Who was Powhatan (pronounced pow-uh-TAN)? What was the Powhatan people's experience with Europeans before Jamestown? Who was Pocahontas (born Amonute)? What was her daily life like?
What did Englishmen like John Smith learn from Peter Martyr's and Richard Hakluyt's books? What reasons prompted England to seek American colonies of its own? How did they expect Indians to respond? How did Spanish example and precedent influence English attitudes?
Who was Captain John Smith? Why did the English choose to settle at Jamestown? How did Indians respond? How did Smith come to be captured? What's the difference between the legend and reality of what happened to him? How did the English presence present Powhatan with a dilemma? What did he know about the English, and what did he still need to learn?
What was the reason for Pocahontas's first visit to the Jamestown fort? Describe Pocahontas. What was the relationship that developed between her and Smith? How did Smith's enemies turn it against him? How did Powhatan's relationship with the English sour? How did he nearly successfully get them to leave?
Describe Pocahontas's first marriage. Explain the Virginia Company's new strategies to support and expand the Virginia colony. Who was John Rolfe? Describe His and his wife's voyage to Virginia. Why were Powhatan and the English at war? How did Pocahontas come to be kidnapped, and why?
How did Pocahontas end up in the household of English minister Alexander Whitaker in Henrico? What was her life like there? How did Rolfe wrestle with his feelings for Pocahontas? How did Pocahontas feel about Rolfe? What was her attitude towards marriage? Why did the pair ask for the approval of Governor Dale and Powhatan?
What was the significance of Pocahontas's Christian name, Rebecca? How did she reveal her true Indian name? Describe Rolfe's agricultural experiments and their success. How did peace come between the colonists and the Indians?
Why did the Virginia Company want Pocahontas to come to London? Who came with her? What impression did Plymouth and London make on her? How did Sir Edwin Sandys (pronounced sands) treat them, and what was life like in London? What did the English think of her? Who was Uttamatomakin? What was his experience? How does the author interpret her portrait and its text? Describe her meeting after many years with John Smith. How did Pocahontas die? Who returned successfully to Virginia? What happened to her son?
What was the state of Jamestown and the colony upon their return? Describe relations with the Indians, and what had been happening to them. How was land becoming a contentious issue? What was Rolfe's position now in the colony and in the Virginia Company? Describe the fate of Pocahontas's Indian companions. Describe Rolfe's death and estate. Why did Indians launch an attach in 1622, and with what consequences? How did Thomas Rolfe fare upon his return to Virginia? What was Queen Cockacoeske's significance? Describe the fate of the Powhatan Indians and their confederacy.
What was the "Powhatan Dilemma"? Do you think that things could have worked out differently?