American Biography

In this image of a battle, French colonists fight with one Native American tribe against another in what is now Florida . European settlers tried to create alliances with Native American tribes. These alliances often led to violence when Europeans were drawn into ongoing Native American conflicts. However, Europeans were able to use these conflicts to further divide Native American communities and keep them from uniting against the settlers.

The English settlers in Jamestown tried to use a similar strategy with the Powhatan tribe and the Monacan Confederacy.

In this document, John Smith describes an official visit to Chief Powhatan. The British crown sent Smith with a variety of gifts to Powhatan to ask him to become a “proper” English King. In other words, the British wanted Powhatan to pledge allegiance to the British. Smith also mentions helping the Powhatan with their “revenge against the Monacans.”

Chief Powhatan firmly declined Smith’s offer, showing he understood what the English were trying to do: “neither will I bite at such a bait.” Powhatan also rejected the idea of making an alliance with the English to seek revenge against the Monacans, saying that the Powhatan could “revenge [their] owne injuries.”

This is a depiction of Chief Powhatan, located in the upper-left corner of a map of the Jamestown settlement made in 1624.

This map is the earliest known map of the Chesapeake region drawn by English cartographers. It highlights both English and Native American settlements.