Why Did Pocahontas Saved John Smith?

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 colony. When the English colonists settled in Jamestown in 1607, there became tension between the Colonists and the Powhatan Indians. During the 1600s, the leader of the Colonists, Captain John Smith was caught by the Powhatan’s men. It has been said that Pocahontas saved Smith’s life and has had great influence on early relationships between the colonists and Indians. During Pocahontas’s life, she has faced many tragedies but triumphs have also played a role in her time.

There are many biases that are conveyed by Smith and one of the biases in particular that was prominent was Smith's rescue by Pocahontas. John Smith "had not mentioned the incident in an earlier account, A True Relation of … Virginia (1608)" (Belasco and Johnson 133). Smith could have simply fabricated the events in an attempt to advertise the colonies. Another factor that made Smith's narrative questionable was the incorporation of opinion in his narrative.

John Smith and Pocahontas did, in fact, meet and they did develop a kindly relationship. It is said that his love for her is what helped her negotiate the release of two Indian prisoners that John Smith had caught and he stated that “not only for feature, countenance, and proportion,” she “much exceeded any of the rest of Powhatan's people.” [4] It

It is thought that the Virginia Indians played a role in the location and survival of Jamestown. The English were in Powhatan 's territory, and the island had a natural defense from their enemies making it the safest place to be, even if it was not a geographically ideal location. Powhatan was considered one of the most powerful chiefs claiming to have over a hundred children. Powhatan died in 1618 and his brother, Opechancanough led an attack on the English in 1622 and 1644. Pocahontas would befriend John Smith and marry John Rolfe in 1613 resulting in a temporary peace between the Virginia Indians and the

While many cannot picture Smith in any context other than with Pocahontas, he had a very active life before he even met her. As stated by Woolf, prior to even meeting Pocahontas Smith had been “in an army fighting the Ottoman Turks in central Europe, during which he went through several escapes, was seriously wounded, taken into slavery, after which he murdered his slave-master and escaped, along with being shipwrecked twice.”1 All of these exploits happened before Smith ended up in Virginia at the Jamestown colony, and met Pocahontas, the narrative of which most Americans are intimately familiar with or so they think.

Price's true strength in this book is his support of his main thesis. Price's ability to reveal the true story of John Smith and Pocahontas is shown in his support of his theories, which are numerous. Price's ability to portray John Smith as a capable leader despite the view of his co patriots at Jamestown is the true reason Price wrote this book. He wants to describe the real John Smith and Pocahontas, as well, and hopefully explain the real causes for the successful settlement of

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.

The source of these letters is from John Smith, The General Historic of Virginia in London 1624. Written in the standpoints of English leader John Smith and North American Indian leader Powhatan, these letters were intended for the English settlers, Powhatan's Indians tribe, and the King of England. John Smith desired to share with his country the impactful yet unbeneficial loose knit agreement that they two leaders attempted to orchestrate. By using this form of effective writing, the author created a way for Smith to expound on the trials and hardships of the peculiar and unknown world. On the other hand, Powhatan shared his perspective on the rash and unforeseen arrival of these pale-faced settlers. Notably, the author's main purpose for writing these letters from both leader's points of view was to show the differences between the experiences both culturally and socially in the aspects of the strange world and those who inhabited it. Both John Smith and Powhatan saw

As a young child many of us are raised to be familiar with the Pocahontas and John Smith story. Whether it was in a Disney movie or at a school play that one first learned of Jamestown, students want to believe that this romantic relationship really did occur. As one ages, one becomes aware of the dichotomy between fact and fiction. This is brilliantly explained in David A. Price's, Love and Hate in Jamestown. Price describes a more robust account of events that really did take place in the poorly run, miserable, yet evolving settlement of Jamestown, Virginia; and engulfs and edifies the story marketed by

He would forever be in her favor because he would have been killed if it wasn’t for her bravery toward her father. Pocahontas ended up being idolized by the English colony thanks to John’s good word. She was loved by people that she would’ve never thought and it made her more willing to do things for other people. Things were finally looking good between the two enemies because of her goodness. Pocahontas’s well manners and nice appearance made a good impression on the colonists and they would always bring her gifts and good treasures.

If this quote had been written by one of Smith's fellow settlers, we may regard it as substantial evidence. However, it was written by Smith, so he seems to be boasting about his selflessness and leadership ability. Furthermore, according to Egloff and Chief Crazy Horse, Smith did not even mention his attempted murder to his fellow settlers when he returned to the fort after the Indians released him. Furthermore, he did not include the incident in an account of his captivity, which he wrote immediately following his period of captivity (Vincent 1; Chief Crazy Horse 1). Thus, Smith's General History is not reliable.

He started scouting around and began drawing maps immediately. He met Pocahontas by almost shooting her by a water fall, and later they fell in love. He was captured later in the movie while venturing out alone at night to meet Pocahontas. John Smith was going to be executed on top of a rock at dawn, in front of an army of colonists who planned to rescue him. In reality, John smith was arrested and chained in irons during the voyage over, and he was released a month after arriving to Jamestown, Virginia. After he was set free, he did a lot of exploring and trading with the Indians. John Smith mapped most of the Jamestown area. He was eventually captured while seeking food along the Chickahominy River. John Smith was brought to Chief Powhatan and was sentenced to be executed. This is when he actually met Matoaka, the real name of Pocahontas, and she rescued him from execution. Matoake was the oldest daughter of Chief Powhatan. John Smith became good friends with Matoake, and eventually Chief Powhatan adopted Smith as his son. (Squidoo, Inc., 2012)

One of the writers who wrote about the hardships they had experienced was John Smith. Captain John Smith was a soldier and the governor of Jamestown. In Smith’s writings, he speaks mostly about the colonization coming to the new land. He and his men believed they were going to build a successful colony. But due to disease, famine, and the occasional attacks from the neighboring Powhatan Indians, and

John Smith was selected because he was a Colonizer, soldier and an author as he wrote his first book in English in the New World called “A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia since the First Planting of that Colony (1608)”. While he was only in America for two years, Smith was in charge of the survival of England's first English colony in the New World. He is best known for being in

In 1995, Disney created a movie to replicate the story of Pocahontas. The majority who saw this movie enjoyed it but others believe it tells a false story. Disney was not responsible, accurate, or respectful in their film. Pocahontas was an Indian princess who was the daughter of the Chief of the Powhatan Indians. Pocahontas played a vital role in maintaining peace between the English and the Powhatan Indians during expeditions. She died due to sickness at age 21. John Smith was an Englishman who joined the expedition to Jamestown, Virginia, and in 1608, would become the president of the Jamestown colony. The Pocahontas story mainly focuses on these two people and their interaction.