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America's Hidden History | Squanto and Pocahontas

November 14, 2019

27:34

America's Hidden History

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America's Hidden History | Squanto and Pocahontas

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- [Announcer] Modern historians have revised, rewritten,
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and even deleted entire chapters of American history.
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So what are we missing?
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What happened to the history that didn't make the books.
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Join historian, David Barton, Tim Barton, and special guests
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as they uncover the facts some historians
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don't want you to know.
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This is America's Hidden History.
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(dramatic music)
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- We're along the Plymouth Coast in Massachusetts
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and telling the story of Squanto.
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Now Squanto is a name probably people have heard of,
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maybe associate with Thanksgiving with the Pilgrims,
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but there's a lot of backstory to Squanto,
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even though most people know him because
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when the Pilgrims land 1620, they go through that
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first winter, they meet Squanto the next year,
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but really you have to back up to learn his story.
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1607 is when the Jamestown Colony is established,
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but even before 1607, there are explorers sailing
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along the coast of the New World, trying to discover
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what is here.
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In 1605, there was an explorer here in the New World
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who actually took Indians to go back to England
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to learn about English culture.
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- And the captain who came was George Weymouth,
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and he was here because he was being sponsored by
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the Earl of Southampton.
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The Earl of Southampton, wealthy, but he's very interested
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in colonization of this new world, and he's also very
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interested in the Native Americans here,
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wants to learn about them.
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So what happened is Captain Weymouth took these Indians
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back with him, and the Earl just kind of adopts them,
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kind of moves them into his own family
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and they live with him and go with him.
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So for nine years, they live in England.
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They learned the English language, English customs.
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They learn all about this stuff, and after nine years,
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Squanto says, I'm ready to go back.
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- Well, the guy who brought him back is John Smith.
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Now John Smith is famous because of Jamestown is where
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people really recognize his name.
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But John Smith not only brought Squanto back,
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he was an explorer.
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So when he gets back, he says, I want to explore and see
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what else is here, so he does explore.
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In fact, John Smith is really the guy that gives
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the New World the name New England in honor of the King,
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in honor of England.
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Well, this is just like new England, it's England, but new.
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So he even came up to where we are where Plymouth is
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and thought this would be a great name, Plymouth.
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There were other people saying, well we need to build
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a colony there at Plymouth, so that's what actually
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what lead to the Pilgrims doing what they did,
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even getting here, knowing it was Plymouth,
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calling it Plymouth, but let's back up.
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So when John Smith is still exploring 1614,
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there were other ship captains behind him.
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One of them was Thomas Hunt.
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Now Thomas Hunt saw there was an opportunity to actually
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take some of these Indians and go back over to Europe
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and sell them as slaves.
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He caught 27 Indians, brings them back over to Europe,
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and sells them into slavery.
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- And Squanto's one of those 27.
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And so they go back to Europe, specifically to Spain,
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and Captain Hunt starts selling these Indians as slaves.
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Well, some Spanish friars see that and said, this is not
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a good deal, and they raised the money and were able
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to purchase all the other Indians
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that had not yet been sold.
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So they take these Indians, they free them, they teach them
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about Christianity, they treat them very well,
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but Squanto says, I want to go back toward England.
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I've been there nine years and I'm very familiar
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with that culture.
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So he works his way slowly back to England.
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He gets there and he does spend another five years
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in England and decides he's ready to come back home.
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- Well, in 1619, he's able to come back to the New World
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to New England, and when he gets here, he realizes that
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his entire tribe has been wiped out by disease.
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So now he has to figure out, where am I going to go?
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What am I going to do?
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Well, there's a friendly tribe, or at least a tribe
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he makes friends with, the Wampanoags.
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So even though Squanto has been in Europe
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for roughly 15 years, he's learned Christianity,
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he's learned English very well.
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He has to find somewhere to live here,
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and so he goes to live with the Wampanoag Indians.
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(dramatic music)
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- So Squanto's now moved in with Wampanoags,
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and like him, they're great warriors,
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and a strange thing happens.
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In December, a ship arrives.
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Now they've seen ships arrive before, but this one
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comes in December.
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That's a strange time of the year.
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And they watch as these people get off, and those people
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are the Pilgrims, and they kind of track them
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through the winter to see what they're doing,
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what's going on, and they see how tough it is on them.
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As spring starts to arrive, one of those Indians,
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a guy named Samoset goes out to talk to the Pilgrims.
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And they didn't know quite how to respond.
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They'd been told in England that an Indian is going to be
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a really savage, it's a hard thing,
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so they're kind of fearful.
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- And by the way, part of the reasons the Indians
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had responded with some savagery, actually, you can
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credit that back to Thomas Hunt.
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When Squanto gets kidnapped, 27 Indians are taken back,
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if Indians are learning these white men are coming
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to capture us and kidnap us, you can imagine they're
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probably not real excited about the white men
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they see going forward.
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- And so Thomas Hunt explains to them, he said,
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look, any Indians you find around here are probably
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going to be really, really hostile.
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And the Pilgrims aren't sure whether to trust this guy
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or not, and he starts telling them what they need to be able
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to do to live here and the best things they can do.
