Vaughn

American Genesis: Captain John Smith and the Founding of Virginia. By Alden T. Vaughn. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1974.

“To understand America,” historian Oscar Handlin writes in the editor’s preface to American Genesis, “it is necessary first to understand Europe. The New World was born in the dreams of the Old.” With these introductory words, Handlin offers a clear backdrop for Vaughan’s work. This book on John Smith—which the author asserts is less of a biography of Smith than a transcontinental approach to understanding North American settlement—“tells the story of England’s belated awakening to the New World’s potential and her groping for solutions to the complex challenge of overseas settlement.” American Genesis occupies a rather unique place in American historiography: John Smith, as the author notes, lived most of his life in England. He lived in a distinctly English world, and traveled to remote places in Eastern Europe before venturing to the North American continent. But the book is also unique because John Smith is simultaneously well-known and mysterious: well-known, in that American Genesis surfaced in an historiography much illumined (as historian Everett Emerson notes) by Philip Barbour’s biography of the captain and numerous other works, mysterious because “Smith left only enough information about himself to tantalize [historians],” and because the credibility of Smith’s accounting of Jamestown also comes into question. The rather orthodox, ambitious, and surprisingly lucid attempt to reconcile John Smith with the founding of Virginia and the struggle for its survival is the story of this book.

A sense of optimism dominated the age that produced John Smith, and Vaughan begins the work by painting an image of Elizabethan England—whose citizens took exceptional pride “in their national genius”—and how that era cultivated the restless and romantic character of Smith, who took his English exceptionalism across vast spaces and had, “by the time he embarked for America…already witnessed more of the world than most of his contemporaries.” After fighting Turks in 1600 Hungary, and escaping as a slave in 1603, Smith returned to England to find a people fascinated with the prospect of English settlements in the New World. Smith climbed aboard the ship that would make its journey to the New World on 19 December 1606.

In April, the three ships carrying the ambitious and adventurous Englanders arrived in the Chesapeake Bay, and Vaughan dedicates the second chapter of his work to highlighting the initial trials and exploits of the Virginia settlers. Success at Jamestown seemed far from certain; settlers possessed an acute awareness of the Roanoke debacle. Vaughan notes, however, that Jamestown’s location near the Chesapeake meant that success could be more easily achieved. Here Vaughan also treats the historicity of Smith’s averted execution and rescue by Pocahontas presented in the 1624 Generall Historie of British America, ultimately leaving the matter open-ended and asserting, “The truth lies buried with the captain and his Indian captors.” In later chapters, the author addresses the issue of race relations and Indian-English diplomacy in Virginia through the lens of John Rolfe’s marriage to Pocahontas. Vaughan dedicates nearly sixty pages to discussing the hardships endured in the early going at Jamestown, and the quest, as he puts it, for “economic, political, and diplomatic stability.” Any prospect of success seemed undone by the Massacre of 1622, which “shattered the colony and the Indian tribes; it fell lethally too on the London Company.” The Court of the King’s Bench revoked the charter for Jamestown on 24 May 1864, and “The London Company was dead.”

Vaughan does little to dispel the romantic memory of Smith, noting as he concludes his work, “in John Smith young America found a prototype of itself: bold, energetic, and optimistic; at the same time brash, intolerant, overly proud of its achievements, and overly solicitous of approval.” Of course, such a claim enjoys the benefit of a hindsight that fixes certain understandings of “Americanism” to Smith and the Jamestown experience. Historians have hardly come to a consensus regarding the legacy of American Genesis and its service to academia. “To survey the mountains of causes and results of English intrusion into aboriginal North America during the period of Smith’s activity would be in itself a major undertaking,” Philip Barbour writes. “To condense this into [Vaughan’s American Genesis] is basically self-defeating.” Historian J. Frederick Fausz presents a more favorable interpretation of the work, commenting that Vaughan achieves a nice balance of brevity and substance, noting also that Vaughan “does an excellent job of synthesizing the standard secondary literature.” On the subject of secondary literature, Vaughan thoroughly acknowledges the contributions of historians Philip Barbour, A.G. Bradley, E. Keble Chatterton, and John Gould Fletcher in painting John Smith’s biographical portrait. Also paramount to any history of John Smith, as Vaughan notes, is the 1910 edition of his writings, Travels and Works of Captain John Smith, a revised version of Edward Arber’s 1884 Works, 1608-1631. Thus, Vaughan’s work properly understood is an addition to a rather extensive literature on Colonial Virginia and John Smith, whom Vaughan considers the prototypical English American. Given the disputed validity of Smith’s accounts and limited source material, it seems that the historiography of the English captain has little room for development.

