WEBVTT 1 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:25.480 No doubt, James Smith was pleased to watch Newport's ships 2 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:30.640 sail away from the Jamestown Colony in Virginia. As the 3 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:33.439 mass disappeared down the James River on its way back 4 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:37.320 to England, Smith realized that he was in charge, and 5 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:40.880 as the weather turned bitterly cold in December, he first 6 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:44.560 concerned himself with securing provisions to just try to keep 7 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:47.840 the two hundred or so settlers alive during that winter. 8 00:00:48.759 --> 00:00:52.799 The Indians, however, refused to trade. They said because they 9 00:00:52.799 --> 00:00:58.000 were quote so commanded by Pahatton end quote so, threatening 10 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:01.039 to take their corn by force if they refused to bargain. 11 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:06.079 Smith persuaded the nearby Nesseimunds to part with one hundred bushels. 12 00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:10.439 But Smith now realized that Wassahonack had ordered an embargo 13 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:13.439 on trade with the English and concluded that the Pahatan 14 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:17.079 chief must be confronted or else the colony would starve. 15 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:21.439 There was no third option. In fact, Smith had been 16 00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:24.959 invited to meet the chief at where Mucoco, where Wassahonik 17 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:27.840 promised he would load the englishman's ship with corn if 18 00:01:27.879 --> 00:01:30.599 in return he would send him men to build a house, 19 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:37.159 provide a grindstone, fifty swords, some cannon, copper, and beads. Now. 20 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:40.159 Smith realized that he might be walking into a trap, 21 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:43.599 but he had little choice but to agree. So he 22 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:47.760 sent along Richard Savage and four German settlers to build 23 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:52.280 the house that Wassahnack had requested, and then he set 24 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:55.560 off in the Pinnacle with two barges and forty six men. 25 00:01:55.719 --> 00:02:00.640 In the final days of that calendar year. They finally 26 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:05.040 arrived at where Macoco, the Indian capital, on January the twelfth, 27 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:11.080 sixteen oht nine. The next day, Smith met with Wassahonic. 28 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:13.080 The chief said that he hadn't sent for them and 29 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:15.960 asked when they planned to leave. He assured Smith that 30 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:18.280 he didn't have any corn to trade, although he would 31 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:22.039 spare forty bushels and the like number of swords. Looking 32 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:24.520 over the goods that the English had brought, he repeated 33 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:27.800 that he was interested in trading for guns and swords only. 34 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:31.199 He said that he valued a basket of corn more 35 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:34.360 highly than a basket of copper, because you could eat 36 00:02:34.360 --> 00:02:38.520 the corn but not the copper. Now, this is a 37 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:42.840 really interesting part because the dialogue between Smith and Wassahonic 38 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:47.000 is actually recorded in its entirety, and it's the most 39 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:50.840 extensive verbatim exchange that we have between the two men. 40 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:55.240 Although we cannot possibly ever know for sure whether the 41 00:02:55.319 --> 00:02:59.479 voice of Wassahonic, the Bahatan chief, is authentic, it's the 42 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:02.439 closest that we can come to hearing the chief's words 43 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:08.000 from his own lips. Smith wanted corn, was Sahonic wanted 44 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:11.759 English weapons, and neither of the two men was prepared 45 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:16.840 to compromise. Smith began the discussion by emphasizing his friendship 46 00:03:17.319 --> 00:03:22.039 and then ending with a thinly veiled threat. And this 47 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:28.120 is supposedly Smith's own words here, Powhatten. Though I had 48 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:31.800 many courses to have made my provision, yet believing your 49 00:03:31.840 --> 00:03:36.199 promises to supply my wants, I neglected all. To satisfy 50 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:40.000 your desire and to testify my love. I sent you 51 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:44.199 by men for building, neglecting my own what your people 52 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:48.000 had engrossed, forbidding them our trade. And now you think 53 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:51.879 by consuming the time we shall consume for want, not 54 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:57.199 having to fulfill your strange demands. As for swords and guns, 55 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:00.960 I told you long ago I had none to spare, 56 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:05.080 and you shall know those I have can keep me 57 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:08.280 from want, yet steal