American Biography: Individuals Make a Difference

This image shows the Powhatan tribe fighting John Smith and the settlers. In late 1607, the Powhatan tribe took Smith prisoner briefly, but soon released him.

In a book written almost 10 years later, Smith said that Pocahontas convinced Chief Powhatan, her father, to release him. Many historians have questioned his story, but they have never been able to discover exactly why he was released. One thing historians do know, however, is that Smith’s release began a short period of good relations between the Powhatan tribe and the English settlers.

Here, John Smith describes his capture and release from the Powhatan. He says that Pocahontas convinced her father to spare his life and release him. He also says the Powhatan tribe saved the settlers from starvation, saying, “had not the Savages fed us, we directly had starv’d.” Smith’s account is one of the only written documents from this time period about his release. Historians don’t know of any Powhatan documents that might describe this event.

This print shows Pocahontas in 1616 dressed entirely in English clothes. Around this very “English” portrait is the name “Rebecca,” the Christian name given to her after her marriage to John Rolfe.

This image of Pocahontas shows her in very English dress and specifically mentions that she had been “converted and baptized in the Christian faith.”