of Pocahontas. Using historical evidence to support the story of Pocahontas, Townsend attempted to create an accurate timeline bringing the past to the present. At the same time, the Disney film Pocahontas attempted to depict Algonquian culture accurately, however, according to history, much of the material presented in the film is full of misconceptions and is historically imprecise. In fact, Disney’s Pocahontas epitomizes John Smith and