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And they finally develop this kind of a trust relationship,
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and they think Samoset's a good guy.
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And then Samoset says, and then by the way, I've got a guy
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back at the tribe that speaks English really well.
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I don't, I have broken English.
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I've learned it from some traders and trappers,
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but I've got this guy I know that I'm going to bring to you
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and he really speaks English well.
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- And think for a second, you're talking to someone,
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if you're a Pilgrim and you arrive in a new world
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and you meet this Native American, this Indian comes to you
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and says, okay, I'm not a good English speaker.
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I've got a really good one back home.
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What are the odds you run into a tribe where there's
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two people that speak your language, and one of them
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speaks it really well, is about to come meet you?
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Well, Thomas Hunt does go back and get a delegation
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from the tribe.
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The Chief comes, Chief Massasoit comes.
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We know Squanto's part of that delegation.
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And this is very interesting, because Squanto has only
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been back in the New World a limited amount of time
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and already he's being brought into position where there
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are English speakers who need his help,
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and that's exactly what he does in this situation.
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- So the Wampanoag and the Chief, they meet the Pilgrims
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and they talk with one another and kinda decide,
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maybe we can have some trust here.
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Maybe we can have a relationship.
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What we need to do is create some kind of a treaty
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between us, and that's where Squanto becomes so significant.
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- Yeah, so Squanto, because he spent roughly the last
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15 years over in Europe, he knows the way Europeans think,
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but he's also been an Indian his whole life.
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So he knows how the Indians think.
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So he's the guy that's able to merge those two worlds
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and say, okay.
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So here's what you're thinking
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and here's what you're thinking.
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Here's where it comes together.
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This peace treaty ends up being the longest lasting
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peace treaty between any Anglos, any whites and the Indians
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in American history, which is incredibly significant.
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And we might credit the Pilgrims did a really good job,
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and the Wampanoags did a really good job.
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It's also fair to say that Squanto was probably the one
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that helped them be able to do a really good job,
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because he knew where both of them were coming from.
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In the midst of talking about the Pilgrims,
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and talking about the Wampanoags, and even this peace treaty
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that was so successful, there's no doubt the providence
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of God had brought Squanto to help in this very situation.
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(dramatic music)
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After the peace treaty is signed, Squanto realizes
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the Pilgrims, they're really going to need some help
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to survive and probably, in fairness, the Pilgrims
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probably realized they needed help too.
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I mean, after all, that first winter,
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they didn't do very well.
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Well, Squanto decides he's going to come
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and live with the Pilgrims.
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So he does, and as he lives with them, he shows them how
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to live off the land.
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And so much of what they were doing was based on what they
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had learned in Europe, but the New World wasn't like Europe,
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and so you can't fish or hunt the same way, and you don't
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even do crops the same way here in the New World.
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So he's having to show them how to do everything
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to survive the New World.
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He teaches them how to fish.
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He shows them how to trap and how to hunt.
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He shows them how to plant crops and they discover that corn
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is the crop really they're doing the best with.
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So he takes them from a place where they almost didn't
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survive and probably would not have survived to a place
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where actually they learned to get along pretty well.
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- And so they're starting to have some abundance,
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and they're not worried about starving to death like
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they did the previous year when half of them died.
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So they think, you know, fall's coming, we're about to go
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into the winter, and we actually have something
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to go into winter with.
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We need to stop and thank God.
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And so they do.
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That wasn't the first Thanksgiving in America,
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but it's the first Thanksgiving festival.
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And they said, what we're going to do is we're going to have
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three days and we need our friends here with us.
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And so here comes 90 Indian braves and here comes
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51 Pilgrims, and for three days they sit down,
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they feast together, they thank God together,
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and they have athletic events together.
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So great relationship between these 90 Indians
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and these 51 Pilgrims.
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- And it's interesting, by the way, notice there were
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90 Indians and 51 Pilgrims.
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Think about the narrative that so often's repeated today
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about how the whites just stole the land from the Indians.
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Imagine if the Wampanoags felt like they were being cheated
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or land had been stolen from them, what would
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the Thanksgiving that the Pilgrims celebrated
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maybe have looked like?
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Probably not a day of Thanksgiving.
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Probably a day of slaughter, because certainly
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90 Indian braves could've wiped out 51 of the Pilgrims
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who were still children and men and women and elderly.
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But this is where the narrative doesn't always fit.
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Now, it's probably worth noting, the Pilgrims were different
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in some capacity than some other colonists and settlers,
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'cause Jamestown wasn't quite the same.
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- Jamestown was very different.
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Jamestown was an English colony.
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The Pilgrims were much more of a Biblical colony.
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One example was the King gave them the land.
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They said, no, no, no, King doesn't own it, the Indians do.
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And so instead of taking the land like Jamestown did
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and said, this is our land, the Pilgrims said, no,
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this is your land.
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Can we purchase some from you?
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We're really like to live here as your neighbors.
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Can we buy some land?
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And the Indians sold it to them, and they bought it
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from the Indians at the price set by the Indians,
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and they had a title deed to every foot they had.
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They also saw the Indians with equality.
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They're God's kids too.
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They may not know Jesus yet, but they're God's kids.
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And so the concept of equality was very much there,
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which it was not in Jamestown.
