Powhatan's Relationship With The Natives Of Jamestown By John Smith

I get the impression that they didn’t treat the natives horribly, but like the French, they did not view them as equals either. From what the book says about colonists being reliant on natives, particularly relying on Tsenaccommacah corn, it is clear that they were trading. They at least had a working relationship. Later, when the Virginia Company demanded that Powhatan become a vassal a James I and he refused starting five years of altercations, this seemed like a clear sign that they did not view the native as equals. Particularly when you consider that Powhatan had made a similar demand of John Smith, who did not accept. It appears that while the colonist’s did not think they should have to submit to natives, whose land a resources …show more content…
One way that the Jamestown colonists differed from both the French and the Spanish is that they never formed any military alliances with local tribes. They did trade, but they did not fight with natives against other natives like the French and Spanish did. Also, unlike the French, Jamestown wanted the natives to become vassals of James I, the French just wanted to trade while Jamestown wanted the natives to become part of their nation. In addition, unlike the French, they ended up fighting with the tribes that were helping to support them. However, in many other ways the Jamestown colonists were similar to the French. First, they were looking to trade and work with the natives. As the text mentions, the colonists relied on corn from local tribes to survive. They needed the natives’ trade to live. The French were not as reliant on natives simply because that were just looking to exploit native labor for pelts. In fact, as we know, the fur trade was so profitable that natives become reliant on the French. Jamestown was looking to trade for food and other necessities, rather than things they could turn around and sell. They both needed to exploit native labor, but for different reasons. Plus, both the French and the Jamestown had a more complex relationship with the natives then the Spanish did. We talked about French forming a better opinion of the natives on a personal level, and I’m guessing the Jamestown colonists ran into something similar. It seems that they had some close contact with the natives and it would be difficult to come out of that without at least a little respect. I believe the main reason Jamestown treated natives the way that did was because they were looking to colonize. They needed the natives help to survive, so they wanted to be nice to them. But,