Quiz on John Smith’s Generall Historie of Virginia
1 In late December, 1606, John Smith and the others set sail for Virginia from
Blackwall, England, stopping along the way in the Canary Islands. (true)
2 Once in Virginia, they chose a site on a river and named the place Jamestown, where,
in May, they built a fort that received numerous attacks by the Indians. (true)
3 In time all their provisions were spent. Smith blamed their hardships on Council for
their poor planning, not having foreseen the hardships that awaited the colonizers in
Virginia.
4 Twenty miles up-river from Jamestown, two of Smith’s men were slain by the Indians
while he was hunting for food. Smith was also attacked and fought his attackers until he
was reduced and made a prisoner, not without having first killed two of his assailants.
(true)
5 Smith was held prisoner for several weeks. He recounts his captivity in The General
History of Virginia, that he so demeaned himself among them that he was able to
procure the liberty of his colleagues. (false, they had already been killed; his own
liberty)
6 Smith impressed them with his magnifying glass, which could set grass ablaze with
the force of the sun. (false, he amazed them with his compass)
7 Smith was put in a long house and fed till he couldn’t eat anymore. What he left
uneaten, his guards ate, bringing him fresh food after that. Smith was worried that they
wanted to fatten him up before eating him. (true)
8 At last he was brought to Werowocomoco, where Powhattan, their emperor, received
him. After being fed sumptuously, Smith was seized and forced to lay his head on the
ground while a pair of hatchets were delivered to Powhatten, presumably to be used to
beat out Smith’s brains. (false, not hatchets but stones)
9 But the chief’s niece Pochahontas intervened, and when no entreaty would prevail,
put Smith’s head in her arms to save him from death. Where upon, Powhattan is said to
have spared his life. Later he would discuss business matters with the young Englisman.
(false, daughter)
10 Powhatten wanted Smith to see to it that he received a canon and a couple of
millstones. But the Indians who accompanied Smith to Jamestown found the millstones
too heavy to carry, and when they were treated to a demonstration of the cannon’s
discharge, they fled in terror back into the woods. (true)