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

In December 1606, three ships sailed from London—the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. The passengers would later establish the first English settlement in a swampy North American coastal region—Jamestown, Virginia. To the Algonquin inhabitants living there, the region was known as Tsenacommacah.

The expedition was funded by the joint-stock Virginia Company, its purpose being the extraction of mineral wealth as well as the settlers finding a route to the Pacific Ocean and converting indigenous North Americans to Christianity. Half of the passengers were of the upper class and lacked experience in difficult labor, leading to many deaths. John Smith, the best remembered of these passengers, was distinguished in part by his base-level competence compared to the incompetence of his fellow travelers. The survival of the colony is partially due to Smith’s efforts—and later, those of Pocahontas, the daughter of a Powhatan chieftain.

Misinformation surrounds the legend of John Smith and Pocahontas, often framing the two as star-crossed lovers. In fact, no such love affair existed, as Pocahontas was 10 years old when John Smith, two decades her senior, first met her.