Pocahontas was born in 1596. We know who she is because of John Smith's writings. We also know her because of the featured animated Disney film. The thing is that these are all falsities.
John Smith talks about a Pocahontas that was quite interested in him. A mature, beautiful, woman who was quite infatuated with a man who was obviously full of himself. The fact of the matter is that Pocahontas was a young child when John Smith came to the new world. The two probably never met, but if they did it was probably just a glance in the distance. It is important to note that John Smith was constantly in trouble with the royal family and he may have spun these stories about Pocahontas after the young girl became famous across England.
Pocahontas was captured and ransomed by the Colonists in 1613. While captive she converted to Christianity and changed her name to Rebecca. When it came time that she could return home, she instead decided to remain among the colonists. It was soon decided that she would marry the tobacco planter, John Rolfe. She was seventeen at the time and would bear their son, Thomas, in the next year. There is some speculation that her marriage to a tribal member was dissolved in order for this political alliance to take place.
The Rolfes went back to England in 1616 and Pocahontas was presented to English society as an example of a "civilized savage." The hope was that she would become popular so that more people would want to invest in the Jamestown settlement. Unfortunately, Pocahontas died in March of 1617. Her life was short lived but her legacy is long, usually in all of the wrong ways.
And as always have a chilled day from the viking
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