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There was so much that the Pilgrims did differently from
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other places, because they were a Biblical-minded colony
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and the results really showed up in their relationship
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with their neighbors and with Squanto.
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- And Squanto largely would be the one who should get credit
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for a lot of what the Pilgrims were able to accomplish.
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Had it not been for somebody helping them be able
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to make a treaty, be able to purchase land, be able
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to plant crops and live and survive, and so even as we think
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about Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims, really Squanto is
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somebody we ought to be pointing to and saying, okay,
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of all the things we are thankful for, even to be Americans,
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I'm really thankful for this guy named Squanto
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that God providentially brought to the Pilgrims that allowed
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them to be able to establish and grow their colony.
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and ultimately what influenced the nation it did,
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but all of this wouldn't have happened had God not
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brought them Squanto.
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(dramatic music)
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- So Squanto really was a providential answer
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for all the needs of the Pilgrims.
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Without him, it's very possible they would not have survived
00:11:10.230 --> 00:11:13.150
here at all, but they did.
00:11:13.150 --> 00:11:15.210
But sadly, for the Pilgrims,
00:11:15.210 --> 00:11:17.260
Squanto was not with them very long.
00:11:17.260 --> 00:11:19.210
Less than two years he was with them, and he was exploring
00:11:19.210 --> 00:11:22.140
along the coast with Governor William Bradford,
00:11:22.140 --> 00:11:24.200
became ill, and he died.
00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:26.240
And so he's buried in an unmarked location somewhere
00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:29.240
in the vicinity along the coast.
00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:31.220
As he was dying, Governor Bradford records that he looked
00:11:31.220 --> 00:11:34.210
at Governor Bradford and said, please pray for me.
00:11:34.210 --> 00:11:38.040
I want to go to the white man's heaven.
00:11:38.040 --> 00:11:40.130
Those were the last words of Squanto,
00:11:40.130 --> 00:11:42.150
who did such extraordinary work for the Pilgrims.
00:11:42.150 --> 00:11:45.010
- And Governor Bradford does identify that Squanto
00:11:45.010 --> 00:11:47.100
was a God-send for the Pilgrims,
00:11:47.100 --> 00:11:49.040
an instrument for our good from God.
00:11:49.040 --> 00:11:51.090
If you think about Squanto, with the years he spent
00:11:51.090 --> 00:11:53.060
in Europe, with learning English, learning
00:11:53.060 --> 00:11:55.210
about Christianity, but having grown up here
00:11:55.210 --> 00:11:57.220
in the New World and New England, it's hard to find
00:11:57.220 --> 00:12:00.150
or think of someone better suited to be the gap
00:12:00.150 --> 00:12:03.120
for the Pilgrims, to be able to help them,
00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:05.080
understanding what European culture and thought
00:12:05.080 --> 00:12:07.160
and Christianity was like coming to this place where
00:12:07.160 --> 00:12:09.250
they've never been, and providentially,
00:12:09.250 --> 00:12:11.260
he was able to help them survive.
00:12:11.260 --> 00:12:13.230
His story truly is remarkable.
00:12:13.230 --> 00:12:16.060
There's sad moments, but it really is amazing to see
00:12:16.060 --> 00:12:19.020
God's providence through Squanto on behalf of the Pilgrims,
00:12:19.020 --> 00:12:21.270
but ultimately for the New World.
00:12:21.270 --> 00:12:24.080
As we talk about hidden heroes from American history,
00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:26.130
Squanto is certainly a name we should remember.
00:12:26.130 --> 00:12:28.280
(catchy music)
00:12:28.280 --> 00:12:31.160
- While the Bartons are out on the road,
00:12:35.090 --> 00:12:36.170
I'm here in Wallbuilders collection going through
00:12:36.170 --> 00:12:38.240
our artifacts to try to figure out how exactly do we know
00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:41.210
the story of Squanto and some of these early settlers.
00:12:41.210 --> 00:12:44.150
Well, we know their story because they told us their story.
00:12:44.150 --> 00:12:47.250
This right here is the New England Memorial.
00:12:47.250 --> 00:12:49.230
It's one of the first books that was ever published
00:12:49.230 --> 00:12:51.200
by the Pilgrims.
00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:53.060
It was actually done by the nephew of William Bradford,
00:12:53.060 --> 00:12:55.110
the governor, who was the secretary of the colony.
00:12:55.110 --> 00:12:58.090
So as we open this up and look through,
00:12:58.090 --> 00:13:00.060
we can see that this has actually been through
00:13:00.060 --> 00:13:01.230
several hundred years of ownership.
00:13:01.230 --> 00:13:03.230
We've got a note from a previous owner from 1669,
00:13:03.230 --> 00:13:07.270
and another one from 1753, and just goes to show
00:13:07.270 --> 00:13:10.280
how important having the primary source documents is
00:13:10.280 --> 00:13:14.240
to the study of history.
00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:16.050
Because before the colonists, the Native Americans
00:13:16.050 --> 00:13:18.170
and the Indians, they didn't have a written language,
00:13:18.170 --> 00:13:21.000
so they didn't leave us any records.
