John Smith and Jamestown: A Different Interpretation--Part II Written by Mr. Schloeder
Taken from Marooned : Jamestown, Shipwreck and a New History of America’s Origin by Joseph Kelly and "Abundance of Blood Shed on Both Sides": England's First Indian War, 1609-1614 by J. Frederick Fausz
With so many sick, John Smith became the lead trade negotiator for the colony -- his title was the “cape merchant.” Smith revels in his writing of all the success he has trading. What is left out by Smith and the other Gentlemen is that the only reason the Indians traded with Jamestown was because their newest tribesmen (the former colonists) asked Wahunsonacock and informed him that Jamestown had many valuable items to trade for food.
Smith’s success angered the Gentlemen and fractions amongst the colonists arose. Ratcliffe and Archer wanted to sail the pinnace back to England. Smith and John Martin wanted the pinnace to trade further up river. Goerge Kendall, a follower of Smith, was accused of being a Spanish spy and executed. John Smith leaves Jamestown to trade and is kidnapped.
It is here that the legend of Pocahontas was born. In fact, it was another character from Blood on the River that Wahunsonacock turned to for advice as to what to do with Smith and the Jamestown colony. Namontack, although a teenager, was trusted by Wahunsonacock because of his loyalty as if he were family. Namontack was intelligent, subtle and circumspect and Wahunsonacock schooled him on the diplomacy of being an important member of the Powhatan nation. It is not an accident that Namontack appears in Jamestown frequently and travels to England twice in his lifetime. He had a keen understanding of the English and most likely related that Smith was a man who could be trusted and was not one of the Gentlemen soldiers who, frankly, terrified Wahunsonacock.
Question: Define circumspect. Circumspect means watchful, discreet, cautious, and prudent.
Question: Why do you think that over the many years, the facts around the relationship between Smith and Pocohantas become so distorted? Why not use Nanontack as the great savior of Jamestown?
The past history of the Paspahegh was one of intense dislike for Europeans...and they had good reason. This is definitely why they constantly skirmished with the colonists. In 1560, Spanish missionaries raided the Paspahegh village and they were slaughtered by the local tribe. In 1572, the Spanish returned….and returned the favor by murdering Paspahegh villagers and burning their homes and fields. While wary and always looking to pick off a stray settler with their arrows, the Paspahegh knew they were not Spanish, even that the colonists hated the Spanish, but they were always on guard.
All the while, John Smith was being initiated as the newest chief in Wahunsonacock’s alliance of tribes. To top off his new status, Smith was given a new name, Nantaquod, chief of Jamestown.
Smith was a hated and idolized member of the Jamestown community. Hated by Wingfied and Archer, for sure. Smith had his allies in Gosnold and Newport. They were impressed that he was a “man of action rather than words.” He also looked to mentor fellow commoner members of the colony. Smith had moved up in English society and he wanted others to as well. We see this in his treatment of Samuel Collier in Blood on the River. He also took a liking to the commoner Anas Todkill. He was John Martin’s page, and he taught him to be a soldier, sailor and leader of a team of lumbermen. This would launch Todkill on the path to being a Gentleman. Social mobility was very, very rare in England. Smith had made a moderate social jump, but he was determined that in his colony hard work and intelligence would be rewarded over birthright. Smith’s hope definitely came true for Todkill. He was no longer referred to as a laborer in 1608. By 1612, he was listed as a ‘soldier.’ By 1624, Anas Todkill was a landowner outside of Jamestown. He is referred to as a Gentleman. For Todkill, his journey through Jamestown was amazing. He was the second longest surviving original settler. The longest? No other than John Leyman from Blood on the River.
Question: The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American Dream is achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, rather than by chance. How does John Smith and Anas Todkill represent the American Dream over 400 years ago?
