Overview:

 

John Smith

(walterraleigh04)    Captain John Smith played an important role in the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia. After the four month voyage to Virginia, the settlers finally arrived in April, 1607. Before they had left, the settlers had been given a sealed box that contained a list of seven names of people who were to form a council to govern the colony. Upon arrival, this box was opened and Smith's name was on the list.

     The harsh environment and hostile Native Algonquians made life very difficult for the colonists. John Smith became the leader of the colony and did his best to fight off the Natives. In December of 1607, Smith and some other men were hunting when they were ambushed by Indians. Smith was taken captive and the other men were killed. The Indians took Smith to their leader, Chief Powhatan. Powhatan was impressed by Smith's confidence and strange equipment he carried. After being questioned about the colony, Smith was made to take part in a traditional ritual after which he was made a subordinate chief in the tribe. Smith was unsure of his fate during this captivity and afterwards was sure that Pocahontas, Powhatan's 11 year-old daughter, had saved him somehow.

     Smith was guided back to Jamestown by the Indians after about a month in captivity. The colony had been struggling with disease, malnutrition, and starvation. The colonists, not used to fending for themselves, had been wasting all their time looking for nonexistent gold rather than gathering provisions. Smith's leadership saved the colony when he was elected President of the council in September, 1608. He strengthened defenses and instituted more rigid policies of discipline. He encouraged farming and gathering of provisions when he famously said "He who shall not work shall not eat." Smith saved the colony and Jamestown grew the next year. Smith was accidentally injured and had to return to England in 1609.

     Once in London, Smith promoted further colonization in Virginia but was now unpopular with the Virginia Company. Smith returned to the New World on a voyage to Maine and named the area New England.

 

John Rolfe

(walterraleigh04)     John Rolfe's role in the tobacco industry made a huge impact on Virginia. He arrived in Virginia in 1609 and found the colony struggling to establish itself in any particular industry. They tried a variety of different enterprises to no financial success. John Rolfe's experiments with tobacco developed the colony's first profitable export.

     Sir Walter Raleigh is credited with first introducing tobacco to England. England imported tobacco from Spain who, along with Portugal, monopolized the European tobacco trade. The colonists didn't like the tobacco grown by the Native Algonquians but preferred that of the Spanish which was grown in the Caribbean. John Rolfe obtained seeds from somewhere in the Caribbean and tried to grown it in Virginia. After the locally grown leaf had been approved by the other colonists, the remaining crop was shipped back to England where it compared favorably with the Spanish-grown tobacco.

     About the same time Rolfe was experimenting with tobacco, Pocahontas had been captured by the colonists with the intention to trade her for weapons held by Chief Powhatan. This never took place and instead Pocahontas was sent to a settlement at Henrico where she learned English and was converted to Christianity. She was christened with the name Rebecca and came to the attention of John Rolfe. Rolfe married Pocahontas in 1614. The marriage resulted in peace between the colonists and the Natives long enough for the colonists to firmly plant themselves in the land. Rolfe brought Pocahontas and his new son back to England where she would die 7 months later. Rolfe returned to Virginia after.

     Rolfe became a councilor and member of the House of Burgesses and married Jane Pierce. He continued to try to improve the tobacco industry in Virginia. Exports to England totaled 20,000 pounds in 1617 and doubled the next year. Just 12 years later, half a million pounds were exported. John Rolfe, father of the tobacco industry, had given America its first great enterprise.

 

 

Critical Thinking

(walterraleigh04)     Loewen's theme of Heroification can be clearly seen in the story of John Smith in the way many sources tell it. Smith was known to be a proud, independent, and boastful man but these flaws are ignored in favor of glorifying his leadership abilities. Smith could've exaggerated many of his stories and with his personality it is difficult to tell what is true and what is hyperbole (Regarding to information from his personal accounts of events). Smith is made out to be the first true American hero and is often portrayed as the flawless savior of the colony.

 

 

 

Works Cited/Visuals

(walterraleigh04)

Captain John Smith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Captain John Smith." Jamestown Rediscovery. Web. 28 Jul 2012. <http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=25>.

 

"John Rolfe" Jamestown Rediscovery. Web. 28 Jul 2012. <http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=27>.

 

 

 

John Smith:

(williampitt04): John Smith was an English soldier and explorer who was hired by the Virginia Company, along with 100 other men, who went to the Americas to gain profit from industries set up in America. He is credited with many accomplishments, to include the settling of Jamestown, saving of the colonies from the Natives of America and from disease, hunger, and poor leadership. John Smith took control of the colony in 1608, after which many colonists had already died of starvation, disease, and malnutrition. Smith's rule that saved the settlement was "He who shall not work, shall not eat." In 1609 Smith was captured by the natives while hunting, and was brought to the Indian Chief Powhatan. Chief Powhatan was very intrigued by the instruments and weapons that the colonists had. He was then subject to a mock execution, and was saved by the Chiefs daughter, Pocahontas. Pocahontas started the initial yet shaky peace between the Indians and the colonists, from which they traded skills and items that the had. 

