Emergency!
1972
Search results
- DictionarySmith, John/smiTH/
noun
- 1. (circa 1580–1631), American colonist; born in England. One of the leading promoters of English colonization in America, he helped to found the colony of Jamestown in 1607 and served as its president 1608–09. When captured by Indians from Powhatan's tribe, he was rescued by Pocahontas, Powhatan's daughter.
Powered by Oxford Languages
People also ask
What was John Smith famous for?
When did John Smith die?
Who was Captain John Smith?
How old was John Smith when he was born?
Apr 11, 2024 · John Smith. c. 1580–1631. John Smith was an English soldier, explorer, and historian. He is most famous for his role in helping stabilize Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in America, and his legendary encounter with the Powhatan princess, Pocahontas. John Smith. Image Source: Captain John Smith by Tudor Jenks, 1904.
- Randal Rust
- Early Life and Military Exploits
- Founding of Jamestown
- John Smith and Pocahontas
- Leadership of Jamestown
- Anglo-Powhatan Wars
- Later Life and Death
- Sources
Born around 1580 in Willoughby, a town in Lincolnshire, England, Smith left home at age 16 after his father’s death. He sailed to France, where he joined volunteer forces fighting for Dutch independence against Spain. He later served on a pirate ship in the Mediterranean Sea before heading to Austria in 1600 to join the forces of the Holy Roman Emp...
In 1607, Smith’s military reputation helped earn him a spot in the group of men assembled by the Virginia Company to form an English colony in North America. With a charter from King James I in hand, 104 settlers sailed from England aboard three ships in December 1606. During the four-month sea voyage, expedition leaders arrested Smith for planning...
The new colony struggled with food shortages and disease, and in the fall of 1607 Smith began conducting expeditions to Native American villages to secure food. That December, a Powhatan hunting party captured Smith during one of these trips and brought him before Wahunsenacawh (commonly known as Chief Powhatan), the leader of most of the indigenou...
In September 1608, Smith was elected president of Jamestown's governing council. He instilled greater discipline among the settlers, enforcing the rule"He who will not work shall not eat." Under Smith's guiding hand, the colony made progress: The settlers dug the first well, planted crops and began repairing the fort that had burned down the previo...
In the months after his departure, Chief Powhatan ordered his men to attack the Jamestown fort, beginning the first of the Anglo-Powhatan Wars, and Jamestown endured the so-called "starving time" over the winter of 1609-10, during which several hundred colonists died. Though Smith wanted to return to Jamestown, the Virginia Company refused to send ...
When he was released, Smith was unable to find anyone in England to back further voyages across the Atlantic. He focused on writing about his experiences, published works such as The Generall Historie of Virginia (1624) and The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captain John Smith(1630). Though Smith was known to exaggerate his own explo...
Bill Warder. Captain John Smith. National Park Service. Bernard Bailyn. The Barbarous Years - The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675 (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012) John Smith. Jamestown Rediscovery: Historic Jamestowne.
Apr 2, 2014 · John Smith was a British soldier who was a founder of the American colony of Jamestown in the early 1600s. Updated: Apr 15, 2021. Photo: Universal History...
Apr 9, 2024 · John Smith (baptized January 6, 1580, Willoughby, Lincolnshire, England—died June 21, 1631, London) was an English explorer and early leader of the Jamestown Colony, the first permanent English settlement in North America. Smith played an equally important role as a cartographer and a prolific writer who vividly depicted the natural abundance ...
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Feb 22, 2021 · Definition. Captain John Smith (l. 1580-1631 CE) was an English explorer, soldier, author, and early governor of the Jamestown Colony of Virginia between 1607-1609 CE. Smith had served as a mercenary in his younger years and was well-versed in military discipline.
- Joshua J. Mark
History /. Pocahontas /. John Smith. Virginians know that Captain John Smith was vital to the survival of Jamestown in its early years. They can quote his order: “ He that will not worke, shall not eate .”. But few know that Smith’s adventures started years before Jamestown. Born in 1580 in Willoughby, England, Smith left home at age 16 ...
Feb 20, 2024 · John Smith claimed Pocahontas saved him from execution when she was just 11 or 12 years old. Whether the story happened the way Smith tells it—or even at all—is up for debate, a 2017 ...
