In three ships, approximately 100 English arrive on the coast of what is now Virginia. They are financed by the Virginia Company, which was chartered by James I to found a colony there. The crew establishes Jamestown, named after the English king, on a site along what is now called the James River, in the lands of the Powhatan Indians—a confederacy of some 32 tribes, united by conquest under the powerful leader Wahunsunacock, also known as Powhatan.
Although Jamestown will become the first permanent English settlement in North America, the settlement will be nearly abandoned after about two-thirds of the colonists die during the first winter. The undisciplined settlers will be so distracted by the discovery of iron pyrite—fool’s gold, which they take to be the real thing—that they neglect to plant the crops needed for their survival. The survivors are saved only by the arrival of ships carrying more settlers and supplies in January 1608.
December by Smith’s lack of knowledge of Indian culture. Rather than an execution, the event is most likely an initiation ceremony, during which Pocahontas symbolically saves Smith so he can be reborn as a member of the Powhatan Confederacy. (See also entries for APRIL 6, 1808, and for JUNE 1995.)
“[I was] taken prisoner by the power of Powhatan, their chief King. . . . After some six weeks fatting amongst those Saluage Courtiers, at the minute of my execution, [Pocahontas] hazarded the beating out of her own brains to saue mine, and not only that, but so prevailed with her father, that I was safely conducted to Jamestowne"
—John Smith on his “rescue” in Generali History ofVirginia (1624)
World History