00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:22.250
But the colonists, while they're doing all the hard work
00:13:22.250 --> 00:13:25.150
of coming across the ocean, of creating a new life
00:13:25.150 --> 00:13:28.100
and civilization out here in the wilderness,
00:13:28.100 --> 00:13:30.160
they thought, you know, it's a good idea that we write down
00:13:30.160 --> 00:13:33.120
what happens so that generations from now, they'll know
00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:35.270
the story, they'll know about how God really helped us out.
00:13:35.270 --> 00:13:38.220
They'll know about the amazing hidden heroes, like Squanto,
00:13:38.220 --> 00:13:41.250
and all the hard work they did to make America possible.
00:13:41.250 --> 00:13:45.070
(dramatic music)
00:13:46.090 --> 00:13:49.020
- We're in Jamestown, Virginia,
00:14:12.030 --> 00:14:13.180
actually on Jamestown Island, and this is where Pocahontas
00:14:13.180 --> 00:14:17.040
kind of had some significant dealings.
00:14:17.040 --> 00:14:19.130
And really, the story is about Pocahontas,
00:14:19.130 --> 00:14:21.030
but to get to her story, we've really got to start
00:14:21.030 --> 00:14:23.170
with the guy behind us, and that is the captain, John Smith.
00:14:23.170 --> 00:14:27.210
Now John Smith's story starts many years earlier.
00:14:27.210 --> 00:14:30.280
- Yeah, he starts as a young man who becomes a soldier.
00:14:30.280 --> 00:14:33.240
He wants to go off and fight, and at that time,
00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:37.030
Christians were largely fighting the Muslims,
00:14:37.030 --> 00:14:39.020
who were trying to take all the Christian lands.
00:14:39.020 --> 00:14:41.000
He goes off to fight Muslims and all these Jihads
00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:43.270
that were occurring.
00:14:43.270 --> 00:14:45.030
And so while he's out fighting Muslims,
00:14:45.030 --> 00:14:47.070
he's captured and made a slave.
00:14:47.070 --> 00:14:49.010
- But he doesn't stay in those bad conditions.
00:14:49.010 --> 00:14:51.080
- No, he ended up killing his master and escaping
00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:54.080
and getting back over to England.
00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:56.120
When he got to England, he heard of this endeavor
00:14:56.120 --> 00:14:58.240
that was under way, with doing something in the New World,
00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:02.120
something in America that he liked the sound of that,
00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:04.270
because he is an adventurous kind of guy.
00:15:04.270 --> 00:15:06.250
So he kind of gets joined up with what became
00:15:06.250 --> 00:15:09.230
the Virginia Company, which was Jamestown,
00:15:09.230 --> 00:15:12.040
the first settlement.
00:15:12.040 --> 00:15:13.180
So as they send their first group of three ships
00:15:13.180 --> 00:15:16.120
to settle a colony here in Virginia, he's on that first set
00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:20.060
of three ships.
00:15:20.060 --> 00:15:21.210
They actually land up the river when they get here
00:15:21.210 --> 00:15:23.140
in April of 1607, and there's 149 of them.
00:15:23.140 --> 00:15:27.140
And they get out, and they kneel down, and the Reverend Hunt
00:15:27.140 --> 00:15:30.290
leads them in prayer, and they erect a cross
00:15:30.290 --> 00:15:33.190
at that location.
00:15:33.190 --> 00:15:35.030
And from there, they say, now, we've got to find
00:15:35.030 --> 00:15:36.090
a place to live.
00:15:36.090 --> 00:15:37.240
So they sail up the river and they say, you know,
00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:40.090
our leader right now is King James.
00:15:40.090 --> 00:15:42.290
Let's name this river after him.
00:15:42.290 --> 00:15:44.170
So this is the James River.
00:15:44.170 --> 00:15:46.080
They find a place here that they want to build their homes.
00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:50.010
Let's call this a town for him, so this is Jamestown,
00:15:50.010 --> 00:15:52.280
named after him, and that's how
00:15:52.280 --> 00:15:54.240
this first colony gets started.
00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:56.200
So Captain Smith actually wants to discover and explore
00:15:56.200 --> 00:15:59.150
more of the territory, so he leads an expedition
00:15:59.150 --> 00:16:02.070
with several men, and they go to explore and they come up
00:16:02.070 --> 00:16:04.240
on an Indian hunting party.
00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:06.110
- Well, the Indian hunting party,
00:16:06.110 --> 00:16:07.190
there's actually a conflict.
00:16:07.190 --> 00:16:09.080
The men are captured and so the Indians take them back
00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:12.040
to the village.
00:16:12.040 --> 00:16:13.180
All the men are killed except Captain John Smith.
00:16:13.180 --> 00:16:15.220
So they roll these large stones, and actually, he records
00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:19.180
that on one of the large stones they made him lean over,
00:16:19.180 --> 00:16:22.080
they put his head on the stone, they brought out
00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:23.250
a second stone, and they were going to crush his skull.
00:16:23.250 --> 00:16:26.070
At this time, there was a young Indian girl who ran over,
00:16:26.070 --> 00:16:29.040
and she laid her head on top of his head so that his head
00:16:29.040 --> 00:16:32.210
would not be crushed by the stones.
00:16:32.210 --> 00:16:34.270
That young Indian girl was Pocahontas.
