Captain John Smith

Dorothy Hoobler, Thomas Hoobler

Description

"America was the place Smith had dreamed of his whole life.There, his character, determination, and ambition had propelled him to the top of society. He spent the rest of his life trying to return. Though he failed, he pointed the way for others, who were drawn by the dream that opportunity was here for anyone who dared seize it . . . Smith founded more than a colony. He gave birth to the American dream."
--from Captain John Smith

Captain John Smith tells the real story behind the swashbuckling character who founded the Jamestown colony, wrote the first book in English in America, and cheated death many times by a mere hairbreadth. Based on rich primary sources, including Smith's own writings and newly discovered material, this enlightening book explores Smith's early days, his forceful leadership at Jamestown that was so critical to its survival, and his efforts upon his return to England to continue settlements in America. This unique volume also reveals the truth behind Smith's relationship with Pocahontas, a tale that history has greatly distorted. Bringing to life heroic deeds and dramatic escapes as well as moments of great suffering and hardship, Captain John Smith serves as a great testament to this important historical figure.
Acknowledgments.

Prologue.

1. Dreams of Glory.

2. “To Conquer Is to Live.”

3. Voyagers West.

4. The “First Mover” of Jamestown.

5. A Charge of Mutiny.

6. Disease, Dissension, and Death.

7. The Great American Myth.

8. Conflicting Agendas.

9. Seeking the Future.

10. Smith vs. Newport.

11. Smith vs. Powhatan.

12. Smith Takes Charge.

13. “My Hands Have Been My Lands.”

14. The Dream Survives the Man.

Notes.

For Further Reading.

Index.

Sujets

• 17th Century
• Modern
• Histoire
• John Smith (explorer)
• History of the United States
• History
• John Smith
• Pocahontas

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 21 avril 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470314982
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Captain John Smith
Also by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
Nonfiction

Vietnam: Why We Fought
Vanity Rules: A History of American Fashion and Beauty
We Are Americans: Voices of the Immigrant Experience
Real American Girls Tell Their Own Stories
The Chinese American Family Album
The Italian American Family Album
The Irish American Family Album
The Jewish American Family Album
The African American Family Album
The Mexican American Family Album
The Japanese American Family Album
The Scandinavian American Family Album
The German American Family Album
The Cuban American Family Album

Novels

The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn
The Demon in the Teahouse
In Darkness, Death (Edgar Award winner)
The Sword That Cut the Burning Grass
Captain John Smith

Jamestown and the Birth of the American Dream
Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 2006 by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada
Illustration credits: Pages 123, 130, 195, and 242 courtesy of the Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http:/www.wiley.com/go/permissions .
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at [phone], outside the United States at [phone] or fax [phone].
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Hoobler, Thomas. Captain John Smith : Jamestown and the birth of the American dream / Thomas Hoobler and Dorothy Hoobler. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN: 978-0-470-12820-6 1. Smith, John, 1580-1631. 2. Colonists-Virginia-Jamestown-Biography. 3. Explorers-America-Biography. 4. Explorers-Great Britain-Biography. 5. Jamestown (Va.)-History-17th century. 6. Jamestown (Va.)-Biography. 7. Frontier and pioneer life-Virginia-Jamestown. 8. Virginia-History- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775. I. Hoobler, Dorothy. II. Title. F229.S7H66 2006 975.5 02 092-dc22
2005017411
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In memory of our fathers, Frederick G. Law and John T. Hoobler, who believed in the American dream
I am no Compiler by hearsay, but have beene a reall Actor; I take my selfe to have a propertie in [these events]: and therefore have beene bold to challenge them to come under the reach of my owne rough Pen. That, which hath been indured and passed through with hardship and danger, is thereby sweetned to the Actor, when he becometh the Relator. I have deeply hazarded my selfe in doing and suffering, and why should I sticke [hesitate] to hazard my reputation in Recording?
-John Smith
Contents
Acknowledgments

Prologue
1. Dreams of Glory
2. To Conquer Is to Live
3. Voyagers West
4. The First Mover of Jamestown
5. A Charge of Mutiny
6. Disease, Dissension, and Death
7. The Great American Myth
8. Conflicting Agendas
9. Seeking the Future
10. Smith vs. Newport
11. Smith vs. Powhatan
12. Smith Takes Charge
13. My Hands Have Been My Lands
14. The Dream Survives the Man

