Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and The Start of a New Nation

In 1606, the Algonquin people populated much of North America’s East coast, as well as large sections of Canada and the American Midwest. Within this language group, many separate tribes existed; among those named in David A. Price’s book are the Powhatan, Nansemond, Arrohattoc, Kecoughtan, and Warraskoyack. They lived in dispersed, self-sufficient groups. The land on which they lived was rich in resources, and so the Algonquin were experts not only in hunting, gathering, and agriculture, but also reserving their stores. Such storage played an important role in their millennia-long survival and larger political organization.

In the vast coastal land of Tsenacommacah, which the English renamed Virginia, Powhatan was considered the paramount werowance (leader). His people, well-versed in the art of conflict, were named after him. Powhatan demanded tributes of food from nearby Algonquin tribes and was in a state of clashing equilibrium with those further away.

King James’s England was not the colonial maritime powerhouse it would become in the next three centuries. King James is considered one of the most influential English kings, having ordered the translation of the Bible into the common English tongue. Under his rule, literary giants such as William Shakespeare and Ben Johnson flourished.