00:16:34.270 --> 00:16:36.190
Pocahontas saved his life.
00:16:36.190 --> 00:16:38.110
- And by the way, at that time, she's about 11 years old,
00:16:38.110 --> 00:16:41.120
somewhere in that 11 to 12 range.
00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:43.160
And she's not just any young Indian girl, she's actually
00:16:43.160 --> 00:16:47.050
the favorite daughter of the Chief of the tribe.
00:16:47.050 --> 00:16:50.180
So not only does she save a life, the King,
00:16:50.180 --> 00:16:53.240
because it's his favorite daughter, says, okay,
00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:56.050
let's adopt you into the tribe.
00:16:56.050 --> 00:16:57.270
It essentially creates an early peace treaty.
00:16:57.270 --> 00:17:01.010
- So he gets to come back to where his men are,
00:17:01.010 --> 00:17:03.090
but when he comes back, he realizes they're actually
00:17:03.090 --> 00:17:06.030
really short on rations and food and they're not going
00:17:06.030 --> 00:17:08.100
to survive without some help.
00:17:08.100 --> 00:17:09.260
- And actually, they shouldn't have been running
00:17:09.260 --> 00:17:11.190
short on food.
00:17:11.190 --> 00:17:12.270
They got here in that April, May timeframe,
00:17:12.270 --> 00:17:14.160
which gave them plenty of time to be able to plant crops,
00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:17.050
and harvest, and hunt and fish, and do all this stuff
00:17:17.050 --> 00:17:19.240
they needed, but we find out these guys don't like
00:17:19.240 --> 00:17:22.080
hard work very much.
00:17:22.080 --> 00:17:23.220
And, low and behold, a solution arrives, and it's Pocahontas
00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:27.220
bringing food from Powhatan being brought by Indian braves.
00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:31.220
They come and share their food with the settlers here
00:17:31.220 --> 00:17:33.290
and that gets them through that very tough first winter.
00:17:33.290 --> 00:17:36.020
- They actually had pretty good relations.
00:17:36.020 --> 00:17:37.100
Pocahontas was largely responsible,
00:17:37.100 --> 00:17:39.130
at least Captain John Smith says that she's the one
00:17:39.130 --> 00:17:41.230
we really credit for this.
00:17:41.230 --> 00:17:43.030
So every time that they needed help,
00:17:43.030 --> 00:17:44.210
they could go to the Indians.
00:17:44.210 --> 00:17:46.060
The Indians would send help, and every time a messenger
00:17:46.060 --> 00:17:48.210
came, a delegation came, food came from the Indians,
00:17:48.210 --> 00:17:50.200
Pocahontas was always with the delegation.
00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:53.020
It's okay to ask for help once, but what happened is
00:17:53.020 --> 00:17:57.010
they realized that these guys, these Indians,
00:17:57.010 --> 00:18:00.080
they're pretty good at getting food.
00:18:00.080 --> 00:18:01.260
We're not very good at getting food.
00:18:01.260 --> 00:18:03.050
Let's just let them take care of us.
00:18:03.050 --> 00:18:05.090
The problem was, the following summer, there was a drought
00:18:05.090 --> 00:18:07.110
on the Indian land.
00:18:07.110 --> 00:18:08.220
The Indians weren't able to have as much food,
00:18:08.220 --> 00:18:10.120
and so when the Jamestown settlers and commoners
00:18:10.120 --> 00:18:13.080
were going back saying, we want food, the Indians say,
00:18:13.080 --> 00:18:15.040
we really don't have food to give you this time.
00:18:15.040 --> 00:18:17.020
Well, that caused some friction because in this socially
00:18:17.020 --> 00:18:20.070
lazy mindset that these early colonists had, they thought,
00:18:20.070 --> 00:18:22.040
no you owe us food.
00:18:22.040 --> 00:18:23.210
So when the Indians told them, we don't have food
00:18:23.210 --> 00:18:25.080
to give you, they got very upset.
00:18:25.080 --> 00:18:26.240
Well, that started a lot of friction between the Indians
00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:29.060
and the settlers, and actually the friction wasn't resolved
00:18:29.060 --> 00:18:32.050
quickly or very well.
00:18:32.050 --> 00:18:33.250
One of the early governors decided that we need to change
00:18:33.250 --> 00:18:36.020
the way we do things, because it's not working.
00:18:36.020 --> 00:18:37.190
- Well, one of the easy ways to get food is go get it.
00:18:37.190 --> 00:18:41.040
Go work for it.
00:18:41.040 --> 00:18:42.170
These guys were so bad that in that second winter,
00:18:42.170 --> 00:18:45.010
they went through into what they call the starving time.
00:18:45.010 --> 00:18:47.280
And in the starving time, out of 214 colonists
00:18:47.280 --> 00:18:51.010
that were here, they all starved to death, except 60,
00:18:51.010 --> 00:18:54.180
because they would not work.
00:18:54.180 --> 00:18:56.240
And that's when Captain John Smith says,
00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:59.090
got a good Bible verse for you guys.
00:18:59.090 --> 00:19:01.120
The Bible says, if you don't work, you don't eat.