Notes
For Further Reading
Index
Acknowledgments
We want to acknowledge the invaluable assistance provided to us by Marianne Carter and Cathy Grosfils of the Rockefeller Library of Colonial Willamsburg. We benefited greatly from the efforts of the National Park Service, Colonial National Historical Park at Jamestown. Our sincere thanks also to the knowledgeable and ever-helpful staff of the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History, and Genealogy at the New York Public Library. We were also ably assisted by the staff of the Deborah, Jonathan F. P., Samuel Priest, and Adam Raphael Rose Main Reading Room of the New York Public Library, and by the staff of the Bobst Library at New York University. Descha Daemgen of New York University made a key contribution to our work at a crucial stage. Our editor, Hana Lane, was understanding, encouraging, and helpful, and as always our agent, Al Zuckerman, was persistent and patient on our behalf. Finally, thanks to our daughter Ellen, a doctoral candidate at Columbia University, for her perceptive reading of an early stage of the manuscript.
Prologue
They said-those who had been here before-that you could smell America before you could see it. We smelled the fragrance a hundred leagues away, wrote Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524 about his approach to Cape Fear in today s North Carolina, and even farther when they [the natives] were burning the cedars and winds were blowing from the land. Arthur Barlowe, captain of a reconnaissance voyage sent out from England in 1584, reported, The second of July, we found shole water, which smelt so sweetely as if we had been in the midst of some delicate garden, abounding with all kinds of odiferous flowers, by which we were assured, that the land could not be farre distant. Two days later, Barlowe reached the North American coast.
Several of the men on board the three small ships that were now, in the early hours of April 21, 1607, groping in the predawn darkness for an American landfall could testify to the truth of this. Gabriel Archer, who had seen America five years earlier, compared the scent of the coast to that of Andalusia in Spain-a blend of fresh flowers, wild fruit, and aromatic woods such as cedar, laurel, and cypress. For nearly a week that drifting fragrance had tantalized the men aboard the Susan Constant , the God Speed , and the Discovery as they made their way north from the West Indies, paralleling the Atlantic coastline of what is today the United States. To them, the name of the land they sought was Virginia, named for-and by-England s virgin Queen Elizabeth, and neither they nor anyone else had any idea of its extent or size. Nor could they possibly have imagined that their mission would prove to be one of the most significant in the history of the world.
Captain Christopher Newport, the gritty, forty-seven-year-old, one-armed admiral of the voyage and commander of the flagship Susan Constant , knew that land-the sweet-smelling coast of Virginia-certainly lay not far to his west. He was, however, looking for a specific place, a great bay that had been seen twenty-two years earlier by an exploring party from the first English colony in America, whose inhabitants had mysteriously disappeared.
Five days earlier, Newport s ships had encountered a violent storm, a vehement tempest, one of the colonists described it, which lasted all the night with winds, rain, and thunders in a terrible manner. The ships were forced to rest on their anchors, because the captains feared they would be blown onto the shore in the darkness. By Newport s calculations, they should now be very close to their intended destination, and the omnipresent scent of land increased his expectations. Every day following the storm, starting with the twenty-second of April, he had ordered his longest lead line tossed overboard to test the depth. Though the line was a hundred fathoms long, time after time it failed to reach the bottom. John Ratcliffe, the captain of the smallest of the three ships, suggested that they give up the search and return to England. Yet Newport must have believed he was very near his goal, so near that he would likely have forsaken sleep, anxious lest he miss it. He sent a boy with young, sharp eyes to sit high atop the mainmast, looking for any sign, even at night. Newport himself paced the deck, staring into the darkness, waiting to hear the lookout s cry.
Another man was certainly lying awake, listening keenly for it too, though he was confined below decks and probably in chains as well. John Smith- Captain John Smith as he liked to be called, though he had no rank on this voyage-had a particular interest in the ships imminent arrival in Virginia, for that was where his enemies would attempt to hang him.
They had tried once before, on the island of Nevis in the West Indies, where the small fleet had anchored for six days to take on fresh water and fruit. Young and brash, red-bearded, notably short of stature, and hot-tempered, Smith had been accused of plotting mutiny. Very likely his crime had been to offer his opinions and criticism too freely to those who considered themselves superior to him in rank or birth.
On that earlier occasion, Captain Newport no doubt had intervened to save Smith fro