Texas Christian University Mitchell G. Klingenberg

American Genesis: Captain John Smith and the Founding of Virginia. By Alden T. Vaughn. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1974.

In the book American Genesis: Captain John Smith and the Founding of Virginia, Vaughn gives background information on Captain John Smith’s exploits in continental European events before signing on for the English effort to colonize America. Vaughn’s work then deals with the problems faced by the Jamestown colony--how disaster after disaster befell the colonists from 1606 until Captain Smith’s departure in early October 1609 to his death on 21 June 1631. This book makes an excellent supplement to a first-semester American History course. The author provides a realistic, chronological retelling of one of early British-American legends.

The first section provides a view into Captain Smith’s childhood on a farm in England and how he eventually traveled to the Netherlands. Vaughn then recounts Smith’s military adventures and his rise to political leadership in Jamestown. During his exploits across Europe, Smith acquired the survival skills that would serve him well in America. The leading members of the colony found the young, abrasive but very experienced Smith a potential threat to their leadership. When tragedy and death befell a number of the colonists, the tough, no-nonsense Smith made the colonists band and work together at the menial tasks thought above their station. Their acting together eventually led the other colonists and native Indians to, not only fear Smith, but also reluctantly respect him. Regardless of his actions that saved Jamestown, the London Company, which had possession of the colonial charter in October 1609, replaced Captain Smith and he returned to England. While in England, Smith attempted to return to colonial America several times, but failed in his efforts. Instead, Captain Smith used his knowledge and wrote about the experience he had in Virginia to help push for further colonization.

The following 150 pages detail the problems faced by the Jamestown colony as it struggled to survive. The London Company did not have a realistic understanding of the hardships facing the colonists. Diseases, hostile Indians who no longer had to contend with Captain Smith, famine and, new colonists who could not contribute to the survivability of the township led to hard times for all. After Smith returned to England, local colonial leaders found that the citizens of Jamestown suffered greatly due to indolence and lack of foresight. The administrators back in England would send goldsmiths, refiners, and jewelers, instead of farmers, fishmongers, and people used to hard manual labor. The growing and constant need for laborers to help in agricultural production and construction led to the introduction of black slaves in 1619. While not directly involved in the operations of the Jamestown colony, Captain Smith kept informed on the events as they occurred while in England.

In chapter 9, the author detailed the surprise Indian attack on 18 April 1622 that killed over 300 colonists. The native Indians experienced a growing feeling of alarm and anger at the continued English colonial growth and the contempt colonists expressed towards the Indian culture and religious practices. The pressure exerted on Indians to convert to Christianity and to “adopt the Englishman’s version of civilitie” (p. 156) led to many local tribes to become involved in the massacre.

The author provides an excellent supplemental resource for undergraduate historical study by focusing honestly on the recorded actions of Captain Smith, the survival and development of the Jamestown colony, and the harsh but necessary disciplinary measures instituted by the colonial administrators. The author does express an overly pervasive air of respect and admiration towards Captain Smith by viewing him as the “one of the best informed men in all England, perhaps in the world, on the practical aspects of colonization” (p. 170). Vaughn does a respectable job in portraying Smith as a human being, having both good and bad traits. Smith’s deep commitment to the Jamestown colony contrasted starkly with his self-serving need for recognition.

