Indian massacre of 1622
(Added by
arwath3
on 8 Nov 2006 , Ancestry.com)
The Indian massacre of 1622 (also known
as the Jamestown massacre) occurred in
the Virginia Colony on March 22, 1622. Jamestown was the site of the first
successful English settlement in North America in 1607, and was the
capital of the
Colony of Virginia, the most important British settlement in New World at
the time.
Although Jamestown itself was spared due to a timely last-minute warning,
many
smaller settlements had been established along the James River both
upstream
and downstream from it and were attacked without warning. Henricus was one
of
the most progressive of the smaller communities which bore the brunt of
the
coordinated attacks and many were abandoned in the aftermath. One of the
highest death tolls occurred at Wolstenholme Towne, the site of a recent
archeological dig which was 7 miles downriver from Jamestown at Martin's
Hundred,
now part of Carter's Grove Plantation.
Background
After the First Anglo-Powhatan War (1609-1613), the marriage of Chief
Powhatan's
youngest daughter Pocahontas and colonist John Rolfe in 1614 began a
period of
more peaceful relations between the English colonists and the Native
Americans of
the "Indian" Powhatan Confederacy. In 1618, after the death of
Wahunsonacock,
better known as the original Chief Powhatan, his half-brother
Opechancanough
became leader of the Powhatans. Opechancanough did not feel that peaceful
relations with the colonists could be maintained. Having recovered from
the defeat
of his earlier command of the Pamunkey warriors at the end of the First
Anglo-
Powhatan War, he planned the destruction of the English settlers. In the
spring of
1622, after the murder of his adviser, Nemattanew, by an Englishman,
Opechancanough launched a campaign of surprise attacks upon at least
thirty-one
separate British settlements and plantations mostly along the James River.
Jamestown forewarned
Jamestown, the capital and primary settlement of the colony, was saved
when an
Indian boy named Chanco, who was due to slay his employer, Richard Pace,
woke
Pace during the night and warned him of the imminent attack. Pace, who
lived
across the James River from Jamestown, secured his family and then rowed
across
the river to Jamestown in an attempt to warn the rest of the settlement.
As a
result, some preparations could be made for the attack in Jamestown.
Outlying
settlements, however, had no forewarning.
Destruction of other settlements
During the one-day surprise attack, many of the smaller communities, which
were
essentially outposts of Jamestown, were attacked, including Henricus and
its
fledgling college for Native American children and those of colonists. At
Martin's
Hundred, over half the population was killed at its principal development
of
Wolstenholme Towne, where only two houses and a part of a church were left
standing. In all, about four hundred colonists (a third of the white
population) were
killed and around twenty women captured, taken to serve as virtual slaves
to the
Indians until their death or ransom years later.
Aftermath
The cultural differences were such that the Powhatans ended hostilities
and waited
in the days and months after the day of the attacks, apparently in the
belief that
the colonists would accept the losses as a signal that the Powhatans were
more
powerful and were to be respected and that conflicts and breeches of
agreements
were to be avoided. However, this proved to be a serious lack of
understanding of
the mindset of the English colonists and their backers overseas.
The March 22 attacks destroyed many of the colonists' spring crops and
caused
some of the settlements to be completely abandoned. Not only in the
colony, but
also in England, the attacks had the more long-term effect of reinforcing
the image
of the Native Americans as savages, destroying much of the appreciation of
the
Indians and their culture which had been accomplished in the years
preceding by
Pocahontas and others. At Henricus, one of the most distant outposts from
Jamestown, where a well-planned school for Indian boys and college for the
sons
of colonists was in its infancy, the progress and the new town there were
both
lost. Another effort to establish such a school would have to wait over 70
years
until plans for the College of William and Mary were successfully
presented to the
monarchy in England by the rector of Henrico Parish, James Blair, and a
royal
charter issued. Apparently taking no chances of the new school being at
risk of
another devastating attack, in 1693, the new school was established at
Middle
Plantation, a well-fortified location a few miles from Jamestown. A few
years later,
the capital of the colony was relocated there, and the name changed to
Williamsburg.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM TUCKER
Many of the colonists who witnessed and survived the March 1622 attacks
thereafter despised all Indians and vowed revenge. Their retaliatory raids
on the
tribes and particularly on the Indians' corn crops in the summer and fall
of 1622
were so successful that Chief Opechancanough decided in desperation to
negotiate
with the colonists. Through friendly Indian intermediaries, a peace parlay
was
finally made between the two groups. However, some of the Jamestown
leaders,
led by Captain William Tucker, poisoned the Indians' share of the liquor
for the
parlay's ceremonial toast. The poison killed about two hundred Indians and
another fifty were then killed by hand. However, Chief Opechancanough
escaped.
Virginia became a royal colony of England two years later in 1624. The
change
meant that the English crown had direct authority over the colony instead
of
through the Virginia Company of London. The main result was that Royal
favorites
could now profit from the colonies instead of the members of the Virginia
Company.
As in most Colonies, the colonists there continued to be exploited for the
personal
profit of those few in charge, and the interests of the Powhatans were
even less
considered. Expansion into Indian land and breach of agreements continued
to be
the general relationship, leading to an increasing level of frustration
amongst the
tribes.
The next major uprising of the Powhatan Confederacy would occur in 1644
when
around five hundred English colonists would perish. By then, this loss
represented
less than ten percent of the population, and had far lesser impact upon
the
colonists. This time, Opechancanough who was quite old and had to be
transported
by litter, was captured. Imprisoned at Jamestown, he was murdered by one
of
colonists appointed to guard him.
The death of Opechancanough clearly marked the beginning of the continual
and
increasingly precipitous decline of the once powerful Powhatan
Confederacy,
whose members were eventually left to either leave the area entirely,
gradually
intermix their residential communities with the colonists, or live on one
of the few
reservations established in Virginia, although even these were subject to
incursion
and seizure of land by the ever expanding white population.
In modern times, only seven tribes of the original Powhatan Confederacy
are
recognized in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The two longstanding
reservations
are those of the Pamunkey and Mattaponi, both located between the rivers
of the
same name within (but technically independent of) King William County. |
