Camilla Townsend, associate professor of history at Colgate University, wrote Pocahontas and the Powhatan Dilemma which was published in 2004. The book is an account of Pocahontas’s life which has been dramatized through publications and movies. However, many myths exist surrounding her life. It is written chronologically and primarily covers the period from 1607 to 1622. In preparation Townsend read all relevant seventeenth century documents and stated a brave woman like Pocahontas deserves better. Respect should be given to this woman who was kidnapped, converted to Christianity, married an Englishman, and crossed an ocean. After analyzing the factual events of Pocahontas’s life, the reader will learn more about Pocahontas as well
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Smith was a council member of the Virginia Company. On his fourth trip upriver looking for the Northwest Passage or Powhatan’s headquarters, he was captured. Townsend explains how some of the myths about Pocahontas such as her throwing herself over Smith to save him come from Smith’s writings which he didn’t write until 1624 when no one was left to tell otherwise. In his other writings women were always attracted to him, and he also claimed to have been adopted by Powhatan. Smith was sent back to Jamestown with gifts and the Indians were given a ransom of ???????. People at the fort wanted him dead because two other men had died, but Captain Newport arrived and all was forgotten. Powhatan could have killed him, but he knew the value of having access to the tools and weapons the English …show more content…
It was probably at a Saturday prayer gathering or on a Sunday in town that Pocahontas met Rolfe. In a four page letter to Sir Thomas Dale, Rolfe declared his love for Pocahontas, acknowledged the difficulties of a mixed marriage, and asked permission to marry her. Townsend explains Pocahontas’s first husband must have died or there would have been a scandal, and it doesn’t seem she was forced to marry. An Algonkian woman would rather have been a wife than a servant, and would marry an enemy to build an alliance. After observing an attack on an Indian village, Pocahontas was taken upriver in hopes of bargaining with Powhatan. She saw two of her brothers and Rolfe saw Opechankeno. She would stay as part of Dale’s family, and within 15 days Powhatan would send all the weapons he had and a load of corn to end the
Smith was a council member of the Virginia Company. On his fourth trip upriver looking for the Northwest Passage or Powhatan’s headquarters, he was captured. Townsend explains how some of the myths about Pocahontas such as her throwing herself over Smith to save him come from Smith’s writings which he didn’t write until 1624 when no one was left to tell otherwise. In his other writings women were always attracted to him, and he also claimed to have been adopted by Powhatan. Smith was sent back to Jamestown with gifts and the Indians were given a ransom of ???????. People at the fort wanted him dead because two other men had died, but Captain Newport arrived and all was forgotten. Powhatan could have killed him, but he knew the value of having access to the tools and weapons the English …show more content…
It was probably at a Saturday prayer gathering or on a Sunday in town that Pocahontas met Rolfe. In a four page letter to Sir Thomas Dale, Rolfe declared his love for Pocahontas, acknowledged the difficulties of a mixed marriage, and asked permission to marry her. Townsend explains Pocahontas’s first husband must have died or there would have been a scandal, and it doesn’t seem she was forced to marry. An Algonkian woman would rather have been a wife than a servant, and would marry an enemy to build an alliance. After observing an attack on an Indian village, Pocahontas was taken upriver in hopes of bargaining with Powhatan. She saw two of her brothers and Rolfe saw Opechankeno. She would stay as part of Dale’s family, and within 15 days Powhatan would send all the weapons he had and a load of corn to end the