 

John Rolfe:

(williampitt04): John Rolfe was an Englishman who arrived in Virginia in 1609. He then started his experimentation with tobacco, after seeing the colony struggle to try and establish themselves in a particular industry. John Rolfe's experimentation was the first source of the colony's profitable export. In 1613 the English colonists captured the Indian princess, Pocahontas, and in return for her they wanted there Englishmen and weapons back from the Indians. This trade never happened and Pocahontas was taught English and converted to Christianity, from which she took the name of Rebecca. After her conversion John Rolfe met Pocahontas, and fell in love with her. He decided to marry her, but first he asked for permission from the governor and from Chief Powhatan, who was the leader of the Indians. Powhatan then granted his request and this led to peace between the Indians and the colonists for the next eight years, until the death of Chief Powhatan. During these years Pocahontas gave birth to a son by the name of Thomas. In 1616 John Rolfe and his family boarded a boat back to England. When they got back to England Rolfe introduced Pocahontas to the King. In 1617 they boarded a ship back to Virginia. Pocahontas was ill though and has to be taken ashore and died of her illness. She was then buried at a local church. John Rolfe then traveled back to Virginia, leaving his son for an education, remarried, and had a daughter. There was a massacre of the colonists, by the Indians, but its unclear whether he died in the massacre or from an illness.

 

 

 

Crital Thinking:

(williampitt04): John Rolfe is portrayed as a Hero in many sources, to include textbooks, the internet, movies, etc. Most sources say that he started the tobacco industry, in Virginia, which was the first source of profitable exports. No sources indefinitely state that he had  any flaws throughout his life, nor does any source state his personality, so we may never know if he had any flaws. or who he truly was on the inside. John Smith on the other hand is also seen in Heroification  in how sources explain the story. Though these sources glorify him, truly on the inside he was known to have a bad personality. These flaws are the reason we could speculate that maybe he and other source were exaggerating his stories.

 

 

Works cited/ Visuals:

(williampitt04):

 

John Rolfe & Pocahontas

 

John Smith

 

 

 "Captain John Smith." Historic jamestowne. Preservation Virginia , n.d. Web. 21 Aug 2012. <http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=25>.

 

Canada, Mark. "John Smith, 1580-1631." Colonial America, 1607-1783. N.p., 1999. Web. 21 Aug 2012.<http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/16071783/lit/smith>.

 

Tyler, L. G.. "John Rolfe." virtualjamestown. Crandall Shifflett, 1998. Web. 21 Aug 2012. <http://www.virtualjamestown.org/jrolfe.html>.

 

Loux, Jen. "John Rolfe." Historic Jamestowne. N.p., 1995. Web. 21 Aug 2012. <http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=27>.

 

Analysis:

 

(thomaspaine04): Loewen's theme of Heroification is evident in The American Pageant. It is written that "Virginia was saved from utter collapse at the start largely by the leadership and resourcefulness of an intrepid young adventurer, Captain John Smith." John Smith in the textbook not only helps the colonists by leading into a more productive group, but also by being saved by Pocahontas. This act of salvation lead to her being a intermediary between the Indians and colonists. In other sources however, John Smith is known to have had a very independent nature and boastful. Textbook bias is also present as the textbook fails to mention that he was injured in a gunpowder accident and that he was almost killed by a stingray. The textbook states John Rolfe as the "father of the tobacco industry" and as "an economic savior of the Virginia colony." Although his efforts did help establish a good solid source of income for Virginia, the textbook fails to mention that his creation lead to future conflicts with the Indians. The book also only refers him as the husband of Pocahontas. Other sources however, mention that John Rolfe was  married three times. 

 

Critical Thinking:

 

(thomaspaine04): James Lowen's book opened my eyes to a completely new side of history. I was glad I got to learn new things about historical figures and events that I had previously learned about. Lowen's view on history has shown me that to truly understand history you cannot just rely on what you learn at school, but instead should dig deeper and try to to get multiple perspectives on the subject. History is not always what it seems to be but rather has many mysteries surrounding each event and figure.

 

Works Cited/Visuals:

 

(thomaspaine04):

 

"Captain John Smith." Historic jamestowne. Preservation Virginia , n.d. Web. 26 Aug 2012. <http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=25>.

 

"John Rolfe" Jamestown Rediscovery." Web. 26 Aug 2012. <http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=27>.

