![[John_Smith_taking_the_King_of_Pamavnkee_prisoner_-_etching.jpg]] *Illustration in Captain John Smith's book, of his "capture" of a Powhatan warrior. Does Smith seem a bit intimidated?* When they chose to settle along [[Chesapeake|Chesapeake Bay]], the English had inadvertently located their colony at the center of the Powhatan Confederacy, a powerful [[Algonquian]] alliance of thirty native groups with a population of about twenty-two thousand people. Conflicts were frequent between the English and the Powhatan, with nearly-constant wars breaking out as more and more English settlers arrived. The [[First Anglo-Powhatan War]] (1609–1614) resulted not only from the English colonists’ intrusion onto Powhatan land, but also from their refusal to follow native social protocols of gift exchange. English actions infuriated and insulted the Powhatan. In 1613, the settlers kidnapped [[Pocahontas]] (also called Matoaka), the daughter of Wahunsenacawh, whom the English called Chief Powhatan. Pocahontas helped end the war in 1614 when she married [[John Rolfe]] (not Captain John Smith) and promoters of colonization publicized her story as an example of the good work of converting the uncivilized Powhatan to Christianity. Pocahontas had a child with Rolfe and travelled with him to England, where she met [[King James I]]. She died in London of a European disease, leaving behind a two-year old son, [Thomas Rolfe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Rolfe), who returned to Virginia. ![[Pasted image 20250202093402.png]] Peace in Virginia did not last long. The [[Second Anglo-Powhatan War]] in the 1620s broke out after the death of Wahunsenacawh because of the expansion of the English settlement nearly a hundred miles into the interior and because of the continued insults and friction caused by English activities. The Chief’s brother, [[Opechanacanough]], had never been reconciled to the English presence and went to war as soon as he became chief. The Powhatans' surprise attack in 1622 killed almost 350 English, about a third of the settlers. The English responded by burning every Powhatan village around Jamestown and from then on became even more intolerant. The [[Third Anglo-Powhatan War]] (1644–1646) began with another surprise attack in which the Powhatan killed five hundred more English colonists. Opechancanough was captured and paraded through [[Jamestown]] as a prisoner in chains, although he was over 90 years old. The chief was then shot in the back by a soldier who had been assigned to guard him. The Anglo-Powhatan Wars, spanning nearly forty years, illustrate the degree of native resistance that resulted from English intrusion into native lands. --- Next: [[3.12 New England]] Back: [[3.10 Maryland and Indenture]]