The Catawba Experience Summary

David A. Price, Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Heart of a New Nation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf)

In 1607, three ships sent by King James the first sailed into Chesapeake bay, Virginia carrying each over 100 people. They then sailed up the James river and settled on a piece of land today called James island. This piece of land was home to over 15,000 Powhatan natives. They gentleman who provided the voyage came here to become rich and make money by collecting animal pelts, wood, and iron. The cause of numerous colonist fatalities in early Jamestown was in direct correlation to their relations with the natives, the horrendous lack of essential supplies impeding their survival, and atrocious ailments leading to inevitable disease.

This primary source, John Rolfe’s Letter to Thomas Dale about marrying Pocahontas, is from the settlement era and was written in 1614. The European settlers in this era, early 1700s, wanted land and to displace the natives not intermarrying with them. Most settlers remained separate from the Indian society. Some settlers married Native women as a way to gain access to the native societies. It was a way to gain an economic relationship. Indians were being forced off their land because they had no real claim of it. Settlers would establish their towns on sites previously cleared by the Indians. The marriage of John Rolfe and Pocahontas was a rare and unique circumstance in the 1700s. The letter to Thomas Dale is a window to a period of uncertainty between the white settlers and the Native Indians in North America. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the importance of this letter and its effects to the society in the time period after it was written. John Rolfe’s decision to marry Pocahontas proved to be vital at the time. John Rolfe’s letter to Thomas Dale for approval on marrying the Indian Princess Pocahontas reflects on how much society in the early 1610s depended on such thing as intermarriage between a white man and an Indian woman to help keep peace between the white settlers and Native Indians in North America.

Although the Chesapeake and New England colonies were the earliest English colonies to flourish in the New World, they were both extremely different in the ways that they developed. Similarities between the colonies can be found, but the colonies were mostly different. The colonies differed most in religion, society, culture, economy, and their relationships with the American Indians of the region. The reasons for such differences can be understood by realizing that the colonies were settled by incredibly different people who possessed different cultures, religious beliefs, and motivations for settling in their respective colonies in the first place. The Chesapeake and New England colonies had similarities and differences in their development, including how each colony affected nearby American Indians. Their differences and similarities can be understood by analyzing each colony’s geography, economy, religions, and cultures.

Breen, T.H.. "Looking Out for Number One: Conflicting Cultural Values in Early Seventeent-Century Virginia."Butler, Nathaniel. "Virginia, A Troubled Colony, 1622."Frethorne, Richard. "The Experiences of an Indentured Servant,1623." April 2 & 3, 1623.

When the first American settlement on Roanoke Island was established in 1585 it’s primary force, Sir Walter Raleigh, had no idea that this “New World” would evolve into one of the most powerful voices in the modern world. But before it developed it would have to shaped by it’s founders from the Western world. Two of the largest voices in America’s early development are John Smith, who with a group of English merchants, hoped to get rich in this new land, and William Bradford, a puritan farmer who was one of the most influential men involved with the Mayflower compact. In their two pieces they both convey America as a place to escape but

When the first colonists landed in the territories of the new world, they encountered a people and a culture that no European before them had ever seen. As the first of the settlers attempted to survive in a truly foreign part of the world, their written accounts would soon become popular with those curious of this “new” world, and those who already lived and survived in this seemingly inhospitable environment, Native American Indian. Through these personal accounts, the Native Indian soon became cemented in the American narrative, playing an important role in much of the literature of the era. As one would expect though, the representation of the Native Americans and their relationship with European Americans varies in the written works of the people of the time, with the defining difference in these works being the motives behind the writing. These differences and similarities can be seen in two similar works from two rather different authors, John Smith, and Mary Rowlandson.

