Important Historical People Of Jamestown

 Cindy Malaymeuang and Eric Schulte

POCAHONTAS A.K.A. Matoaka

 (c. 1595-1617)

Pocahontas was one of the most famous Indians of her time.  She became well known due to her encounter with John Smith.  She saved his life several times from being murdered by the Indians.  She was captured and during her captivity she converted to Christianity and became Rebecca[1].  She later ends up marrying John Rolfe and having a son name Thomas[2].  She lived her life  traveling around England and promoting Virginia settlement[3]. 

 

CHIEF POWHATAN

Chief Powhatan was a well-respected leader of the Powhatan Confederacy.  He was a smart leader with a plan.  He was unhappy with all the settlers coming in, but he knew that their weapons would be a gain for his people.  He played nice with the settlers, but at the same time planning small attacks to see their defenses[4]. 

OPECHANCANOUGH (1556 – 1646)

Opechancanough was born a Powhatan.  Historians are questioning if he and Don Luis de Velasco, an Indian taken back to Spain and was taught the language and European customs, could possibly be the same man[5].  After his brother Chief Powhatan passed he took charge of the tribe and led them to many wars against the colonists.  In his last war he was captured and killed by a guard[6].

JOHN SMITH              (1579-1631) 

Captain John Smith became one of the council members of the Jamestown settlement[7].  He is known for telling stories of princesses saving his life numerous times[8].  He showed his leadership skills when they colonists were starving and he forced them all to work in produce food for survival[9].  He eventually loses his status and high tails it back to England where he continued to promote Virginia settlement[10].

JOHN ROLFE   (1585-1622)

John Rolfe married numerous times and Pocahontas happened to be one of his wives. His marriage to her was thought to have created peace between Indians and Englishmen. He was known for introducing tobacco, that he brought from the Caribbean, to Virginia[11]. He spent his entire life trying to perfect the crop.

 

 

[1] (Virtual Jamestown, 1998)

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] (Ayers, 2010)

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.,33.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ayers, Edward L., et al.  American Passages A History of the United States Volume I: To 1877. 4 ed.  Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2010.

Blanchard, Jacqueline. “Who is the Success of Jamestown Really Owed To?.”  NIAHD Journals (2009).  http:// Niahd.wm.edu/?browse=entry&id=11711 (accessed February 12, 2011).

"John Rolfe." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2004. http://www.enotes.com/topic/John_Rolfe  (accessed February 11, 2011).

Tom. “Like Avatar, Only Without Aliens.” (2010). http://londonparticulars.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/like-avatar-only-without-aliens/ (accessed February 13, 2011).

University of Virginia Press.  “Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough:

Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown.”  2006. http://www.upress.virginia.edu/books/rountree.html (accessed February 9, 2011).

            Virtual Jamestown. (1998), http://www.virtualjamestown.org/biog.html (accessed February 10, 2011).