Captain John Smith

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that the colony of Jamestown in Roanoke, Virginia, often remains a shadowy period of American history in most Americans' understanding of their nation's origins. The writer maintains that if they know anything about Jamestown and its founder Captain John Smith, it likely comes from romantic tales of Smith's rescue from death by the Indian chief's daughter Pocahontas, rather than knowledge about how and why the colony experienced such difficulties during its early years. However, the the writer discusses that historians Thomas and Dorothy Hoobler suggest in their text "Captain John Smith: Jamestown and the Birth of the American Dream" that the ideals, values, and principles of America can be traced back to this early effort of colonization.

From the Paper:

"The Hooblers' thesis is that Jamestown's founder, even though the colony itself was ultimately, famously unsuccessful, was a kind of an early embodiment of the ideal of the self-made man. Smith, in the portrayal of the Hooblers, emerges from the text as both a pirate and a pioneer, and a true, budding entrepreneur even though he was born an Englishman. Smith came to America after living a life more akin to an action hero than an administrator of the Crown. He had battled upon the high seas, and even been sold into slavery. He was born in a seafaring English community where regular maintenance of the dikes was necessary to keep the town, quite literally, afloat. This was an early example of the value of hard work and effort to the young Smith."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Hoobler, Thomas and Dorothy Hoobler. Captain John Smith: Jamestown and the Birth of the American Dream. New York: Wiley, 2005.

More papers on Captain John Smith:

• Essay # 18425 : "Captain John Smith"
• Comparison Essay # 99697 : "Pocahontas and John Smith"
• Book Review # 146045 : "Motives in Smith's "General History"

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