New World Man

"New World Man" Timeline

The truth about "New World Man".

Captain John Smith

This episode deals with historical inaccuracies that cropped up while the players were still alive. Most sources seem to agree, or at least acknowledge the possibility,  that John Smith embellished the story of his rescue by Pocahontas, especially once he was the only surviving witness. He apparently didn't tell the story of Pocahontas saving his life until his letter to Queen Anne in 1616, and didn't publish the story until 1624 when Pocahontas and her father were both dead. Some believe it was because when she saved him, he didn't want to admit that he, the rugged adventurer, was saved by an eleven year old savage. But he grew fond of her over the years, and by the time he told the story she was something of a legend in Britain. Maybe he also just mellowed out a bit; no longer as concerned with his own image he told a story that would cement his friend Pocahontas as a heroic figure. Some sources also say that he may have thought she saved his life, but it was actually a part of a dramatic ritual symbolizing his death and rebirth as a part of the Powhatan society. All in all it's very confusing so I opted to work around the dramatic rescue and show that she did in fact rescue Jamestown first by providing them with food, and later by warning them of Powhatan's impending attack.


What went wrong?

Pocahontas AKA Matoaka
AKA Rebecca

     John Smith was actually held prisoner for over a month. In our story it seems like he's only there for an hour or so.
     While Pocahontas did learn English, she probably didn't speak a word of at the time of John Smith's capture, especially since he was probably the first white person she had ever seen.
     The romance between Smith and Pocahontas is debatable. Most sources agree that they flirted with each other but there was nothing serious between them. It was probably more of a schoolgirl crush (as was mentioned cynically by Dennis in the story).
     The story where Pocahontas rescues the English from her father's attack is true, though the events played out differently in the real story.
     I had the settlers drinking alcohol a lot more frequently than they probably did. They didn't have a lot of beer (or anything) at Jamestown in the early years, and apparently didn't start brewing their own until the 1620s.
     John Smith's letter to Queen Anne was much abridged. The original can be seen here.
     I should probably point out that Pocahontas and Smith met one more time. Not long after her soirée with the king and queen, Pocahontas met up with Smith in Brentford, near London. It seems to have been an awkward and unhappy reunion. Smith no longer the powerful man he was in Virginia, Pocahontas in her uncomfortable European outfit. She told him she thought he was dead and insisted on calling him "father" which irked Smith. Soon thereafter Pocahontas and John Rolfe set off to return to the New World but Pocahontas died of an illness as they were embarking leaving behind a son named Thomas Rolfe. Through him people today trace their ancestry back to Pocahontas. A famous example is Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, the wife of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.
     The fragile peace established with the marriage of Rolfe and Pocahontas didn't last. Pocahontas' father died not long after her and the bloodshed resumed–a tragic end to a dramatic story.


Sources:

Barbour, Philip L. The Three Worlds of Captain John Smith. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1964. Print.

Chatterton, Edward Keble. Captain John Smith. London: Joh Lane, 1927. Print.

Gleach, Frederic W. "The Ritual World of Pocahontas." Natural History 115.9 (2006): 40-47. EBSCO Publishing. Web. 22 Sept. 2011.

Lambert, Katie, and Sarah Dowdy. "Pocahontas: An American Princess." Audio blog post. How Stuff Works. Discovery Network, 18 Nov. 2009. Web. 20 Aug. 2011. <howstuffworks.com>.Paine, Lauran. Captain John Smith and the Jamestown Story. New York: Hippocrene, 1973. Print.

Vaughan, Alden T. American Genesis: Captain John Smith and the Founding of Virginia. Boston: Little, Brown, 1975. Print.

"Jamestown - Interactive." National Geographic Magazine. Web. 27 Sept. 2011. <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/jamestown/jamestown-standalone>.

This story's soundtrack:

(I didn't make it)