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John Smith Founding the Virginia Colony
John Smith
John Smith founding Virginia Colony
Barbour,(1969) a historian whose studies mostly have been on the Virginia colony and its' earliest founder, describe John Smith as a fellow author, explorer and an English solider, who before his death in 21st June, the year 1631 was knighted by Prince Bathory of Transylvanian for defeating and killing the Turkish commanders. Barbour further ads on that John Smith would be remembered in centuries to come for is active participation in founding the first English permanent settlement at Jamestown, Virginia in the Northern part of America.
According to studies and researches conducted by Benjamin (2008) the myth or story that John Smith founded Virginia colony can be traced back to the year 1606 when two companies from England namely the Plymouth company and the London company were charted by the then King James the first to set voyage and colonize the new England which was later to be named Virginia in honor of the virgin queen Elizabeth. Perhaps the reason why John Smith is famous is because he was in the first voyage that arrived in Virginia; the Virginia company. Upon their arrival in the year 1607 with a motive of making profits, John Smith was appointed as a leader in the new colony and this was according to the Virginia Company's sealed orders, the final destination was Jamestown which was selected to be the new colony by Captain Wingfield.
Food was an issue during those periods when Virginia Company's voyage first landed consequently leading to death of most of the colonist because of hunger and poor health, this became a motivating factor for Smith to go and explore the Chesapeake Bay area where he first meet the with the Powhatan who captured him, but later released him after an intervention from Powhatan's daughter who was called Pocahontas. And by the year 1608 Smith was appointed leader of the local council and through his leadership whose main policy was discipline the colony started to thrive and settlers grew in numbers.
The issue of food was resolved first by the...
(2006), other historians and most academic experts are in agreement that thou John Smith is mainly remembered for his participation in establishing the Virginia colony, he also made a mark in the writing field, his writings have been the topics of discussion in many Language and History classes, and therefore he had overall impact to the education in the society.
Critics of the John Smith as the founder of Virginia Colony
This research poses a question, was John Smith the founder of Virginia or not? Many critics have come out trying to debunk the myth that Smith was the founder of Virginia basing their argument on the fact that John Smith was just among the colonist who arrived first in the region under the umbrella of Virginia Company which was a joint stock Company with the main objective of making profits out of its endeavors. But critics have a common opinion as to why Smith stands out among his fellow colonialist; because of his methods…
Kupperman, K., Indians & English: Facing Off in Early America. Cornell University Press: Ithaca: 2000, p 297
Lemay, J. Did Pocahontas Save Captain John Smith? Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1992, p. 25.
Milton. G., Big Chief Elizabeth: The Adventures and Fate of the First English Colonists in America: Macmillan, New York, 2001.p 34-79
In Massachusetts the puritans were in a mission to purify the Church of England and were intolerant when it came to religion. Rhode Island viewed church and state as separate entities. The settlers here posed a challenge on the protestant beliefs and therefore granted religious freedom to everyone (Religion Shaping New England and Chesapeake Bay Colonies, 2011). When comparing the settlement of these two colonies it is seen that settlement
17th century, a book inspired by Sir Walter Raleigh and written by Richard Hakluyt, entitled "Western Planting," built up great interest in American colonization. Focus of commercial explorations was possible trade with the East India Company for the West. The King of England formed and granted a royal charter to the London Company and the Plymouth Company (Interesting.com) to found a colony. In December 1606, the London Company, led
What Happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke: An Unsolved Historical Mystery The beginnings of European settlement in the Americas are often traced to the Puritans and the founding of the colony at Plymouth. Yet there was a much earlier settlement primarily composed of civilians in the form of the colony of Roanoke, Virginia. Roanoke was founded in 1587 by John White.[footnoteRef:1] White left the colony to obtain more resources and colonists
There is a record of a similar account found in a chronicle of the Spanish voyager to the new world Hernando De Soto (134). Afterward, in Smith's account, Smith says that Powhatan told Smith he was now a 'friend' which would be an unusual way of describing a man Powhatan actually rather than ritually intended to kill. Powhatan then invited him to return to the English settlement to find
Massachusetts and Virginia The Colonial period saw the English established a number of colonies in America. These colonies were not only divided by geography, but also by such things as religion, economics, and other factors. Far to the north, in an area called "New England," lay the colony of Massachusetts, a religious-based society founded by members of a strict religious sect as a refuge from persecution. In the south lay Virginia,
Colonial America was a diverse hodge-podge of religious communities. The Quakers had been given Pennsylvania by William Penn, whose father had held ties with the King of England (Fantel). The Puritans were in New England. Baptists established themselves in the South. Catholics had been in the Northern territories and in the Southwest well before the Protestant surge, and they also established the first Catholic state in Maryland—before it was later