The relationship between the English and the Native Americans in 1600 to 1700 is one of the most fluctuating and the most profound relationships in American history. On the one side of the picture, the harmony between Wampanoag and Puritans even inspires them to celebrate “first Thanksgiving”; while, by contrast, the conflicts between the Pequots and the English urge them to antagonize each other, and even wage a war. In addition, the mystery of why the European settlers, including English, become the dominant power in American world, instead of the indigenous people, or Indians, can be solved from the examination of the relationship. In a variety of ways, the relationship drastically alters how people think about and relate to the aborigines. Politically, the relationship changes to establish the supremacy of the English; the English intends to obtain the land and rules over it. Socially, the relationship changes to present the majority of the English settlers; the dominating population is mostly the English settlers. Economically, the relationship changes to obtain the benefit of the English settlers; they gain profit from the massive resource in America. Therefore, the relationship does, in fact, change to foreshadow the discordance of the two groups of people.

It proves not solely that this "common law" wedding between history and anthropology works, however conjointly that in several respects, it appears almost indispensable to a full understanding of early american history itself. The essays specialize in, and are for the most part held together by, the sole factor that mattered on the first yankee frontiers: the social and cultural interactions and competition between white and red peoples. And here we mean mostly between French, English, (and to a way lesser extent, Spanish), and eastern Native

Beginning in the Sixteenth Century, Europeans sought to escape religious and class persecution by engaging on a journey to the New World. However, they were unaware that this “New World” was already inhabited by many groups of Native Americans, who had been established on the continent for thousands of years. At first, the two ethnic groups lived in relative peace. The colonists of Jamestown survived due to Powhatan’s tribe teaching them how to cultivate the land. However, things took a twisted turn as the colonists grew greedy. Due to cultural differences, there was stark tension between the Indian groups and European settlers in New England prior to 1750, which tremendously influenced early political means, social life, and the economy.

“My people are few. They resemble the scattering trees of a storm-swept plain...There was a time when our people covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea cover its shell-paved floor, but that time long since passed away with the greatness of tribes that are now but a mournful memory.” (Chief Seattle, Chief Seattle’s Speech). Lethal Encounters Englishmen and Indians in Colonial Virginia by Alfred Cave is a book that extensively describe Britain’s and Spain’s initial colonization of America. The book mainly focuses on the facts and primary entries of Native Americans and pioneers, and their initial thoughts thoughts about each other. Albert Caves book, Lethal Encounters Englishmen and Indians in Colonial Virginia, discussed many issues between those indigenous to America and the pioneers, including; racism, imperialism, culture clash, religion, and war.

While the Chesapeake and New England colonies were similarly the earliest successful English colonies in North America, the colonies developed quite independently of each other. When looking at the differences and similarities in the development of these colonies, it seems as though the differences far outweigh the similarities. These colonies varied in regards to their religious beliefs, their societal organization, culture, economy, and relationships with local American Indians. The differences and similarities between the colonies can be further understood by analyzing the individual colonies’ geography, economy, religious beliefs, and cultural practices.

“The Indian presence precipitated the formation of an American identity” (Axtell 992). Ostracized by numerous citizens of the United States today, this quote epitomizes Axtell’s beliefs of the Indians contributing to our society. Unfortunately, Native Americans’ roles in history are often categorized as insignificant or trivial, when in actuality the Indians contributed greatly to Colonial America, in ways the ordinary person would have never deliberated. James Axtell discusses these ways, as well as what Colonial America may have looked like without the Indians’ presence. Throughout his article, his thesis stands clear by his persistence of alteration the Native Americans had on our nation. James Axtell’s bias delightfully enhances his thesis, he provides a copious amount of evidence establishing how Native Americans contributed critically to the Colonial culture, and he considers America as exceptional – largely due to the Native Americans.

The social interactions that the New England and Chesapeake colonies had between Indians and their own people were very different due to alternate motives. Documents A and H each show the steps taken in order to achieve social unity. It is obvious that the two colonies didn’t have the best relationship with the Indians, but both colonies had different approaches when it came to mending relationships. Bacon’s Rebellion was a revolt against Governor Berkeley of Virginia in 1676 that started due to Berkeley's resistance of not fighting against the Indians because of the fur trade. This showed that the Chesapeake colony would rather take a better economy as opposed to stable social interactions,

In the early 1600’s, when the European settlers arrived in Jamestown, there were already around 15,000-25,000 Indians living around the area. The leader of the most prominent tribe in the area, Powhatan, stayed in a neutral relationship with the English in the area for the first couple of years after Jamestown following the start of the colony. During the time the Indians