or wrong you, I will not 58 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:13.199 nor dissolve that friendship we have mutually promised, except you 59 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:19.519 constrain me by your bad usage. Now, Walsahonic promised, for 60 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:21.720 his part, that he would supply them with what they 61 00:04:21.720 --> 00:04:26.040 could spare within two days, but he made his doubts 62 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:31.680 of the Englishman's intentions clear, saying as follows, Yet, Captain Smith, 63 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.360 some doubt I have of your coming hither that makes 64 00:04:35.399 --> 00:04:38.120 me not so kindly seek to relieve you, as I 65 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:41.600 would for many to inform me your coming is not 66 00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:45.720 for trade, but to invade my people and possess my country. 67 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:50.199 Who dare not come to bring you corn? Seeing you 68 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:54.439 thus armed with your men to clear of this fear, 69 00:04:55.279 --> 00:05:00.199 leave aboard your weapons, for here they are needless. We 70 00:05:00.279 --> 00:05:06.160 are all friends and forever Pahadans. The rest of the 71 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:09.560 day was spent in further discussions, and continued into the 72 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:13.439 next when the chief talked at length about war and 73 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:16.959 peace and his fears about why the English had come 74 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:20.240 into his country. Again, here we get the voice of Wassahonic. 75 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:24.879 Captain Smith, you may understand that I having seen the 76 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:28.360 death of all my people thrice and not one living 77 00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:32.399 of those three generations, but myself. I know the difference 78 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:35.920 between peace and war better than any in my country. 79 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:41.040 But this brute rumor from the Nasamund that you are 80 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:45.160 come to destroy my country so much affrightened all my people, 81 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:48.720 as they dared not visit you. What will it avail 82 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:52.439 you to take that perforce that you may quietly have 83 00:05:52.560 --> 00:05:56.240 with love, or to destroy them that provide you food? 84 00:05:57.279 --> 00:05:59.879 Well you can get by war when we hide our 85 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:04.120 provision and fly to the woods, whereby you must famish 86 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:08.720 by wronging us your friends? And why you are jealous 87 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:12.680 of our love seeing us unarmed, and both do and 88 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:16.279 are willing still to feed you with that you cannot 89 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:21.000 get but by our labors end quote Now, Smith, just 90 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:25.519 like was Wassahonic, wanted to pose himself as the wronged party, 91 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.759 and responded by stressing again his love for the Bahatans 92 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:33.560 despite their failure to supply the colony with food as promised. 93 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:38.800 He ignored the chief's view of the English as adopted Bahattans, 94 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.439 and he rejected any suggestion that the English could only 95 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:47.319 survive if they remained unfriendly terms. Sure, the English could 96 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:50.240 take what they wanted by force if they chose, but 97 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:54.160 they preferred to live in peace, Knowing the colony was 98 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:57.519 once again on the brink of starvation. Wassahonic was hardly 99 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:00.560 persuaded by Smith's assertions. It must have wondered at the 100 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:05.199 Englishman's brazenness in standing before him and making these outrageous claims, 101 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:08.959 or at least outrageous they would have seemed to him, 102 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:11.920 seeing that the English persisted in refusing to lay down 103 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:15.240 their arms. Whiles Ahonic spoke again this time and his 104 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:20.000 disappointment of Smith and his actions. I never used any 105 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:24.360 of my wear an ox to kindle as yourself. If 106 00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:28.480 from you I received the least kindness of any Captain 107 00:07:28.519 --> 00:07:33.120 Newport gave me swords, copper cloths, a bed, tools, or 108 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:36.959 what I desired, ever taking what I offered him, and 109 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:41.240 would send away his guns when I entreated him. None 110 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.839 does deny to lay at my feet or do what 111 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:47.920 I desire, but only you, of whom I have nothing 112 00:07:48.519 --> 00:07:52.680 but what you regard not, And yet you have whatsoever 113 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:57.240 you demand. Captain Newport, you call father, and so you 114 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:01.560 call me. But I see for us both you will 115 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:04.360 do what you list, and we must both seek to 116 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:08.199 content you. But if you intend so friendly as you said, 117 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:12.000 send hence your arms that I may believe you, or 118 00:08:12.040 --> 00:08:15.319 you see the love I bear. You doth cause me 119 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:20.800 thus nakedly to forget myself and quote, now, this is 120 00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:25.000 again a tacit effort by Wasashnik to try to get 121 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:28.079 Smith to accept his authority to refer to him as father. 