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This is the true story of Pocahontas, not the Disney one. This is the tale of a beloved little princess in the Powhatan Confederacy named Matoaka known for her curiosity, hence the nickname “Pocahontas” that became invariably associated with the tale of Virginia’s earliest days. She was used in a game of high-stakes frontier diplomacy with John Smith that turned into a legend of lovestruck sacrifice, she was sold to Samuel Argall by her own people for a copper kettle during the Anglo-Powhatan War, and then she was Westernized and christened Lady Rebecca by the English.
Abandoned and betrayed by her father and her people when the Powhatan betrayed her yet again to keep a few rusty swords, she then married John Rolfe and became the feted belle of the ball in England, where she met the king and queen, reunited with John Smith, and caught the illness that laid her low. But, it turns out, not just her memory, but her original name lives on in the name of one of America’s most famous battlefields…
Sources Referenced in this Episode:
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Smith, Captain John: The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles., https://amzn.to/49H3hxR
Willison, George F.: Behold Virginia: The Fifth Crown, https://amzn.to/4do9YG4
Dabney, Virginius: Virginia: The New Dominion, https://amzn.to/4dtAE8l
Andrews, Matthew Page: Virginia: The Old Dominion, Vol. I, https://amzn.to/4uZBW2h
Bruce, Philip Alexander: The Virginia Plutarch, Vol I, https://amzn.to/437cAU0
Morton, Richard L.: Colonial Virginia, https://amzn.to/4ua3bqY
Andrews, Matthew Page: The Soul of a Nation: The Founding Of Virginia and the Projection of New England, https://amzn.to/4d9Ut60
Episode Timeline
0:00 Pocahontas Saves John Smith
3:20 Why Is Pocahontas Important?
3:54: How Maoaka Got the Nickname, “Pocahontas”
5:27 Growing Up in the Powhatan Confederacy
7:18 Did Pocahontas Really Save John Smith
10:22 The First Anglo-Powhatan War
12:36 Pocahontas Is Captured by Samuel Argall
15:03 Pocahonas Is Westernized at Henrico
17:01 Pocahontas Meets John Rolfe, and They Fall In Love
21:15 The Powhatan People Refuse to Fight or Negotiate for Pocahontas
23:28 Pocahontas Marries Rolfe
23:33 Pocahontas Marries John Rolfe
26:11 Lady Rebecca and John Rolfe Travel to London
28:14 Pocahontas and John Smith Meet Again
29:00 Pocahontas Takes London Society by Storm
30:20 Pocahontas Grows Sick in Polluted London
31:10 Pocahontas dies
The Transcript
