Argumentative Essay On John Smith

Possibly one of the greatest and unluckiest men of his time, John Smith was known for being the founder of Jamestown and supposedly being saved by the Native American princess,

Pocahontas. Smith was believed to be born in 1580 in England. After being an apprentice for a merchant, he chose to get in the military. He became a soldier for hire after claiming to have had a good career in the military. Smith embarked on campaigns that ultimately resulted in,

John, becoming enslaved. I believe my thesis statement is supported by this because it’s not good fortune to be enslaved. Unfortunately, his mistress was kind hearted and didn’t desire to have

Smith as a slave so she sent him to her brother who was far less kind. Smith was forced to work

in

Then Smith eventually met a man named Bartholomew Gosnold. Gosnold was involved with organizing a colony sponsored by the

Virginia Company of London that would be sent to America. Smith was selected to be part of the council that would govern the colony. The purpose of the council was to make profit out of the land and goods. The voyagers set sail around the end of 1607. During the voyage Smith was accused of insubordination. He was nearly hanged but instead was put in custody. The group arrived at Chesapeake Bay in April 1607. The settlement was named Jamestown and would later be known as the first permanent North American British colony. At first the population shrunk because of disease and lack of food. Plus they were trying to claim land that was home to many Native American settlements. They later found that the Native American settlements called themselves the Powhatan Confederacy.

A couple of weeks after their arrival Smith had been released from custody. Smith helped overthrow the leadership of, President Edward Wingfield. Smith was responsible for the survival of the first permanent British colony for the two years he was in North America. Smith

As far as I can tell Smith was a bit embarrassed to be saved by a twelve year old girl. The chief agreed to give him the land and goods but he expected to get protection. Afterwards Smith began to treat the natives very harshly. He would make threats and attacks so they can grab the natives’ food. The relationship kept getting worst and worst. John was scared of his enemies in America so he went back to England. He became a writer and wrote stories about his experiences. At some point in England he met Pocahontas again. She actually had thought he was dead and was astonished that he was alive and well. She was also surprised to find that he didn’t even try to stop it. Over all I believe John Smith was very harsh.

He was only good to his own people. Then ounce his allies had enough he left for his home country. So as of now to me Smith sounds more like a coward, although in the articles it does that England thought of him as a valuable asset because he traveled across the coast of North

America and found some promising land with all kinds of resources that could have been very helpful to the colony. Until the time he died, Smith had become pretty famous amongst the people of England.