John Smith, Jamestown and the Roots of America
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=68899
General Information
Source:
NBC Learn
Resource Type:
Creator:
Tom Llamas
Copyright:
Event Date:
Air/Publish Date:
05/26/2014
02/26/2014
Copyright Date:
Clip Length
Video MiniDocumentary
NBCUniversal Media,
LLC.
2014
00:03:13
Description
In 1607, Captain John Smith helped establish the first permanent English settlement in America, but
historians have found it difficult to separate fact from fiction in key events from Smith's two years at
Jamestown. This story is produced by NBC Learn in partnership with Pearson.
Keywords
John Smith, Pocahontas, Jamestown, English, Settlement, Settlers, British, Colony, Colonies, Virginia
Colony, Powhatan, Native American, Tribe, Virginia, Colonists, Chesapeake Bay, Starving Time,
Massachusettes Bay Colony, Puritans, New England, Explorer, Exploration, Biography
Citation
MLA
"John Smith, Jamestown and the Roots of America." Tom Llamas, correspondent. NBC Learn.
NBCUniversal Media. 26 Feb. 2014. NBC Learn. Web. 14 April 2015
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Page 1 of 3
APA
Llamas, T. (Reporter). 2014, February 26. John Smith, Jamestown and the Roots of America. [Television
series episode]. NBC Learn. Retrieved from
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=68899
CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE
"John Smith, Jamestown and the Roots of America" NBC Learn, New York, NY: NBC Universal,
02/26/2014. Accessed Tue Apr 14 2015 from NBC Learn:
https://highered.nbclearn.com/portal/site/HigherEd/browse/?cuecard=68899
Transcript
John Smith, Jamestown and the Roots of America
TOM LLAMAS reporting:
In all of American history, there are few figures as colorful - and questionable - as Captain John Smith.
Smith helped establish the first permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown in the early
1600's. But historians have found it difficult to separate fact from fiction in key events from Smith's two
years there, especially the story for which he is most famous - his rescue by the Indian princess,
Pocahontas.
In the spring of 1607, Smith arrived in Virginia with about 100 other colonists. Their goal was to settle the
territory and make money for the Virginia Company. But within a year, they were in trouble. Food and
water had run low, they were living in temporary shelters, and there was lots of tension with Indian Chief
Powhatan, who ruled the territory.
To turn the fortunes of the settlement around, John Smith took action. He instituted a harsh form of rule
and is said to have told the settlers, "he that will not work, shall not eat." His policies worked and life
improved at Jamestown, but the colonists hated Smith because of his strict rules.
Smith spent time mapping the Chesapeake Bay and told stories of leading excursions deep into Powhatan
territory. According to Smith, on one of these excursions, he and his crew were captured by the
Powhatans. Chief Powhatan executed all of Smith's crew with blows to the head.
When it was Smith's turn to die, Chief Powhatan's 10-year old daughter, Pocahontas, rushed forward and
begged her father to save Smith's life - in some accounts, she even held his head to prevent it from being
clubbed.
Did Pocahontas save Smith because of love? Hollywood sure thinks so. But historians aren't so sure.
Some believe that Pocahontas' actions may have been part of a ritual to make Smith part of the Powhatan
tribe, restoring peace between the Virginians and Powhatans. Others wonder if Smith's story ever even
happened.
By late 1609, Smith was forced to return to London due to a gunpowder injury that needed treatment.
Jamestown sure missed his leadership. A severe food shortage fell upon the colony. Settlers ate rats, dogs,
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Page 2 of 3
and many turned to cannibalism to survive, but it wasn't enough. 80 percent of the Jamestown population
died during what became known as the "starving time." The colonists were ready to abandon Virginia, but
survived only after a new group of settlers arrived and began cultivating tobacco for sale in England.
John Smith made one last journey to North America in 1614. This time, he sailed further north, looking
for fishing and fur trading opportunities on the coasts of what are now Massachusetts, New Hampshire
and Maine - calling it "New England."
Just six years later, the Pilgrims founded Plymouth Colony along that same coast and in 1630, inspired by
Smith's reports, the Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
So who was John Smith, really? History may never know for sure.
But as Smith said long after his travels, building a colony "requires all the best parts of art, judgment,
courage, honesty, constancy, diligence and industry, even to do near well."
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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