122 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:32.799 Now Smith refused to acknowledge that, in fact, he didn't 123 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:37.120 even follow the orders of his English father, Captain Newport. 124 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:41.120 But by this time Smith was convinced that the Bahawtans 125 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:45.159 were merely waiting for the opportunity to murder him. He 126 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:49.600 therefore decided to surprise the chief, take him hostage, and 127 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:54.720 make his escape with as much corn as he could carry. Here. 128 00:08:55.480 --> 00:08:58.960 Smith replies, quote, well, Houghton, you must know I have 129 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:02.679 but one god, my honor, but one king. I live 130 00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:06.440 not here as your subject, as your friend, to pleasure 131 00:09:06.519 --> 00:09:09.080 with what I can. By the gifts you bestow upon me, 132 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:13.720 you gain more than by trade. Yet would you visit 133 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:15.960 me as I do you? You should know it is 134 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:20.559 not our customs to sell courtesy as a commodity. Bring 135 00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:24.120 all your country with you. I will not dislike of 136 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:27.200 it as being over jealous, But to content to you 137 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:30.240 tomorrow I will leave my arms and trust to your promise. 138 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:34.039 I call you father indeed, and as father you shall 139 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:37.279 see I love you. But the small care I had 140 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:40.120 of such a child caused my men to persuade me 141 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:45.679 to shift from myself. Now these were the last words 142 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:50.600 that these two men would ever exchange. Smith was given 143 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:53.240 a bracelet and a chain of pearl and the Indians 144 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:56.840 agreed to load corn onto his barge. But in fact, 145 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:00.559 in reality, Wissahonik had ordered that Smith be murdered that 146 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.519 very evening. The plan was to ambush them at dinner 147 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:08.799 time when the guard was down. According to legend, Smith 148 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:14.240 was once again rescued by young Pocahontas. She came to 149 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:16.799 him and told him of the plot before it was 150 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:22.200 too late. Smith chose not to flee. However, he simply 151 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:25.279 stood there calmly and formed the warriors that he knew 152 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:29.799 why they had come. And so Smith and his men, 153 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:33.639 armed with English weapons, and the Bahatans armed with theirs, 154 00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:37.080 simply spent the next several hours watching each other warily, 155 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:41.000 until the Englishmen were able to escape safely on the 156 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:44.840 midnight tide. Rather than return to Jamestown, Smith opted to 157 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:48.480 head up river and continue his searches for corn. He 158 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:53.039 understood fully well the risk. It was possible that perhaps 159 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:57.919 was Sahnick's brother might be more determined than his brother 160 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:01.360 to rid himself of the tiresome captain, and that was 161 00:11:01.399 --> 00:11:04.360 the direction he was going. But Smith knew that he 162 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:07.279 didn't have a choice. The English didn't have sufficient food 163 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:10.080 to get through the winter, and he knew there was 164 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:13.879 little chance of finding enough food elsewhere. But if he 165 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:17.480 had known about another group that left where Macoco that night, 166 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:21.080 he might have reconsidered his plans. Wassahonic was ready to 167 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:25.440 dispense with Smith because, actually, unbeknownst to Smith, he had 168 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:28.240 succeeded in winning over to his side the Germans sent 169 00:11:28.279 --> 00:11:31.240 to build his house. He had made them substantially the 170 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:33.519 same offer that he had made Smith a little more 171 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:36.519 than a year before, with the exception that he didn't 172 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:38.679 intend to raise any of them to the status of chief. 