Love and Hate in Jamestown

The leadership strengths and weaknesses of John Smith evoked a profound effect on the Jamestown colony. The fact that Smith actually arrived in the colony as a common prisoner and was able to achieve the leadership role that he gained is amazing. His creativity and knowledge in certain areas actually saved the colonists from attack and starvation in the early days. Some of the rules he enforced as a leader were actually instrumental in saving the colony. His skill in dealing with the natives allowed him to gain their support and continue trade that resulted in the survival of the colony.

Christopher Newport, the admiral that transported John Smith and many of the colonists from England, left the Jamestown colony in the fall of 1607. Immediately all work in the settlement ceased to exist. The colonists had decided to wait on Newport to return with new workers. The plan was for the natives to provide food for them while they waited. When the natives never came with food, Ratcliffe, the current president of the colony, ordered John Smith to visit the neighboring natives and trade tools and metals for corn. The natives had noticed how the English were unable to feed themselves by planting their own crops. The natives refused to trade more than a few handfuls of corn and bread for the hatchets and iron that were offered. Smith realized the reason why the Kecoughtans were not trading more than just those small amounts and created a way to solve the problem. To prove to the natives that the English were not poor, Smith gave free beads and trinkets to the children. This was to show the Kecoughtans that the English were economically strong and possessed more valuable items. Smith used the mentality of “weakness in appearance…was weakness in reality” (Price 57) to justify his travels from village to village, collecting a large of amount of corn, bread, and other foods for the Jamestown colonists. Smith thought the natives would trade more food if they did not realize what a small amount of food stores that the English had actually acquired. If the natives had known what large quantities of food Smith had actually traded for, they would have realized how desperate the state of the colonists. Smith performed his trading sessions this way “’least they should perceive my too great want.’” (Price 57) In this manner, John Smith saved the entire colony from starvation, and it would not be the only time.

In early 1609, Smith attempted a raid for food on Powhatan’s capital, Werowocomoco. The colonists were desperate for food because it was the middle of winter. The raid failed because early German settlers that eventually joined the natives, warned them in advance about the attack. After the failed raid, Smith returned to the fort to find the food storage infested with rats and worms. By this time, Ratcliffe had been put under arrest and John Smith had become the president. As president, he then created a rule to make all of the colonists work, or pay the consequences. Smith called an assembly and stated, “He that will not work shall not eat.” (Price 108) The law means if a man does not do any work, he will not get any food. By implementing this law, Smith ensured that most, if not all, of the colonists would do their own share of the work that needed to be done. With the new work effort of the colonists, twenty houses were built, a well was dug, and thirty to forty acres of crops were planted. All of that was accomplished in three months. Once again, John Smith had saved the Jamestown settlement.

Shortly after Smith introduced his “He that will not work shall not eat” law, the colony’s new stock of food again became infested with rats. Smith had studied different tactics for years while he lived alone in his cabin. He developed a plan for how to handle this situation. Smith “took a divide-and-survive approach when their food ran low by dispersing into small groups.” (Price 109) He called this the Dispersal Policy. John Smith sent one group downriver to live off of the oysters found in a certain area. A second group was sent to a place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay to fish. Smith sent a third, and final group to live with the friendly tribes in exchange for copper. The dispersal method proved effective,