John Smith
(Captain John Smith)
1580–1631
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The story of Smith's adventures in Virginia are often told because Jamestown is the oldest permanently settled colony in the United States, and is therefore a staple of Early American History. Smith's experience in Virginia did not start off well, as he argued with the captain of the voyage and nearly got himself hung. Most of the colonists were adventurers like himself who were interested in searching for gold, not building forts or farming. As a matter of survival however, Smith took a leadership role and forced everyone to pull their own weight. He also was involved in negotiations with the local Indians and befriended Pocahontas, the daughter of the local chief. Eventually Smith was injured and had to return to England, but not before helping to put the colony of Jamestown on a firm footing.
The seven years after he returned home from Virginia, he spent exploring New England and Canada on behalf of England, and some of the maps that the Pilgrims used when they settled New England a few years later, were made by Captain John Smith. The final years of Smith's life were spent writing books, including an autobiographical one that gave details of his many adventures.
Key events during the life of Captain John Smith:
| Birth of John Smith | |
| Went as an adventurer to France. Served under Henry Navarre. | |
| Served as an English mercenary in Holland. | |
| Fought for the Emperor against Turkey. | |
| Taken as a prisoner by the Turks and sold as a slave. | |
| Escaped and returned to England | |
| Taken on board a ship to the Americas. | |
| Adventures with Powhatan and Pocahontas in Virginia. | |
| Injured and returned home to England. | |
| Explored New England and Canada. | |
| Last voyage to New England and Canada | |
| Wrote books about Virginia, New England, and his lives adventures. | |
| Death of John Smith |
Other Resources
| The Star of Empire in | The Story of Liberty by Charles C. Coffin |
| Virginia Colonized in | Indian History for Young Folks by Francis S. Drake |
| Captain John Smith in | A First Book in American History by Edward Eggleston |
| Adventures of John Smith in | America First—100 Stories from Our History by Lawton B. Evans |
| Smith's Adventures in | Story of the Thirteen Colonies by H. A. Guerber |
| Little Red Princess of the Forest in | The Men Who Found America by Frederick Winthrop Hutchinson |
| Adventures of Captain John Smith in | This Country of Ours by H. E. Marshall |
| Adventures of Captain John Smith in | Historical Tales: American II by Charles Morris |
| Colonies in | American History Stories, Volume I by Mara L. Pratt |
| Captain John Smith in | The Awakening of Europe by M. B. Synge |
Image Links | ||
|---|---|---|
 Pocahontas shields him from their clubs in Indian History for Young Folks |
 Captain Smith subduing the chief in Indian History for Young Folks |
 John Smith in Indian History for Young Folks |
 John Smith in A First Book in American History |
Smith Fights the Indians in A First Book in American History |
Smith and his men in camp in A First Book in American History |
The gunpowder and the savage in A First Book in American History |
 Smith and Pocahontas in Story of the Thirteen Colonies |
 Crowning Powhatan in Story of the Thirteen Colonies |
The crowning of Powhatan in This Country of Ours |
 Engraving in John Smith's Historie of New England and Virginia in Builders of Our Country: Book I |
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| Daughter of an Indian Chieftain who helped the early settlers in the Jamestown Colony in Virginia. | |
| Powhatan | Chief of the Powhatan confederacy and father of Pocahontas. Kept an uneasy peace with Jamestown settlers. |
| First Stuart king of England. Intelligent and competent, but unable to work effectively with Parliament. | |
| John Rolfe | Jamestown colonist who married Pocahontas and brought her to England. |