Becoming America - An Exploration of American Literature from Precolonial to Post-Revolution, 2018a

BECOMING AMERICA
PRE- AND EARLY COLONIAL LITERATURE
1.8 JOHN SMITH
(1580–1657)
Born into a farming family in Lincolnshire,
John Smith early on sought a more
adventurous life. At the age of sixteen, he
joined in the (Protestant) Dutch War of
Independence from the (Catholic) Philip
II of Spain. He next saw action in the
Mediterranean and in the Austrian war
against the Turks. His service in this war
earned him the rank of Captain. Wounded
in battle and captured by the Turks, Smith
escaped slavery by assassinating his owner
and eeing to Eastern Europe. He eventually
returned to England in 1604.
Smith’s military experience led to his
being appointed to the ruling council of the
Virginia Company, a company of investors
Image 1.10 | Captain John Smith
Artist | Unknown
who supported colonizing eorts in North
Source | Wikimedia Commons
America. Himself somewhat unruly and badtempered,
Smith was placed under arrest
License | Public Domain
on the voyage over and was even threatened
with execution. Once having reached their
destination, Smith took his place on the
governing council and became governor
of the colony in 1607. Although active in
maintaining the settlement, especially in
the face of sickness and starvation, Smith
made extensive explorations of Virginia.
During one of these exploratory treks,
Smith was captured by the Chesapeake Bay
Indians, then ruled by Powhatan (1545–
1618) whose daughter Pocahontas (d. 1617)
saved Smith from execution. He was almost
executed by the Jamestown colonists for
Image 1.11 | Pocahontas
the death of two of his soldiers but escaped Artist | Unknown
Source | Wikimedia Commons
punishment upon the arrival of a muchneeded
supply ship. After suering injury
License | Public Domain
from an accidental explosion of gunpowder, Smith returned to England. There he
wrote of his experiences and explorations of Virginia and New England in terms
that captivated the imagination of future settlers. His own imagination may have
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