00:19:01.120 --> 00:19:04.160
Well, that was what they implemented as a policy,
00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:06.130
but these guys really didn't like that.
00:19:06.130 --> 00:19:08.060
They fought that.
00:19:08.060 --> 00:19:09.040
They'd oppose that.
00:19:09.040 --> 00:19:10.170
So in 1608, John Smith actually writes a narrative
00:19:10.170 --> 00:19:13.220
of what's going on here, and that's where we get a lot
00:19:13.220 --> 00:19:15.230
of the records to know what happened.
00:19:15.230 --> 00:19:17.090
John Smith is trying to do some of the right things,
00:19:17.090 --> 00:19:19.080
to get these guys to work, and get them to provide
00:19:19.080 --> 00:19:21.160
their own living.
00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:23.010
And so now there's a lot of tensions with the Indians,
00:19:23.010 --> 00:19:25.060
because they're demanding this stuff, and there's a lot
00:19:25.060 --> 00:19:27.040
of tensions with these guys that he's trying to kick
00:19:27.040 --> 00:19:29.080
into gear and get them to do something.
00:19:29.080 --> 00:19:31.060
A mysterious explosion happens, and he gets blown up
00:19:31.060 --> 00:19:35.130
with some gun powder, could've been accidental.
00:19:35.130 --> 00:19:37.140
A lot think it was because these guys wanted him gone,
00:19:37.140 --> 00:19:40.110
because he's trying to make them do something they didn't
00:19:40.110 --> 00:19:41.290
want to do.
00:19:41.290 --> 00:19:43.130
So John Smith ends up leaving and going back to England
00:19:43.130 --> 00:19:46.210
for medical care.
00:19:46.210 --> 00:19:48.050
And that's the last time Pocahontas came into Jamestown
00:19:48.050 --> 00:19:51.070
for a number of years.
00:19:51.070 --> 00:19:52.210
And that actually escalates into a war.
00:19:52.210 --> 00:19:55.060
In 1609, there was a war called the Anglo-Powhatan War.
00:19:55.060 --> 00:19:58.230
Powhatan was the general tribe of Indians,
00:19:58.230 --> 00:20:01.180
and that went for the next five years.
00:20:01.180 --> 00:20:03.110
- In the midst of the conflict, this war that's been
00:20:03.110 --> 00:20:05.000
going on for these several years, they've lost several men,
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:08.180
but not only have men been killed, there've been a lot
00:20:08.180 --> 00:20:11.040
of people that have been captured.
00:20:11.040 --> 00:20:12.120
The governor at the time is trying to figure out
00:20:12.120 --> 00:20:13.270
what can we do to help get our men, our supplies back.
00:20:13.270 --> 00:20:17.150
And so he comes up with this idea of Pocahontas has always
00:20:17.150 --> 00:20:20.240
been a friend to us.
00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:22.100
They go to the Chief, and they explain to the Chief
00:20:22.100 --> 00:20:24.240
that we want you to bring Pocahontas,
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:27.120
and we will have good relations with you.
00:20:27.120 --> 00:20:29.280
We'll give you stuff, and if you don't,
00:20:29.280 --> 00:20:31.110
it might mean war with you.
00:20:31.110 --> 00:20:32.240
And so, there was some coercion involved in this scenario,
00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:35.080
but the Chief agrees.
00:20:35.080 --> 00:20:36.150
So the Chief and the wife bring Pocahontas
00:20:36.150 --> 00:20:38.170
over to Jamestown.
00:20:38.170 --> 00:20:40.210
They actually get her to board a ship.
00:20:40.210 --> 00:20:42.230
The governor at the time says, no,
00:20:42.230 --> 00:20:44.070
we just want to give you a feast.
00:20:44.070 --> 00:20:45.150
We want to honor you.
00:20:45.150 --> 00:20:46.100
We want to feed you.
00:20:46.100 --> 00:20:47.230
Kind of builds up this scenario.
00:20:47.230 --> 00:20:49.140
Well, at the end of the dinner, he tells the Chief
00:20:49.140 --> 00:20:52.010
and the wife, you are free to go, but Pocahontas,
00:20:52.010 --> 00:20:54.260
you're going to stay with us until your father releases
00:20:54.260 --> 00:20:57.280
all the prisoners, until he gives us back our stuff.
00:20:57.280 --> 00:21:00.120
So she was kidnapped at that point.
00:21:00.120 --> 00:21:03.100
- And as they hold her here in Jamestown and she's living
00:21:03.100 --> 00:21:05.140
among the English, there really are some good
00:21:05.140 --> 00:21:07.030
English folks here.
00:21:07.030 --> 00:21:08.180
She gets introduced to the Reverend Alexander Whittaker,
00:21:08.180 --> 00:21:10.200
who pastors the church right here beside us.
00:21:10.200 --> 00:21:13.020
He starts teaching her English and helps her learn to read.
00:21:13.020 --> 00:21:16.080
She takes the Bible and learns to read from the Bible,
00:21:16.080 --> 00:21:19.100
learns about Christianity and the Christian faith,
00:21:19.100 --> 00:21:21.170
and meets a guy named John Rolfe.