173 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:42.840 That being said, several of the Germans accepted the offer, 174 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:46.960 and as Smith was sailing upriver, they were actually on 175 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:50.840 their way back to Jamestown, directed by Wassahonic to steal 176 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:54.679 as many weapons as humanly possible and return to him. 177 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:58.279 But Smith didn't know about any of that, and so 178 00:11:58.519 --> 00:12:03.200 he sailed up the river to meet with Wassahonik's brother Apohanock. 179 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:08.000 Abahonic readily agreed to trade and promised to provide ample 180 00:12:08.039 --> 00:12:11.799 stores of corn the next day. When the Englishmen returned 181 00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:14.480 the following morning, they found four or five Indians with 182 00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:19.320 great baskets of food. Still, one of his men, John Russell, 183 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:22.399 informed Smith that they had been betrayed. In fact, six 184 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:25.759 and seven hundred warriors were surrounding them in the woods, 185 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:29.879 taking a play right out of the Francisco Pizaro playbook. 186 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:34.960 So Smith walked right up to Apahonock and challenged him 187 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:38.679 to single combat, adding the following, Apohanock, you plan to 188 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:42.559 murder me, but I fear it is not as yet 189 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:45.039 Your men are mine, have done no harm. But by 190 00:12:45.080 --> 00:12:48.600 our directions, take there for your arms. You see mine 191 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:52.080 my body shall be as naked as yours, and if 192 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:55.960 you be contented, we shall fight, and the conqueror shall 193 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:59.759 be lord and master over all our men. Otherwise, draw 194 00:12:59.799 --> 00:13:02.320 all your men into the field. If you have not enough, 195 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:05.440 take time to fetch more and bring what number you will. 196 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:09.279 So everyone, bring a basket of corn, against which I 197 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:12.200 will stake the value and copper. You see I have 198 00:13:12.360 --> 00:13:16.080 but fifteen men and our game shall be the conqueror 199 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:20.480 take all end quote. If Apohonic understood any of this, 200 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:23.320 he could hardly be blamed for ignoring it. He had 201 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:26.799 nothing to gain and everything to lose by accepting. He 202 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:29.320 chose therefore, to try to draw Smith out of the 203 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:32.080 house he was currently in and make him an easy 204 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:35.879 target for his bowman positioned outside. In the heat of 205 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:38.279 the moment, perhaps Smith may not have thought too much 206 00:13:38.279 --> 00:13:41.799 about his reaction, but what happened next sealed his own 207 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:45.320 fate among the Pahatans and cast a bloody shadow over 208 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:49.000 the English colony for years to come. Commanding two of 209 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:51.399 his men to make the house safe and two men 210 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:55.080 to guard the door, Smith grabbed Apahonic by his long 211 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:58.840 scalplock and aimed his pistol directly at his chest, and 212 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:01.919 then he led them out among his people, forced him 213 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:04.480 to surrender his weapons, and made his men do the same. 214 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:09.200 Then he addressed the astonished assembled natives with the usual 215 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:14.000 mixture of threats and fair promises, saying, I see you, 216 00:14:14.279 --> 00:14:17.440 paniukis the great desire you have to cut my throat 217 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:21.200 and my long suffering. Your injuries have emboldened you to 218 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:25.320 this presumption. The cause I have forborne your insolences is 219 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:28.000 the promise I made you before the God. I serve 220 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:31.120 to be your friend, So you give me just cause 221 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:33.919 to be your enemy. If I keep this vow, my 222 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:37.320 God will keep me. You cannot hurt me. If I 223 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:40.480 break it, he will destroy me. But if you shoot 224 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:43.080 one arrow, to shed one drop of blood of any 225 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:46.480 of my men, or steal the least of these blades 226 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:49.919 or copper, you shall see I shall not cease vengeance 227 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:53.600 if once I begin, so long as I can hear 228 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:56.000 where to find one of your nation that will not 229 00:14:56.279 --> 00:15:01.480 deny your name end quote. Referring then to his capture 230 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:04.799 