John Smith

John Smith was born in 1580. He was educated for a few years before becoming a merchant's apprentice in 1595. Two years later, he joined the English army. Military campaigns sent him to Hungary, Scotland, France, Italy, and several Mediterranean islands. In 1601, he joined the Austrian army, eventually rising to the rank of captain for his efforts against the Ottoman Empire. He spent some time as a captive of the Ottoman Turks before a daring escape through Russia. His military experience undoubtedly prepared him for future travels to the New World. He returned to England in 1604.

Smith joined the London Company as a supply officer in 1606 and traveled to the New World with Christopher Newport's fleet. When the Jamestown expedition arrived in the Chesapeake Bay, they stopped at Cape Henry to open orders from the London Company. Smith was designated as a member of the governing council for the future colony. The expedition left from Cape Henry, sailed up the James River, and established a settlement at Jamestown Island. While Smith and the rest of the colonists built James Fort, Newport continued up the James River.

Not content to remain at Jamestown, Smith conducted his own travels in the waterways of the Chesapeake. Initially, his exploration was for the good of the colony, which badly needed food. In the midst of his travels, he was captured by the Powhatan tribe, the native group located closest to the colonists. The Powhatan would prove useful to the colonists, as they introduced crops and trade goods to them.

After he returned to the colony, he was elected President of the council for the year 1608. His leadership came at a critical moment. Many of the settlers lacked the skills to survive; famine and disease led to the deaths of many colonists. In order to keep order in the colony, he enforced a policy which stated that in order to eat, colonists had to work.

Meanwhile, Smith continued to travel the Chesapeake Bay area in a thirty-foot shallop, a shallow boat designed for coastal waters. Considering the Bay is fairly shallow, this was an apt vessel in which to travel. Smith was responsible for charting much of the Chesapeake's coastline, as well as sailing up the rivers leading into the Bay. Along each river, he found more native tribes. Smith carefully recorded some of their language, as well as observations of what they ate and how they planted food. His observations and ability to set up a trading network with natives helped the Jamestown colonists learn how to sustain their settlement. These descriptions of Virginia and the Bay area were published in A Map of Virginia in 1612.

Smith returned to England in 1609, but traveled back to the New World in 1614-1615 to find further potential locations for colonies. He continued to publish about Virginia, thus providing Europeans with the opportunity to learn about the New World. He died in London in 1631.

Read more about the individual explorers:

Francis Drake | Christopher Newport | James Cook | John Smith | Walter Raleigh

Find out about their watercraft:

How They Got There | Once They Arrived

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English Exploration