Smith, aka Nantaquod, returns from his captivity to find the Gentlemen have loaded the pinnace and are heading for England. Newport arrives and they agree to return to Jamestown with a plan to have Smith hung for the deaths of the two colonists with him when he was kidnapped. It is here that Newport steps in and puts an end to the squabbling. The colony is on the verge of destruction and they’re new colonists, known as the ‘first suply’ to take care of. Newport reads the situation correctly and makes a series of forceful decisions. Gabriel Archer is expelled from the Council. Wingfield is released from bondage as he was being held for hoarding food and adding to the misery of the colony. He may not return to the Council. Newport puts Gentlemen Matthew Scrivener on the Council. Smith must have smiled as they were old friends. He calls Scrivener “a very wise, understanding Gentleman.” The Council now had five members.
John Smith
Matthew Scrivener
Christopher Newport
John Ratcliffe
John Martin
Newport exchanges hostages with Wanhunsonacock. Namontack came to live with the Jamestown settlers and Newport left a teenager, Thomas Savage. Newport initiated trade to the horror of John Smith. He noted that Newport paid four times what was acceptable for the Indian food. Wahunsonacock was taking advantage of Jamestown’s plight. With the exchange rate so high, the colonists and sailors were paying more for much less, and the Indian market was flooded with English trade items. It was simply bad economics. Newport did what he thought was right to stabilize the colony, and all he really wanted to do was leave and go back to England. And on April 10, 1608, he did just that.
Question: In your opinion, is Wahunsonacock wrong for getting as much as he could in trade from the Jamestown settlers? Would you have done the same thing? Why or why not? (Think. The answer may not be an obvious yes).
With Newport gone, Ratcliffe and some of the Gentlemen enter in a very murky plan to murder Smith who is away on a trading mission. Scrivener discovers the plot and arrests Ratcliffe. There are three on the Council. Smith became President of Jamestown on September 10th, 1608. He immediately upgrades the fort and begins to train every colonist to fight. In short order, Newport returns with the ‘second suply’ and as far as Smith is concerned it is an absolute disaster. Seventy fresh faces come ashore. 27 Gentlemen, 14 tradesmen, 12 laborers, 2 boys and others who were not named. Included were 8 from Poland and Germany to make ‘tar and pitch’ to return to England. In this group were two new Council members, Captain Waldo and Captain Wynn. Both were considered serious, military men who Smith was very complimentary of in his writings.
Prior to leaving, Newport embarked on the disastrous and failed attempt to crown Washunacock. Frustrated, Newport leaves immediately for England. Smith realizes that Wahunsonacock is furious and winter is approaching. (HINT: THIS IS NOT THE STARVING TIME! THAT IS THE FOLLOWING WINTER). John Smith learns that Wahsonacock will no longer trade with Jamestown, so Smith concludes the colony will only survive if they steal from the Indians and begin to assert their independence, if not control.
Question: You are John Smith, President of Jamestown and Nanaquod, adopted son of the Powhatan Nation (27-30 tribes). Winter is coming and you are left to deal with a very angry Wahunsonacock. You, as President, are responsible for well over 500 colonists. What would you do to ensure the colony’s survival?
Smith and 60 soldiers descend on the Nansemonds. He fired a volley from their muskets that sent one house up in flames. Fearing they would lose their village, they surrendered 100 bushels of corn to Smith. He demanded half of their spring harvest or face destruction. The terrified Nansemonds agreed. Smith next visited the Tsenacomacoans and made similar demands. John Smith had made it clear: Jamestown was no longer under the control of Wahsonacock and the two tribes would pay tribute to Jamstown. John Smith, or Nantaquod was the paramount chief in the region.
Namontack, who had returned from England, silently slipped out of Jamestown in the middle of the night after Smith returned with his plunder. Wahunsonacock passed the word. No trading with Jamestown. His former friend was now an overt and direct threat to the Powhatan nation. In a shrewd move of deception, Wahunsonacock sent word that he wanted carpenters to build him an “English style house.” Smith was suspicious, but sent his trusted German carpenters loaded with tools and materials. They quickly defected to Indians and never returned. Smith was disappointed but seemingly shrugged it off, writing, “Indians had plenty, and the English want.”