00:21:21.170 --> 00:21:23.220
- And remember, she is the favorite daughter of the Chief,
00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:26.070
who is the big chief of the tribe, and this time she's
00:21:26.070 --> 00:21:30.020
eligible for marriage.
00:21:30.020 --> 00:21:31.170
And John Rolfe lost his family when they came over
00:21:31.170 --> 00:21:34.060
on the ship, his children and wife died, and he's a widower.
00:21:34.060 --> 00:21:36.230
The two fall in love.
00:21:36.230 --> 00:21:38.270
Actually gets her father's blessing.
00:21:38.270 --> 00:21:40.120
The father sends several members of the tribe to go
00:21:40.120 --> 00:21:43.050
be part of the wedding ceremony.
00:21:43.050 --> 00:21:45.080
So she actually ends up marrying John Rolfe,
00:21:45.080 --> 00:21:47.230
and before she marries John Rolfe, converts to Christianity
00:21:47.230 --> 00:21:50.220
because at that time, here in the Colonies,
00:21:50.220 --> 00:21:53.170
they wouldn't let somebody as a Christian marry somebody
00:21:53.170 --> 00:21:55.150
who wasn't a Christian.
00:21:55.150 --> 00:21:56.290
There's a very famous painting hanging in the US Capitol
00:21:56.290 --> 00:21:58.190
of her baptism, and it actually kind of depicts that moment
00:21:58.190 --> 00:22:01.210
when she is officially converted to Christianity.
00:22:01.210 --> 00:22:04.050
She actually then has the name Rebecca for the rest
00:22:04.050 --> 00:22:06.230
of her life, when she's introduced to the English court.
00:22:06.230 --> 00:22:08.250
And then they live here rather happily
00:22:08.250 --> 00:22:11.010
for the next several years.
00:22:11.010 --> 00:22:12.150
- With that marriage, it brought about what they call
00:22:12.150 --> 00:22:15.030
the peace of Pocahontas.
00:22:15.030 --> 00:22:17.000
With that marriage, the war ended.
00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:19.040
And so John Rolfe and Pocahontas live here,
00:22:19.040 --> 00:22:22.150
and the next year they have a child.
00:22:22.150 --> 00:22:24.070
His name was Thomas.
00:22:24.070 --> 00:22:25.220
And the next year, they've been married two years,
00:22:25.220 --> 00:22:27.290
John Rolfe says, let's go back to England.
00:22:27.290 --> 00:22:30.120
While they're in England, they actually get introduced
00:22:30.120 --> 00:22:33.070
to King James and Queen Anne.
00:22:33.070 --> 00:22:35.120
They're taken to the Royal Court, and there at the
00:22:35.120 --> 00:22:37.290
Royal Court, and there's great pictures done in 1616
00:22:37.290 --> 00:22:40.150
actually showing her in her royal attire and royal garb
00:22:40.150 --> 00:22:44.270
there at the Royal Court.
00:22:44.270 --> 00:22:46.270
They get ready to come back to America.
00:22:46.270 --> 00:22:48.280
As they come back, she gets sick just as
00:22:48.280 --> 00:22:51.030
they're leaving England.
00:22:51.030 --> 00:22:52.100
So they go ashore.
00:22:52.100 --> 00:22:53.170
She ends up dying in England and is buried
00:22:53.170 --> 00:22:55.280
in a church yard there.
00:22:55.280 --> 00:22:57.180
But John came back with young Thomas.
00:22:57.180 --> 00:23:00.130
And Thomas grew up here.
00:23:00.130 --> 00:23:01.280
So to this day, the descendants of Pocahontas still live,
00:23:01.280 --> 00:23:05.060
even though she died at a very young age.
00:23:05.060 --> 00:23:07.160
She was about 21 at the time, 21, 22.
00:23:07.160 --> 00:23:10.200
She started something that has gone on and produced
00:23:10.200 --> 00:23:13.110
great leaders across America.
00:23:13.110 --> 00:23:15.030
Had it not been for Pocahontas, there would've been
00:23:15.030 --> 00:23:18.000
no permanent Jamestown Colony.
00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:19.260
She saved not only John Smith, but she saved the colony.
00:23:19.260 --> 00:23:23.130
And so it's because of Pocahontas that we have the first
00:23:23.130 --> 00:23:25.220
permanent English colony in America.
00:23:25.220 --> 00:23:27.180
- And there have been dozens of movies
00:23:27.180 --> 00:23:28.250
that have been done about Pocahontas.
00:23:28.250 --> 00:23:30.090
Her story's been told countless times, although,
00:23:30.090 --> 00:23:32.270
very few times has it been from a historical standpoint.
00:23:32.270 --> 00:23:36.030
Most people have heard the name Pocahontas, but few know
00:23:36.030 --> 00:23:39.000
her story and how much she's responsible for so much success
00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:42.150
of the Jamestown Colony, and even Virginia as a whole.
00:23:42.150 --> 00:23:45.180
Even though we might know her name, we don't know very much
00:23:45.180 --> 00:23:48.290
of this hero of hidden history.
00:23:48.290 --> 00:23:51.000
(jazzy music)
00:23:52.060 --> 00:23:54.210
- So I'm here at the Wallbuilders Collection,
00:23:57.030 --> 00:23:58.160
going through the archives, finding some artifacts
00:23:58.160 --> 00:24:00.180
about the life of Pocahontas.
