Pocahontas

Main Characters:

Pocahontas; John Rolfe; her husband; Thomas Rolfe; her son; Captain John Smith; Powhatan, the father of             Pocahontas; members of the Jamestown colony

Overall Theme:

Pocahontas is curious about the English settlers of Jamestown.  She befriends the town and persuades her    father to help them survive through the winter.  Because of Pocahontas, Jamestown’s Leader, Captain John Smith, is saved from being clubbed to death.   Through her efforts, peace is eventually restored between the Indians and the people of Jamestown, and she is introduced to Europe through her husband.

Summary:

Pocahontas is a beautiful, young Indian princess traveling with her husband, John Rolfe, and son, Thomas, to London to see John’s birthplace.  She is awed by the activity and the largeness of London.  However, Pocahontas soon falls ill with the plague.

Once, when Pocahontas and John are entering their hotel, they are approached by Captain John Smith.  Pocahontas is extremely upset, having thought John was dead for a long time.  Her husband apologizes on her behalf, explaining she is ill.  She asks him to come again.

Pocahontas is a young girl at the age of twelve when she first sees the English settlers of Jamestown.  Curious and brave, Pocahontas befriends the colony and persuades her father to help them survive through the winter.  This act of kindness brings peace between the Indians and the settlers.

As food grows scarce for the settlers, they steal from the Indians.  The Indians capture Captain John Smith, intending to kill him.  Pocahontas saves his life by “claiming him for her own.”  Captain Smith sails shortly thereafter and is presumed dead.  When Pocahontas grows into a young woman, she is captured by members of the Jamestown colony and is held as ransom for supplies from her father.  John Rolfe is placed as her guard.  As summer turns to fall, and fall turns to winter, John and Pocahontas fall in love.  He teaches her to read the books John Smith had given her before he left.  When Pocahontas is released to her father again, the settlers demand their supplies.

Once again Pocahontas risks her life in order to maintain peace.  Both the Indians and the settlers are forced to give in as the “peace of Pocahontas” is known.

Background:

Pocahontas became known as a peacemaker in Virginia, and then in England.  She was a strong, determined young woman who wanted peace for her family and her children.  When she saved Captain John Smith’s life, she brought salvation to the Jamestown colony.

Living in a time of arranged marriages within her tribe, Pocahontas fell in love with a settler, John Rolfe, and wanted to marry him.  Their marriage sealed peaceful relations between the Indians and the settlers for the next eight years.

Pocahontas was a pioneer.  By bringing about peace in a time of the restructuring of America, she helped shape the course of life in colonial America.  The determination of Pocahontas saved the settlers from disaster.  Her strength is a shining example of a woman who fought for what she believed in.