John Smith next moved on the Warraskoyacks. He and 46 soldiers entered the village in search of food. They had previously been friendly and they treated Smith and his men well. Maybe out of friendship, maybe out of fear. The message is delivered that Wahunsonacock himself wanted to meet with Smith. With that message from the Warraskoyacks was a warning, “Do not surrender your arms, for Wahunsonacock sent for you to cut your throats.”
The meeting with Wahsonacock got off to a strange start. Wahunsonacock began by asking Smith, “When are you leaving?’ Negotiations go nowhere for days. Pochaontas, according to Smith, warns him that her father wants him dead. Smith left with 80 bushels of corn and headed to the Pamunkeys and Wahsonacock’s brother, King Opechancanough. Negotiations go poorly there as well. At one point, Smith grabs Opechancanough and puts a pistol to his head. Smith said, “If you shoot one arrow to shed a drop of my mens blood, or steal the least of these copper beads, I will not cease revenge once I begin.” They left with nothing the next day, but he and his men terrorized other villages for the next two weeks.
Question: Why is John Smith acting so aggressively with the surrounding tribe?
Smith’s reputation for violence was now set by spring of 1609. In February, he kidnapped the leader of the Paspahegh and threatened to cut off his head. He escaped and Smith and his men descended upon their village killing 7 warriors, burnt the houses, stole their fishing boats and nets. That was enough for the Paspahegh and a number of other villages. They feared Wahunsonacock, but they were absolutely terrified of the man they called Nantaquod. So, they paid tribute and made peace with him.
------
While Jamestown was safe under the eight month rule of Smith, he was a brutal taskmaster who was beginning to lose the faith of the colony. Commoners and Gentlemen alike wondered out loud if his heavy handed tactics with the Indians would come back and bite the colony. They openly discussed whether a new leader could smooth over the situation and make peace with the Indians and trade with them. By fall 1609, it was apparent Smith was losing his grip on the colony as well. “7-8 Dutchman and English” left the colony and took with them the most coveted of items: Guns and gunpowder, which landed in the lap of Wahunsonacock within days. Defections increased and with the arrival of the Mary John on July 23, 1609, word was received that Smith was no longer the President. To make matters worse for John Smith, Wingfield and Gabriel Archer return fully vindicated by the Virginia Company. They had believed the Gentlemen over the commoner….and his days were numbered.
But Smith was still in control and he immediately seized the Mary John and all of its provisions. It also had larger cannons that could protect Jamestown for miles around it. Wahunsonacock was resigned that he had lost the southern tip of his Kingdom and moved inland away from the reach of the ship's cannons. But, the region was becoming different. The tribes closest to Jamestown moved freely in and out of the fort. English goods, including guns, were traded freely. Wahsunsonacock now wore an english silk coat, slept in an English bed in an English house. The area around Jamestown had begun to assimilate to each other.
Smith was still in control, not because he had won over the colonists because he had not. He had won over (or terrorized) the Indians to the point that they being allied with Smith gave him the power he needed to control Jamestown. The colony hesitated to remove Smith because they feared the Indians would go back to being loyal to Wahsinsonacock and that would be a disater for Jamestown.
Two events in the late fall of 1609 seal the fate of Jamestown. First George Percy, while trying to steal 100 bushels of corn from the Nansemonds, shot the werowance’s son in the chest killing him. When they found out, they swarmed down on Percy and his men, killing many as they retreated to Jamestown. Their alliance with one of the three tribes was ruined.
Secondly, Smith is badly burned in a gunpowder explosion. Prior to the explosion, he was strong enough to keep control, but weak enough to be a target for political assasination. Most historians believe that Wingfield and Ratcliffe finally got their revenge and rid Jamestown of the “braggadocious commoner.” Smith was carried to the ship in late September, 1609. Spies would have reported that to Wahunsonacock within days. There were over 600 settlers living in Jamestown as John Smith glanced at Jamestown for the last time. When the supply ship returns the following spring, it will be met by only 60 surviving settlers. Within days of Smith’s departure, Wahunsoacock begins The Starving Time.