Pocahontas Research Paper

Words: 548
Pages: 3

To most, Pocahontas is known as a heroine. She appears many times in legends, long-ago tales, and even starred in her own Disney Princess animation film. In nearly all, she is depicted as brave and fierce. So brave, in fact, that she saved the Englishman John Smith. However, if you look past the exaggerations of countless authors over time, passing along the tale like a telephone game, the truth is that she did not truly save him. Even the accounts of John Smith, the man who claimed to have been rescued, has changed his story to accommodate fame. Though she may have indeed been a fearless young lady, Pocahontas did not protect John Smith from being killed.
In John Smith’s own first accounts of the Powhatan tribe, he describes them as kind, generous people. They reasoned with the English about the land and their beliefs and traded willingly. The chief himself said if they traded, John would be like a son to him. The primary book Smith wrote, True Relation, explains their compassion in one sentence, “And so, with all this kindness, he sent me home.” Here he says that Powhatan not only let him go, but in a non-violent way, no death involved. According to True Relation, Pocahontas never involved herself.
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Paul Lewis questioned this in a biography of John Smith, saying “Why would a chief, who had been so friendly before, suddenly decide to kill John Smith?” This makes an excellent point. Just a few years prior John had written of the tribes kindness and letting him go without any threats. Doesn’t it seem like he might just be trying to steal all the credit here? He never mentioned a murder attempt or Pocahontas at all before, why