 

"John Rolfe Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2012. <http://www.biography.com/people/john-rolfe-9462712>.

 

"John Smith: A Founder of Jamestown - EnchantedLearning.com." John Smith: A Founder of Jamestown - EnchantedLearning.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Aug. 2012.      <http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/s/smith.shtml>.

 

Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas Andrew Bailey. The American Pageant: A History of the American People. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.

 

 

John Smith Captured

 

John Rolfe planting tobacco

 

ANDREWMELLON04: OVERVIEW:

 

ANDREWMELLON04: John Smith: 

John Smith (1580-1631) was an English soldier, sea captain, and explorer who was involved in the first major English settlement in America: the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. His contribution to the colony’s survival has helped make possible to invasion of increasing amounts of Europeans, the conquest and colonization of (the future U.S. part of) North America by the English, and the genocide of the Native Americans. Today, his legacy of invasion and colonization is interpreted as a valiant effort of exploration, and he is regarded as “one of the first American heroes.”

            John Smith was born in Willoughby, England in 1580 and left home at the age of sixteen to become a sailor. He soon began his military career as a mercenary soldier for the French and Dutch, and also fought in the Long War against the Ottoman Turks. The next part of his youth is debated by different authors about its authenticity, but legend has it he was captured and sold as a slave by the Ottomans during the war. He was then sent as a gift by a Turkish nobleman to his mistress, who soon fell in love with him and released him, sending him to her brother. Smith allegedly escaped captivity and secured safe passage home by killing the brother and two other Turkish officers.

            He became involved with the Virginia Company in 1606, and joined 105 men on a voyage to America after the company-sponsored expedition had been granted a charter by King James. The settlers established the colony of Jamestown on May 24, 1607, and Smith became one of seven councilmen assigned to lead the colony as per instructions from the Virginia Company of London. In the first year, the colony suffered severe setbacks from disease and starvation, and the colony decreased in population and increased in desperation. As the number of survivors began to dwindle, some turned to criminality, stealing from each other and Native Americans, while others became cannibals and dug up corpses for food, and still others tried to desert. The result was massive chaos. According to two sources, John Smith took total control at this point and established a strict code of law and a harsh system of punishment to establish order. Although his actions and enforcement of his laws would probably be considered inhumane or severe at the least, it helped keep order and contributed to the colony’s survival in the short run.

            Ultimately, however, the colony owes its success to the farming techniques and agricultural knowledge imparted to them by Native Americans, without whom they would never have been able to sustain themselves for long. John Smith’s initial contact with the local Native Americans occurred in late 1607, when he was taken captive by the Powhatans and engaged in a ritual to induct him into their society. In such a ritual, the members of the tribe present him like a sacrifice about to be executed, and then introduce a young girl who vouches for him and “saves” his life. It plays out like a kabuki drama, but its purpose is to indebt the foreigner to the tribe for sparing his life, and according one historical education source, it worked; Smith was apparently convinced that the girl, Pocahontas, had saved his life (www.apva.org). It was the beginning of a brief period of eased European-Native American relations.

            After being wounded in a gunshot accident in 1609, Smith returned to England for treatment and returned in 1614 to claim the northeast section of what will eventually be called the U.S. for the king as “New England.” Following his final American expedition, he returned to England again for good, and became an author and avid advocate of further colonization of America.

 

 

John Rolfe:

 

John Rolfe (1585-1622) was an English businessman and entrepreneur who pioneered the first lucrative cash crop for England produced in America, strengthening economic interest in colonization and contributing to the firmer permanent English presence that followed the business boom. He also had a positive, if brief, impact on race relations and ethnic conflicts during early colonization as a result of his cross-cultural marriage with Powhatan princess Pocahontas.

John Rolfe was born in Norfolk, England, in 1585. Although not much is known about his childhood, most sources agree he got involved with the Virginia Company in 1609, after his first marriage, when he set sail for Jamestown with his wife and child. A severe hurricane forced their ship, the Sea Voyage, to take a detour and recover in Bermuda for a while before returning to their original course. This coincidence is crucial to American history because this is where John Rolfe first obtained the tobacco seeds which he would experiment on in Virginia, eventually leading to the business success and subsequent rapid colonization and development of industry in British America. In addition, Rolfe’s wife and child are said to have perished during the journey due to disease, and were buried in Bermuda.

When Rolfe arrived in Virginia, the colony had just gone through a period known in history as the “Starving Time.” The colony was on the brink of collapse as a result of famine and disease, and it had already tried various economic ventures without success, including “silk making, glassmaking, lumber, sassafras, pitch and tar, and soap ashes,” according to the historic Jamestown website (www.apva.org). In 1612, Rolfe began to experiment tobacco, intending to find goods that the colony could use to gain economic benefits, satisfy investors of the Virginia Company, and secure the colony’s future in America. His first batch of tobacco was more or less rejected by English investors because it was considered inferior to its fragrant, Spanish-produced rivals. Demand for the cheap, abundant, American-produced tobacco skyrocketed after more experiments and variations of the crop continued and the English colony could now economically rival England’s political rival, Spain, for colonial enterprise.

