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While the Anglo-Powhatan Wars took place in and near the Virginia Colony and not in New England, which is the focus of this website, it is worthwhile to briefly cover this conflict, as it set the stage for what was to occur in New England. This conflict was between the English settlers and the Powhatan Indians from 1610 to 1646, by which time a similar pattern was unfolding in the Massachusetts Bay colony.
While the Anglo-Powhatan Wars took place in and near the Virginia Colony and not in New England, which is the focus of this website, it is worthwhile to briefly cover this conflict, as it set the stage for what was to occur in New England. This conflict was between the English settlers and the Powhatan Indians from 1610 to 1646, by which time a similar pattern was unfolding in the Massachusetts Bay colony.
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The first English settlement was attempted in 1585 on Roanoke Island, now part of North Carolina. From the start, there was suspicion of the English on the part of the Native Americans (called Indians by the settlers), while the English generally believed that the Indians would have to be conquered rather than living alongside them in peace. These points of view inevitably caused tension and friction between the two peoples from the beginning. The Roanoke settlement was eventually disbursed, with many returning to England and others simply vanishing, as the settlement was found mysteriously abandoned by returning Englishmen in August, 1590. There were many theories as to what happened to the Roanoke settlers, but historians generally agree that a combination of starvation and Indian attacks on the settlement sealed their fate.
The next settlement, Jamestown, would be established in Virginia in 1607. According to Captain John Smith, Jamestown Colony leader, the chief of the local Powhatan tribe told him that the Powhatans had slaughtered the English because they had sought refuge with a rival tribe who had refused to join the Powhatan tribe. Whether or not Smith's story was true, the English believed that Chief Powhatan was responsible for the deaths of the missing Roanoke settlers.
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