The following image recalls one of the first settlements of the New World during the early 1600s. Located in what is now Virginia, the Virginia Company settled in the area with a mission to fulfill King James I’s demands. Historian James horn notes, “The ‘main ends’ of the colony, the Company asserted, were to bring the Christian religion to the Indians, take possession of a new land for the English, and produce commodities that would be of value to the home country”((Horn, James. “The Founding of English America: Jamestown.” OAH Magazine of History, vol. 25, no. 1, Jan. 2011, pp. 25–29. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/oahmag/oaq003.)). This was only the beginning of England’s journey to power in the New World. The images presented were issued in the year 1876, past the time Great Britain had relieved its control over the United States and the country became independent. Although it is not clear who created the images, it could have been a page in a history book that dates to the late 19th century. On America’s 100th birthday, the historical memory of the Settlement of Jamestown and Pocahontas contributed to the idea of the fairytale story thought to have occurred between Pocahontas and John Smith. Americans in the 19th century recalled back to this moment in history simply as the first English settlement as well as a celebration of America’s birth. However, the history itself is not as easy as the images appear to have been as the colonists faced many problems that could have ruined any additional plans for settlement.
The image on the top shows three ships which, although small, can be thought of as the three ships sent to create settlement: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. Jamestown was named after England’s king, and this settlement is one of the first of many that followed its success((Wertenbaker, Thomas J. “Jamestown, 1607-1957.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 101, no. 4, 1957, pp. 369–374. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/985403. Accessed 12 Apr. 2021.)). The settlement started with only 105 men in uncharted land and was built from the ground up with the resources supplied to them by Great Britain. Settlers also battled with famine and disease due to their limited resources((David Emory Shi, America: A Narrative History Brief, Volume 1, Eleventh Edition (W.W. Norton & Company, INC), 53.)). Having explored the continent first, Spain had already a foothold established when having first discovered the land in 1492, but England hoped to spread their power across North America. With the success of Jamestown, they slowly made North America the majority English((Wertenbaker, Thomas J. “Jamestown, 1607-1957.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 101, no. 4, 1957, pp. 369–374. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/985403. Accessed 12 Apr. 2021.)).
The second image shows a member of the Powhatan Confederacy, Pocahontas, saving English colonist, John Smith. Pocahontas was the daughter of the Chief Powhatan and generous at that, giving food to the colonizers which are seen in John Smith’s early writings((Tremblay, Gail. “Reflecting on Pocahontas.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 23, no. 2 (2002): 121-26. Accessed April 12, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3347404.)). The Powhatans and English colonists underwent several confrontations, one having been when Smith trespassed into their territory which led to his seeming demise until his death was interfered with by Pocahontas. The image shows Pocahontas on the ground protecting Smith against the Powhatans. The Native seated with the headgear, decorated clothing, and spreading his arms can be understood to be Chief Powhatan. This moment continues as a debate as it is argued that Pocahontas did not actually save John Smith’s life. It is speculated that Smith described several women in his past with high rankings that save him “at the moment of direst peril and the women were not depicted as real people” but a strategy to remove so-called ‘savages’ from Virginia((Tremblay, Gail. “Reflecting on Pocahontas.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 23, no. 2 (2002): 121-26. Accessed April 12, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3347404.)). Whether it’s myth or fact that Pocahontas saved him, she still took on Christianity which further proved England’s power and established the Natives as the “weaker” society in regard to European ideals.