Pocahontas summary

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Pocahontas, detail of a portrait by an unknown artist, 1616.

Pocahontas , (born c. 1596, near present-day Jamestown, Va. [U.S.]—died March 1617, Gravesend, Kent, Eng.), Powhatan Indian woman. Daughter of the powerful chief Powhatan, Pocahontas helped maintain peace between English colonists and Native Americans by befriending the settlers at Jamestown, Va. By the account of colonial leader John Smith, Pocahontas intervened to save his life after he had been taken prisoner by her father’s men. She subsequently converted to Christianity and wedded the colonist John Rolfe, which furthered efforts toward peace. She traveled to England, where she was received at court, but soon afterward she died, probably of lung disease.

Jamestown Colony Summary

Jamestown Colony, first permanent English settlement in North America, located near present-day Williamsburg, Virginia. Established on May 14, 1607, the colony gave England its first foothold in the European competition for the New World, which had been dominated by the Spanish since the voyages of