in the winter of sixteen oh seven, Smith offered in 231 00:15:04.919 --> 00:15:09.279 return to overlook the Indians treachery, saying quote, if as 232 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:11.960 friends you will come and trade, I once more promise 233 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:15.399 not to trouble you, except you give me the first 234 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:19.799 occasion end quote. Incredibly, after the attempts on his life 235 00:15:19.799 --> 00:15:22.799 and the terrible personal insult he had just dealt Apahonic, 236 00:15:23.240 --> 00:15:26.279 Smith still tried to persuade the natives to remain on 237 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:31.080 friendly terms, and yet the root of Smith's problem ran 238 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:33.879 a lot deeper than the immediate desire to get corn. 239 00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:37.559 He had lost now his influence with Wassahonic and Apahonic, 240 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:40.320 and with it the prime advantage that he had with 241 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:44.000 other leaders over the colony since his miraculous return from 242 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:47.840 captivity in early sixteen oh eight. Nor could he hope 243 00:15:47.879 --> 00:15:51.320 any longer for these groups of Indians help in supplying 244 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:55.759 the colonists with food. Smith understood, just as Wassahonic did, 245 00:15:56.039 --> 00:15:59.759 the Englishman's dependence on the Pahatans for provisions. If they 246 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:03.679 saw to destroy the natives, than they would surely sarve. 247 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:07.080 Smith in fact wrote quote, then by their loss, we 248 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:11.720 should have lost ourselves end quote. Hence Smith's continued and 249 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:16.480 desperate efforts to avoid conflict. Unfortunately for Smith, the pot 250 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:19.600 in chief no longer needed Smith. Now that he could 251 00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:22.240 depend upon the Germans, he could get whatever he wanted 252 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:25.519 by treachery rather than by trade. Though Smith did not 253 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:28.440 yet know the cause, the balance of power had shifted 254 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:32.679 decisively now toward the Pohatans. He returned to Jamestown in 255 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:35.799 early February with two hundred and seventy nine bushels of 256 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:39.799 corn and other provisions, but unbeknownst to him, the cost 257 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:44.080 of that immediate survival had been enormous. More bad news 258 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:47.159 awaited Smith back at the forts. A couple of weeks before, 259 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:51.240 Matthew Scribner, a captain named Richard Waldo, both of whom 260 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:55.080 were on the council, and eight others, were drowned during 261 00:16:55.120 --> 00:17:00.720 the extreme frozen period that had existed since Smith had left. Meanwhile, 262 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:02.679 as Smith endeavored to find a means of forcing his 263 00:17:02.759 --> 00:17:05.759 men to work, two of the Germans still with Wassahonick 264 00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:08.680 sent a compatriot back to the fort to find out 265 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:11.119 why they had not been joined by more of the colonists. 266 00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:14.799 News of the Germans return came to the ears of Smith, 267 00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:17.160 who sent out a party of twenty men to bring 268 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:21.000 the trader back to the fort. Smith joined in the search, and, 269 00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:24.680 passing by the newly constructed glasshouse alone, was suddenly attacked 270 00:17:24.839 --> 00:17:27.559 by the chief of the nearby Passaheggs, who hoped to 271 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:31.920 gain favor with Wassahonack by killing the Englishmen. Locked in 272 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.519 hand to hand combat, the two men fell into the 273 00:17:34.599 --> 00:17:38.240 river nearby, where the Indian tried to drag Smith under 274 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:41.039 the water, only to be thwarted. When a couple of 275 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:45.759 colonists came to Smith's rescue, This attack persuaded Smith to 276 00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:49.519 inflict immediate reprisals against the nearby Natives, and with a 277 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:52.079 small force, he carried out a quick and brutal raid 278 00:17:52.119 --> 00:17:55.000 on their village. Smith and his men killed six or 279 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.480 seven warriors, took as many prisoners, and burned the Indians' houses, 280 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:03.920 destroyed their canoes in the process. He then promised to 281 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.519 leave the Indians alone if they could only provide him 282 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:09.079 with food, this being the kind of agreement that he 283 00:18:09.119 --> 00:18:12.720 had also worked out with the Bahatans. During the next 284 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:16.400 few months, Smith kept his men busy repairing the ford, 285 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:21.599 producing pitch tar, soap, ashes, and glass. Scarcity of food 286 00:18:21.640 --> 00:18:24.519 continued to be a major concern because the corn they 287 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:27.039 had taken from the natives had rotted in the casks 288 00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:30.359 or been devoured by rats from the ships, leaving them 289 00:18:30.440 --> 00:18:33.200 nothing but what they could scrape out of the nearby woods. 