The next year, in 1613, Pocahontas was kidnapped by English colonists, converted to Christianity, and baptized. She then met and married John Rolfe in 1614, marking the beginning of more peaceful relations between the colonists and the Powhatans. They departed for England with their son in 1616, and Pocahontas apparently died without being able to return to her homeland on the ship bound for Virginia in 1617. When John Rolfe returned to Virginia that year, he became a councilman and remarried. Historians dispute his death as a result of disease or a Native American attack in about 1622.

 

 

ANDREWMELLON04: ANALYSIS: Many of Loewen's themes about textbook bias are evident in modern internet sources of history. These themes include eurocentrism, heroificatino, humanization, and social archetype of the superiority of authority. First of all, almost all of the sources identify the John's, particularly John Smith, as heroes in American history, bringing up the question, "Heroes for who?" Certainly not the Native Americans, whose near-genocide resulted from their contributions to the colony where it all began. Thus, these men are viewed as heroes only from a eurocentric perspective, eliminating the other side of the story. They also heroify John Smith as a "valiant soldier," as one source put it. Attributing personality traits to historical figures that have not been elaborated upon in original documents demonstrates that the authors have added in their own impressions in order to fit in with their story line of "John the hero." In addition, if we were to judge his actions as a "valiant soldier" from a modern viewpoint, many of them would qualify as substantial war crimes.

     One quote in particular from the official Historic Jamestown website blew me away with the amount of bias put into humanizing John Smith; "The Indians, hoping that the settlers would give up and leave, raided their camps, stealing pistols, gunpowder, and other necessary supplies. John Smith became leader of the colonists and did his best to fight off the Indians.” This is a lie by omission; the European invaders were the first to plunder Native American villages; the Natives’ retaliation pales in comparison to the Europeans’ ruthless practice of murdering, stealing, raping, plundering, and terrorizing Native populations. In addition, the Europeans displayed obvious intentions of conquering the natives, colonizing the country, exterminating the indigenous peoples, and the usual savage tenets of European imperialism. By making it seems like the Native Americans were the aggressors, and the Europeans led by John Smith were defenders, the author deliberately puts the readers on John Smith’s side, humanizing him as a brave defender of people. The purpose of the language commonly used in stories about John Smith is to delude people into believing that the barbarism of the Europeans and their resulting maltreatment (meaning genocide) of the Native Americans was justified.

     Another social archetype expressed is the superiority of authority to the governed. For example, much of the problems the colonists faced had to do with them not understanding the necessary agricultural techniques in order to feed themselves and keep their colony alive. It is impossible for modern authors to be able to know that the early colonists were “lazy” or “incompetent,” because those are personality/intelligence traits that are not elaborated upon in early sources. Then the hero John Smith comes into the picture, and using his great intelligence, good leadership, and political skills, he saved the colony (thereby dooming the Native Americans) to correct the silly colonists errors and save their lives singlehandedly. In truth, under Smith’s leadership, the colony became a mini police state with severe punishments for any type of minor crime, and he enforced his laws without mercy. However, John Smith’s personal character traits tend to fluctuate dramatically depending on various sources, so this is another indefinite elaboration that promotes the social archetype of authority always being in the right.

 

ANDREWMELLON04: CRITICAL THINKING: I have found many of Loewen's themes to be evident not only in textbooks that I have had to study, but also in historical websites and trusted educational sources. This has taught me much about the subjectivity of the social studies in general, since society determines the study of itself. I am now able to identify bias in nearly all of the websites I visited in order to research this topic, and I find that among the American historical ones, the author(s) tend to use ethnocentric or eurocentric viewpoints of history a lot. History is not a colllection of facts as I once thought it was; it is diverse, complex, and controversial. There may not be just one truth after all.

 

ANDREWMELLON04: VISUALS:

 

John Rolfe                                                            John Smith

 

ANDREWMELLON04: WORKS CITED:

 

"Captain John Smith." Historic Jamestowne. 2012. Web. 20 August 2012. http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=25 

 

"Captain John Smith." Colonial Williamsburg. 2012. Web. 21 August 2012. http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/smith.cfm 

 

"John Smith." Enchanted Learning. 2012. Web. 21 August 2012. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/s/smith.shtml

 

"John Rolfe." Tripod. 2012. Web 22 August 2012. http://alancheshire.tripod.com/index-15.html