Draft Interpretive Plan Join the adventure! - Captain John Smith ...

*John Smith’s explorations of the Chesapeake Bay resulted in the transformation from an
American Indian culture to a European-based culture.
*The Trail will inspire a spirit of adventure and exploration through the recounting of
John Smith’s adventures on the Chesapeake Bay. Exploration is the hallmark of all
human endeavors. People will be motivated to embark on their own journey of discovery.
*A pioneering/enterprising spirit drove the development of the Bay.
*The English presence here forever changed the lives of American Indians and
transformed the land and the Bay.
*The Bay influenced the development of today’s culture.
*Europeans took a long time to “acclimatize” to the environment.
*Economic motives drove Smith to explore the Bay.
*Captain Smith was looking for resources to take back to England. He was here for a
purpose.
*The European culture of the colonial period had its own mores and crimes.
*Missionaries intending to bring Christianity to American Indians were part of the
European colonization effort.
*Captain Smith and his men endured hardships rowing and sailing all day. They explored
with “amazing determination.”
*Captain Smith’s writings and maps established his significance and spread the news of
the resources of the new land.
*Smith’s explorations established England’s claim to the land. If he had not explored
America, the Spanish could have claimed it.
*John Smith and the English colonists were on a business venture (a “Dot Com boom” of
the 1600s) at the expense of natural resources.
*Smith’s failure to find a ‘Northwest Passage’ turned the explorers’ attention back to the
Bay. They focused on the Bay as a resource rather than as a route to somewhere else.
B. Native America culture and society (then and now)
Summary:
Participants want to interpret the cultures of American Indians as they existed
before European contact and to interpret the cross-cultural contact with the English (how
understandings and misunderstandings affected both peoples). Participants recognize the
devastation of the American Indians. One commentator characterized the 17 th through
19 th centuries in America as a story of a “receding civilization”—Indian civilizations
receded as Europeans advanced.
Participants also want to tell the often hidden stories of the American Indian
groups who live in the region today.
Specific Comments:
*The locations of natural resources associated with the Chesapeake Bay determined
where Native Americans settled.
*Differences between English cultures and Indian cultures led to conflicts and
displacement of the American Indian cultures.
*American Indians were made up of many tribes and diverse cultures.
*Original cultures lived sustainably in the environment.
85