John Smtih

    John Smith was born in 1580 in Willoughby, England, and by age 16, after his fathers death, he had left home and was on his own.  Before Smith was 25 he had been in three wars and had been captured and enslaved.  Smith was the first man to promote permanent settlement in the New World, he was also the man who gave New England its name and founded Jamestown, Virginia. 

    Smith and his crew arrived in Virginia in April of 1607 after a four month journey from England.  He came to the New World on a charter from the king to establish a new British colony.  After his arrival in the Americas, Smith was captured by Native Americans and taken to their chief, Powhatan.  While in captivity, Smith was saved from execution by Pocahontas, the chief's 11 year old daughter, and later became a "son" to the chief.  He was later released in exchange for guns and millstone.  John Smith was the author of the first American book, A True Relation of Virginia, and the author and creator of maps that were used for 200 years after his death.

    This is a link to document about Smith's book, www.americanjourneys.org/aj-074/summary/.

https://www.americanjourneys.org/aj-074/summary/

This is an image of Captain John Smith's maps:

https://www.google.com/search?q=john+smith+map