Love and Hate in Jamestown
David A. Price, Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Heart of a New Nation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf)
As a young child many of us are raised to be familiar with the Pocahontas and John Smith story. Whether it was in a Disney movie or at a school play that one first learned of Jamestown, students want to believe that this romantic relationship really did occur. As one ages, one becomes aware of the dichotomy between fact and fiction. This is brilliantly explained in David A. Price's, Love and Hate in Jamestown. Price describes a more robust account of events that really did take place in the poorly run, miserable, yet evolving settlement of Jamestown, Virginia; and engulfs and edifies the story marketed by Disney and others for young audiences. Price reveals countless facts from original documents about the history of Jamestown and other fledgling colonies, John Smith, and Smith's relationship with Pocahontas. He develops a more compelling read than does the typical high school text book and writes intriguingly which propels the reader, to continue on to the successive chapters in the early history of Virginia.
The thesis of the book is; although the excitement and thrill of settling a new colony in Virginia brought love and happiness to the settlers, the constant fear of survival and the lack of judgment and skilled workmanship brought about much misery and hatred between the settlers and the Indians and between the settlers themselves. The book begins by describing the departure of an excited crew in search of gold in the New World. Their previous knowledge of the Spanish enrichment of gold created a group dominated by money thirsty, wealthy gentlemen. The three ships; The Susan Constant, The Godspeed and the Discovery departed from Blackwall, England in 1606. Their enthusiasm was shown through various documents written on the journey toward Virginia:
And cheerfully at sea
Success you still entice
To get the pearl and gold,
And
As a young child many of us are raised to be familiar with the Pocahontas and John Smith story. Whether it was in a Disney movie or at a school play that one first learned of Jamestown, students want to believe that this romantic relationship really did occur. As one ages, one becomes aware of the dichotomy between fact and fiction. This is brilliantly explained in David A. Price's, Love and Hate in Jamestown. Price describes a more robust account of events that really did take place in the poorly run, miserable, yet evolving settlement of Jamestown, Virginia; and engulfs and edifies the story marketed by Disney and others for young audiences. Price reveals countless facts from original documents about the history of Jamestown and other fledgling colonies, John Smith, and Smith's relationship with Pocahontas. He develops a more compelling read than does the typical high school text book and writes intriguingly which propels the reader, to continue on to the successive chapters in the early history of Virginia.
The thesis of the book is; although the excitement and thrill of settling a new colony in Virginia brought love and happiness to the settlers, the constant fear of survival and the lack of judgment and skilled workmanship brought about much misery and hatred between the settlers and the Indians and between the settlers themselves. The book begins by describing the departure of an excited crew in search of gold in the New World. Their previous knowledge of the Spanish enrichment of gold created a group dominated by money thirsty, wealthy gentlemen. The three ships; The Susan Constant, The Godspeed and the Discovery departed from Blackwall, England in 1606. Their enthusiasm was shown through various documents written on the journey toward Virginia:
And cheerfully at sea
Success you still entice
To get the pearl and gold,
And