Discovery and Settlement of the New World 11brother of Chief Powhatan, and threatened with death. As a young boy,
Opechancanough had been kidnaped by the Spanish in 1559. He was
sent to Spain to learn western customs and culture and the Spanish
language so that he could be trained and serve as an interpreter and
translator between the Indians and the Spanish. He was even given a
Spanish name: Don Luis de Velasco. On his return home, sometime in
the late 1570 s, he renounced his Spanish affiliations and reclaimed his
position of authority within the Powhatan tribe. He may also have been
instrumental in the slaughter of the missionaries who accompanied him
back to Virginia. Most likely he would have killed John Smith, had it
not been for Pocahontas, the favorite daughter of the Powhatan chief.
At the time, Pocahontas was only eleven years of age, so it is un-
likely that there was a romantic reason for her action. A number of
historians have guessed that in successfully pleading for Smith’s life
she may have been acting out an Algonquin rite in which the power of
Chief Powhatan over life and death was demonstrated by accepting
Smith and his fellow settlers in Jamestown into his overlordship. By
their acknowledgment of his superior position he granted them his
protection. Whatever the true reason for Pocahontas’s action, she ex-
tended her friendship with other English settlers. She converted to
Christianity and married John Rolfe, one of the settlers, in 1614 , and
their marriage strengthened the friendship between the Powhatans
sand the settlers. Pocahontas later traveled to England, where she was
treated with the deference due her Indian rank and presented to the
king and queen. Unfortunately, she contracted smallpox and died at
age twenty-two.
Instead of gold, the colonists discovered the value of tobacco, which
the Indians had smoked for centuries. Introduced in Europe, this
“filthy” habit, as King James labeled it, became very fashionable, and
the increasing demand provided the settlers with a cash crop they des-
perately needed to survive. The value of the trade brought more and
more English settlers to America. As a result, large plantations soon
evolved to grow the plant, and Virginia became a thriving colony.
The London Company sent Thomas Dale, a military man, to gov-
ern Virginia, and he instituted stern measures to ensure the continued
life of the community. Then, in 1619 , the company instructed the
governor to summon two landowning representatives from each of the