290 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:37.000 Smith was left with little choice but to disburse his men. 291 00:18:37.759 --> 00:18:39.839 In May, about a third of the two hundred English 292 00:18:40.039 --> 00:18:43.000 were spent twenty miles down river with one of the 293 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:48.160 original settlers to Quote live on oysters end Quote. Twenty 294 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:51.319 went to try their hand at fishing, and a similar 295 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:54.240 number were dispatched upriver to live off the land at 296 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:58.559 the falls. The rest stayed at Jamestown. Despite the settler's 297 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:02.559 desperate situation, however, the majority remained reluctant to do any work. 298 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:06.599 They had signed up as soldiers, not as fishermen and farmers, 299 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:09.960 and rather than find their own provisions, preferred to trade 300 00:19:10.039 --> 00:19:15.279 anything and everything to the local natives. Finally, Smith had 301 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:17.880 no choice. He addressed the company and declared that anyone 302 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:20.640 who did not daily produce as much food from himself 303 00:19:20.839 --> 00:19:24.799 would be banished from the fort. Time was running out 304 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:28.119 for John Smith. Many of the men were ready to revolt, 305 00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:32.319 and the locals were now openly hostile. Somehow, picking up 306 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:35.559 a rumor that a Spanish assault might be imminent, the 307 00:19:35.559 --> 00:19:39.000 renegade Germans planned to join an invading force and drive 308 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:43.359 the English out for good. Learning of the disarray at Jamestown, 309 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:47.119 they informed Wasahonic at the moment had come to attack, 310 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:50.960 and the plan came to nothing, probably because the Pahatans 311 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:54.160 remained wary of a frontal assault on the fort. Yet, 312 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:57.799 the situation revealed the extent of discontent among the Englishmen, 313 00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:01.079 as well as the continued threat posed by settlers who 314 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:04.720 ran away to the Indians. Yet, for all the challenges 315 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:07.880 Smith faced in the colony, ultimately it was neither his 316 00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:10.960 own men nor the Phatans who would cause his downfall, 317 00:20:11.680 --> 00:20:14.680 but rather the changing tide of events back in London. 318 00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:19.240 As far as the company's sponsors were concerned, the colony 319 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:24.759 had failed to fulfill its expectations and required immediate and 320 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:30.680 thorough reorganization. A new beginning was called for, one that 321 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:53.440 placed the colony on a very different footing from Virginia 322 00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:56.480 all the way back to London. The winter of sixteen 323 00:20:56.519 --> 00:20:58.160 oh eight to sixteen oh nine was one of the 324 00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:02.440 hardest in living memory. Living in London through that brutal 325 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:06.720 winter was one Sir Thomas Smith. He was the leading 326 00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:09.599 merchant of his day. In his youth he had been 327 00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:13.480 fascinated by different English schemes to found an English empire 328 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:17.200 in North Atlantic, but luckily for him, he didn't take 329 00:21:17.240 --> 00:21:20.839 part in some of the last disastrous voyages. He had 330 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:24.440 been the governor of the East India Company since its founding. 331 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:27.960 He was a member of Parliament, served as one of 332 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:31.519 the four Principles of the Navy, and personally knew the 333 00:21:31.599 --> 00:21:36.160 King's most important ministers. In Smith, it turned out the 334 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:42.920 Virginia Company could not have found a more powerful advocate. Now. 335 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:46.440 Initial steps to reform the colony had begun nearly a 336 00:21:46.519 --> 00:21:50.400 year earlier. In the spring of sixteen o eight, Henry Clinton, 337 00:21:50.680 --> 00:21:53.039 Earl of Lincoln, who had recently been added to the 338 00:21:53.079 --> 00:21:56.440 Virginia Council, urged that several thousand men be sent to 339 00:21:56.559 --> 00:22:00.759 Jamestown as soon as possible to populate the colony. Meanwhile, 340 00:22:01.079 --> 00:22:03.880 Sir Thomas Gates, a captain of the English Company in 341 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:07.519 the Netherlands, was commissioned to lead a large scale expedition 342 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:11.920 to the land of Virginia. Gates was an enthusiastic supporter 343 00:22:12.119 --> 00:22:16.680 of colonies and a seasoned military commander. He had been 344 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:20.720 foremost in petitioning the King for a charter to