PocahontasU. S. History, grades 6th-12th

JEN CHRISTIE

EME6053: INTERNET IN EDUCATION

Reading like a Historian

In this lesson, students use evidence to explore whether Pocahontas

actually saved John Smith’s life, and practice the ability to source and

contextualize historical documents.

Caption: Powhatan Indians

Bellwork

Today we are going to talk about a topic in history that you’ve probably

all heard about. What do you know about Pocahontas?

Write student answers on the board.

Pocahontas biography video

http://www.biography.com/people/pocahontas-9443116

Pocahontas was a Powhatan Native American woman, born around 1595,

known for her involvement with English colonial settlement at Jamestown,

Virginia. In a well-known historical anecdote, she saved the life of

Englishman John Smith, by placing her head upon his own at the moment

of his execution. Pocahontas later married a colonist, changed her name

to Rebecca Rolfe and died while visiting England in 1617.

Caption: John Smith, a friend of Pocahontas

EARLY LIFE

Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan, the leader of an alliance of

about 30 Algonquian-speaking groups and petty chiefdoms in Tidewater

Virginia known as Tsenacommacah. Her mother’s identity is unknown.

Historians have estimated Pocahontas’ birth year as around 1595, based

on the 1608 account of Captain John Smith in A True Relation of

Virginia and Smith’s subsequent letters. Even Smith is inconsistent on the

question of her age, however. Although English narratives would

remember Pocahontas as a princess, her childhood was probably fairly

typical for a girl in Tsenacommacah.

Pocahontas timeline

Map showing Powhatan County (Virginia)

Powhatan

Like most young females, she learned how to forage for food and

firewood, farm and building thatched houses. As one of Powhatan’s many

daughters, she would have contributed to the preparation of feasts and

other celebrations.

Like many Algonquian-speaking Virginia Indians of the period, Pocahontas

probably had several names, to be used in various contexts. Early in her life

she was called Matoaka, but was later known as Amonute. The name

Pocahontas was used in childhood, probably in a casual or family context.

Caption: the houses of the Powhatan Indians

primary and secondary sources

Explain the difference between primary and secondary sources

Primary source: original materials that have not been altered in any way, which may be used by historians. In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called original source) is an artifact, a document, or other source of information that was created at the time under study.

Secondary source: artifact or document, created after the fact, that does not have first-person knowledge

Answer the questions for each source in this lesson:

1. Who wrote the document?

2. Why did they write it?

3. What else was going on at the time?

Pocahontas Historical Documents

Document A: Captain John Smith’s Letter (1608)

“True Relation” (Modified)

Arriving in Werowocomoco, the emperor

welcomed me with good words and great

platters of food. He promised me his friendship

and my freedom within four days. . . .He asked

me why we came and why we went further with

our boat. . . . He promised to give me what I

wanted and to feed us if we made him hatchets

and copper. I promised to do this. And so, with

all this kindness, he sent me home.

Source: Smith’s own words, from A True Relation of such

occurrences and accidents of note as hath happened in Virginia

Since the First Planting of that Colony, published in 1608.

Caption: Captain Smith’s first voyage map 1608

POCAHONTAS SAVES JOHN SMITH’S LIFE

Pocahontas was primarily linked to the English colonists through Captain John Smith, who arrived in Virginia with more than 100 other settlers in April 1607. The Englishmen had numerous encounters over the next several months with the Tsenacommacah Indians. While exploring on the Chickahominy River in December of that year, Smith was captured by a hunting party led by Powhatan's close relative Opechancanough, and brought to Powhatan's home at Werowocomoco.

The details of this episode are inconsistent within Smith’s writings. In his 1608 account, Smith described a large feast followed by a talk with Powhatan. In this account, he does not meet Pocahontas for the first time until a few months later. In 1616, however, Smith revised his story in a letter to Queen Anne, who was anticipating the arrival of Pocahontas with her husband, John Rolfe.

Caption: An 1850s painting of John Rolfe and, wife, Pocahontas

Pocahontas Primary sourceDocument B: “General History” (Modified)

They brought me to Meronocomoco, where I

saw Powhatan, their Emperor. Two great

stones were brought before Powhatan. Then I

was dragged by many hands, and they laid my

head on the stones, ready to beat out my brains.

Pocahontas, the King’s dearest daughter took

my head in her arms and laid down her own

upon it to save me from death. Then the

Emperor said I should live.

Two days later, Powhatan met me and said we

were friends. He told me to bring him two guns

and a grindstone and he would consider me his

son.

Source: From Smith’s later version of the story in General History of

Virginia, New England and the Summer Isles, published in 1624.

Pocahontas captured by colonists

Pocahontas befriended Smith and assisted the Jamestown colony.

Pocahontas often visited the settlement. When the colonists were starving,

"every once in four or five days, Pocahontas with her attendants brought

him [Smith] so much provision that saved many of their lives that else for all

this had starved with hunger."

In late 1610, Pocahontas was captured by the English the

following year.

Caption: Jamestown Settlement, Virginia

Pocahontas Documents WorksheetComplete the

worksheet

independently

or in in

groups of 3

Review students’

claims/

hypotheses as a

class.

Caption: replica

of John Smith’s

boat

CAPTIVITY AND LATER LIFE

Pocahontas' capture occurred in during the First Anglo-Powhatan War.

Captain Samuel Argall and his indigenous allies tricked Pocahontas into

boarding Argall's ship and held her for ransom, demanding the release of

English prisoners and supplies held by Powhatan. When Powhatan failed to

satisfy the colonists’ demands, Pocahontas remained in captivity.

Little is known about Pocahontas' year with the English. It is clear that

Pocahontas spoke English.

In March 1614, the English permitted Pocahontas to talk to her father and

other relatives as a diplomatic maneuver. According to English sources,

Pocahontas told her family that she preferred to remain with the English

rather than returning home.

Pocahontas met and married John Rolfe during her year in captivity,

and had a son.

Caption: Pocahontas in England, known as Rebecca Rolfe

Pocahonatas dies in birthplace of

Virginia

In March of 1617, the Rolfes boarded a ship to return to Virginia. The ship

had only gone as far as Gravesend when Pocahontas fell ill. She was taken

ashore, where she died, possibly of pneumonia.

She is one of the best-known Native Americans in history, and one of only

a few to appear regularly in historical textbooks.

Pocahontas became of symbol of Indian religious conversion, one of the

stated goals of the Virginia Company. The company decided to bring

Pocahontas to England as a symbol of the tamed New World "savage.”

Sources

Pocahontas. (2014). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved

from http://www.biography.com/people/pocahontas-9443116

Stanford University (2014). Pocahontas. The Stanford History Education

Group. Retrieved from http://sheg.stanford.edu/pocahontas