Indian massacre of 1622

The Indian massacre of 1622 was a devastating assault by the indigenous Powhatan on the English settlers living in the Jamestown colony of Virginia. Carried out on March 22, 1622, the massacre was a coordinated series of surprise attacks on a number of English settlements in the Jamestown region that resulted in the deaths of 347 colonists, including men, women, and children. The first major outbreak of violence since the conclusion of the First Anglo-Powhatan War in 1614, the massacre was a response to English settlers’ deepening encroachment into Powhatan territory. This encroachment forced the indigenous inhabitants of the area further away from their traditional home along the banks of the James River. The massacre also marked the beginning of the Second Anglo-Powhatan War, a decade-long conflict that ended in 1632 with a tentative peace and a prohibition on Native American travel into the lower portion of the Virginia Peninsula.

Background

By the early seventeenth century, England was eager to start establishing a colonial presence in North America. In 1606, after an attempt to found a colony on Roanoke Island off the coast of Virginia ended in failure, King James I granted the Virginia Company a charter to form a new North American settlement. Later that year, approximately one hundred colonists crossed the Atlantic to the New World. They ultimately landed on a peninsula in the James River where they founded the colony of Jamestown on May 14, 1607.

Originally comprised of little more than a wooden fort that surrounded a storehouse, a church, and several homes, Jamestown was first led by Captain John Smith. Life in the New World quickly proved difficult for Smith and the other settlers. In addition to contending with diseases like typhoid and dysentery, the settlers also had to negotiate a difficult relationship with the nearby Algonquian tribes. Most of these tribes were led by a chief named Powhatan. After some initial unease, Smith and Powhatan reached an agreement in 1608 that allowed for trade between the settlers and Native Americans. Still, relations between the groups were challenging at best, with mistrust and occasional outbreaks of violence largely remaining the status quo. As they continued struggling to survive, the settlers also increasingly pressed the Powhatan for support, straining an already difficult relationship. In 1609, the Powhatan attacked an English settlement, marking the beginning of the First Anglo-Powhatan War.

At the outset of the war, the settlers were forced to endure an especially harsh winter that brought a terrible famine. During the so-called “Starving Time,” the settlers depleted their food supply and had to resort to desperate measures to survive, including cannibalism in some cases. Although conditions eventually improved, conflicts with the Powhatan continued until the capture of Powhatan’s daughter Pocahontas in 1613 and her marriage to colonist John Rolfe the following year. These events precipitated a tentative peace that ended the war.

Overview

Although relations between the settlers and the Powhatan appeared to improve following the First Anglo-Powhatan War, tensions still ran deep beneath the surface. This was perhaps best demonstrated in the course of some colonists’ attempt to integrate Native Americans into the settlement. As early as 1618, one faction within the Jamestown community began actively inviting Powhatan people into the settlement in an effort to promote cultural assimilation. While many Powhatan families did move into the settlement, few were actually in favor of giving up their own cultural heritage. On top of that, most English settlers still held the Powhatan in ill regard and often subjected them to insults and abuse. At the same time, the Powhatan were well aware that the English intended to expand their settlement and further occupy indigenous land. In the early 1620s, the settlers also redoubled their efforts to educate and evangelize the Powhatan. Unwilling to surrender their traditional way of life, the Powhatan—now under the leadership of the less forgiving Opechankeno following the death of Powhatan himself in 1618—eventually decided it was necessary to take a stand and try to force the settlers out of Virginia once and for all.

Seeking to make a decisive strike against the colonists, the Powhatan planned to carry out a series of coordinated attacks on the Jamestown fort and the surrounding settlements. Rather than staging a direct assault, the Powhatan instead took a more strategic approach meant to lull the settlers into a false sense of security before launching a surprise attack. To that end, a large contingent of unarmed Powhatan traveled to Jamestown on March 21, 1622, with gifts of food to share with the settlers. Giving no hint of their true intentions, the Powhatan were allowed to stay in the settlement overnight and mill about freely the next morning. At some point that day, the Powhatan abruptly seized any tools they could get their hands on and began attacking the settlers. During the course of the onslaught, the Powhatan killed men, women, and children in their homes and those working in the fields. The Powhatan also set fire to many homes and destroyed the settlers’ livestock and crops. By the time the attack ended, a total of 347 settlers—about a third of Jamestown’s entire population—were left dead. Even more settlers would like have been killed but for the fact that one young Christianized Powhatan was able to warn some of them about the impending attack before it happened.

While the massacre inflicted a great deal of damage, it fell short of completely destroying the Jamestown colony. In addition, the resilient surviving settlers were determined to rebuild. Rather than forcing the English out of Virginia, the attack strengthened their resolve and sparked another prolonged conflict with the Powhatan. The resulting Second Anglo-Powhatan War lasted ten years and ended with the balance of power in Virginia heavily favoring the settlers. As such, the English presence in the region became permanent and the Powhatan were forced into retreat.

Bibliography

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