Episode Information

At the beginning of the 17th century, Spain’s empire included vast expanses of the Americas. James I of England knows he must act quickly if he wants to establish his own colonies. Under the command of adventurer John Smith, a permanent English settlement was established in the New World. But it wasn’t easy. Colonists starved, fell ill, and died. A desperate Smith tried to initiate trade relations with the Native Americans who take him captive. But a young Native woman begged the Chief Powhatan for his pardon. She was Pocahontas. Pocahontas subsequently served as a mediator between the two cultures, securing the survival of the colony. But she was far from universally popular. When Smith Was forced to return to England, the colonists told Pocahontas that he was dead. After years in captivity, she married an Englishman, and he took her back to England. In society circles, she ran into John Smith, very much alive…