00:24:00.180 --> 00:24:02.150
I've got one right here.
00:24:02.150 --> 00:24:04.010
This is an early engraving of Pocahontas interposing
00:24:04.010 --> 00:24:07.040
and saving the life of Captain Smith.
00:24:07.040 --> 00:24:09.170
So as we look, we see Smith right there.
00:24:09.170 --> 00:24:11.090
And what's really cool about this, is that they would've
00:24:11.090 --> 00:24:13.130
printed this as an engraving and then somebody afterwards
00:24:13.130 --> 00:24:16.220
went in by hand and hand colored it and painted on top
00:24:16.220 --> 00:24:20.030
of the engraving.
00:24:20.030 --> 00:24:21.100
But what I also have is the government records
00:24:21.100 --> 00:24:24.070
of the painting of Pocahontas, the baptism of Pocahontas
00:24:24.070 --> 00:24:27.220
up in the capitol.
00:24:27.220 --> 00:24:29.000
And actually, one of his quotes are here
00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:30.220
in the book about Pocahontas.
00:24:30.220 --> 00:24:33.060
Reverend Whittaker says, "She openly renounced her country
00:24:33.060 --> 00:24:35.220
"idolatry, professed the faith of Jesus Christ,
00:24:35.220 --> 00:24:38.140
"and was baptized."
00:24:38.140 --> 00:24:39.280
And it's also got a quote here by Captain Smith.
00:24:39.280 --> 00:24:41.290
He goes on to say that she was "the first Christian ever
00:24:41.290 --> 00:24:45.050
"of that nation."
00:24:45.050 --> 00:24:46.190
I think it's amazing that somebody like Pocahontas today
00:24:46.190 --> 00:24:49.220
and the capital of America is considered so important,
00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:52.190
so monumental that we respect her by having
00:24:52.190 --> 00:24:54.250
a massive painting, documenting this monumental moment
00:24:54.250 --> 00:24:58.060
in her life.
00:24:58.060 --> 00:24:59.250
(gentle music)
00:24:59.250 --> 00:25:02.150
- What I like about the story of Pocahontas and Squanto,
00:25:05.010 --> 00:25:08.020
is they really kind of break the mold of the way that
00:25:08.020 --> 00:25:10.130
so many people go at history today.
00:25:10.130 --> 00:25:12.000
That the group you're from is more important
00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:13.220
than the individual.
00:25:13.220 --> 00:25:14.290
But what we know from all the stories we cover
00:25:14.290 --> 00:25:17.060
at the America's Hidden History, individuals are
00:25:17.060 --> 00:25:19.000
more important than groups.
00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:20.110
And individuals don't necessarily fit
00:25:20.110 --> 00:25:22.040
the profiles of groups.
00:25:22.040 --> 00:25:23.130
It's very different sometimes.
00:25:23.130 --> 00:25:24.280
- Well, and even to say individuals are more important
00:25:24.280 --> 00:25:26.110
than groups, individual stories take precedence sometimes
00:25:26.110 --> 00:25:29.100
to a group generalization
00:25:29.100 --> 00:25:30.230
- That's right. - Or dynamic.
00:25:30.230 --> 00:25:32.040
Looking at America and thinking that America's a story
00:25:32.040 --> 00:25:33.270
of white people coming in from Europe is a really
00:25:33.270 --> 00:25:36.030
incomplete picture, because had it not been for Pocahontas,
00:25:36.030 --> 00:25:40.090
Jamestown would not have been Jamestown.
00:25:40.090 --> 00:25:42.110
Had it not been for Squanto, the Wampanoag Indians,
00:25:42.110 --> 00:25:45.150
Plymouth would not have been Plymouth,
00:25:45.150 --> 00:25:46.290
and this is where you cannot fully tell the story of America
00:25:46.290 --> 00:25:49.230
without recognizing some of these heroes who oftentimes
00:25:49.230 --> 00:25:53.280
looking at the group, we have Native Americans in this image
00:25:53.280 --> 00:25:56.100
of well, they were farmers, or they were friendly,
00:25:56.100 --> 00:25:59.040
or they were warriors and they were conquerors
00:25:59.040 --> 00:26:02.120
and they were vicious.
00:26:02.120 --> 00:26:03.200
We talk about it at Thanksgiving, right?
00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:05.060
We remember the Pilgrims and the Indians, but there were
00:26:05.060 --> 00:26:07.250
specific Indians to your point.
00:26:07.250 --> 00:26:09.190
It's the story of specific individuals.
00:26:09.190 --> 00:26:12.000
- Yeah, and this is a great lesson that generalizations
00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.070
of history, which is what we so often focus on today,
00:26:15.070 --> 00:26:18.080
are not always accurate.
00:26:18.080 --> 00:26:19.230
And Squanto and Pocahontas make that really clear.
00:26:19.230 --> 00:26:23.200
(dramatic music)
00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:26.130
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America's Hidden History.
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America's Hidden History | Squanto and Pocahontas

America's Hidden History | Squanto and Pocahontas

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America's Hidden History | Squanto and Pocahontas

America's Hidden History | Squanto and Pocahontas

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