colonize America, 345 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:23.480 and was the first name grantee in the letters patent 346 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:27.480 issued to the London Company by James the First. Rather 347 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:31.400 than accompany the voyage to Virginia, however, at least initially, 348 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:34.599 he had returned to the Netherlands, where he had served 349 00:22:34.599 --> 00:22:38.160 with Sir Thomas Gale in South Holland. It was from 350 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:41.200 there that Gates made his way to England in May 351 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:45.880 sixteen oh eight. Upon his return, Gates heard that Newport 352 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:49.720 had arrived from Virginia bringing details of the colonies near 353 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:54.599 collapse and whigs overthrow. We can confirm this because, writing 354 00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:59.720 in late June that year, the ambassador to England and 355 00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:04.279 also so secret Spanish spy Zuniga, noted that despite being 356 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:09.359 almost bankrupt the company, the Virginia Company, was preparing to 357 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:14.240 send out another expedition. Zuniga could think of only one 358 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:19.279 possibility for this piracy, he wrote, for the purpose quote 359 00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:22.680 carrying on piracy from there, and I mean only the 360 00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:26.960 prospect of plunder could explain why this colony that seemed 361 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:31.759 so hapless could continue to attract settlers. Now, piracy was 362 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:33.799 not at all on the minds of the company's leaders, 363 00:23:34.279 --> 00:23:37.079 But as Sir Thomas Smith wrote out purposefully from his 364 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:41.400 house in late January sixteen oh nine, he was already 365 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:45.599 aware that the colony had quote went backwards rather than 366 00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:50.559 forwards end quote. Having read John Smith's long letter criticizing 367 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:54.039 the company's policies, which had arrived from Newport from Virginia 368 00:23:54.119 --> 00:23:57.680 a few days before, and having had discussions with John Ratcliffe, 369 00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:01.240 also recently returned, and others, it was clear to Thomas 370 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:04.960 and the company that the colony needed to be reorganized 371 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:08.480 as soon as humanly possible. There and afterwards was a 372 00:24:08.519 --> 00:24:12.680 series of meetings during which would occurred, more than anything else, 373 00:24:12.759 --> 00:24:17.519 was a perfectly candidate and somewhat unusual appraisal of the 374 00:24:17.720 --> 00:24:22.359 problems which had beset the colony from its beginning. A 375 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:24.880 series of orders would go out which would serve as 376 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:30.039 sort of a response to Smiths criticisms. Now, really, what 377 00:24:30.119 --> 00:24:34.559 these responses illustrate are the ways that perhaps the company 378 00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:38.240 intends to restructure the colony in order to work more efficiently. 379 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:43.119 But as always, it's one thing when you're actually on 380 00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:46.200 the moment, another thing when you are giving directions from 381 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:50.920 the safety of earth. Oftentimes the colony and the company 382 00:24:51.160 --> 00:24:53.759 are going to see things differently based on where they 383 00:24:53.799 --> 00:24:57.000 are in the ground. Theoretically, maybe things in Virginia look 384 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:00.160 better than they actually are, despite the worrying words that 385 00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:06.960 come in. So, according to the company in London, all 386 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:11.680 of the problems were reduced to really two quote the 387 00:25:11.720 --> 00:25:15.279 form of government and the length and danger of the 388 00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:20.680 passage by the southerly course of the Indies end quote. 389 00:25:20.839 --> 00:25:23.400 To counter the first, it was agreed that the King 390 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:27.680 should be petitioned quote for a special charter with such 391 00:25:27.799 --> 00:25:31.400 ample and large privileges and powers as what enabled them 392 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:35.279 to reform and correct those errors already discovered, and to 393 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:40.039 prevent such as in the future might threaten them end quote. 394 00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:42.880 To deal with the second problem, that is the long 395 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:46.519 course of the southerly route, the company decided to employ 396 00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:50.880 one Captain Samuel Argyle, to find a shorter passage to 397 00:25:50.920 --> 00:25:54.640 the Chesapeake by sailing directly from the Canaries in a 398 00:25:54.680 --> 00:25:59.720 straight westerly course, avoiding the Spanish possession and keeping way 399 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:06.240 of piracy. Now, this overall charter proposed important changes to 400 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:08.839 the way the company and colony had been run and 401 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:13.160