Alden Vaughn does a disservice to his work by not employing footnotes. The author compensates for this lack with a note on the sources he found while researching this work. Even with this negative aspect, the book does provide a decent view into early Jamestown history.

American Genesis: Captain John Smith and the Founding of Virginia gives the reader a brief overview of the life of Captain John Smith and the founding of Jamestown, Virginia. Although the author concludes his narrative with the death of Smith, Vaughan explores the issues, events and notable individuals involved in the establishment of British colonies in Virginia. Vaughan’s narrative is a comprehensive examination of American colonization suitable for supplemental reading in survey courses of American history.

The first three chapters of the book explore the life of John Smith from his early life as the son of a yoemen farmer through his leadership of the colony at Jamestown. Not content to follow in his father’s footsteps, a young John Smith left the local school to pursue a life of adventure, preferably aboard a sailing ship. His travels took him throughout much of seventeenth century Europe. Surviving numerous battles, as well as a brief period as a common slave, Smith returned to England an accomplished warrior. However, his desire for further adventures lead him to enlist as a member of a colonial expedition to North America funded by the London Company. Outspoken and possessing considerable experience with dangerous situations despite his youth, Smith quickly drew the ire of his fellow passengers, whose first inclination was to execute the brash young Smith. Cooler minds prevailed and Smith’s life was spared. After a series of accidents and diseases that claimed the lives of several members of the group, including members of the leadership, the colonists landed in North America. Smith’s survival skills and his ability to lead the disgruntled colonists through difficult situations facilitated his rise to prominence, if not his rise in popularity. Smith’s criticism of the idle nature of the colonists, whom he forced to labor for at least six hours per day, further alienated him from the majority of colonists. However, the survival of the colony through difficult times earned him a grudging respect. Maintaining a delicate balance between fear and friendship with the local natives, Smith acquired badly needed rations for the colonists. Despite his efforts, the London Company replaced him as leader of the colony due to his often abrasive treatment of the natives and his failure to procure marketable resources for the company. Smith returned to England and continued to promote North American colonization throughout his life.

The remaining seven chapters document the progress of the colony after Smith’s departure. Disease, famine, and violence rocked the community. Much attention is given by the author to the motivational disparities between the London Company and the colonists. The London Company remained focused on the economic potential of the North American continent and often made demands of the colonists that failed to acknowledge the reality of colonial survival. For example, London Company leaders transported jewelers and goldsmiths instead of practical tradesmen capable of providing services needed to establish a stable community. Conversely, colonial leaders repeatedly complained of the idle nature of the colonists and the lack of foresight they displayed. The London Company’s experiments with lotteries to fund its colonial ventures is briefly examined by the author. The later assumption of responsibility and control of the colonies by the British crown provided the colonists with the provisions necessary to prosper. Smith’s views on colonial matters are dispersed throughout the narrative. Vaughan examines the conflicts between native Americans and the colonists, as well as the establishment and proliferation of slavery in colonial Virginia. Finally, the author concludes the book with a brief discussion of Smith’s later years and of his historical writings.

The author’s admiration for Smith is evident throughout the book and produces a comprehensive, if apologetic, view of the subject. Smith’s portrayal as a “proto-American” pervades the book, suggesting that Smith embraced the ideals upon which American democracy grew. However, Vaughan never fully explores Smith’s dependence upon and deference to European aristocracy that enabled him to achieve his goals throughout his life. Nevertheless, the author’s narrative suggests that by not following Smith’s policies of discipline and hard work, the colonists of Jamestown suffered unnecessary hardships.

Vaughan’s book fails to provide footnotes for his narrative and instead provides a brief bibliographical summary of his sources at the end of the book. An examination of the summary reveals a reliance on both primarily and secondary sources. The author suggests that scholars interested in his research consult an annotated copy of this work in the library of Columbia University.

American Genesis: Captain John Smith and the Founding of Virginia. By Alden T. Vaughn. (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, c.1975. Pp. v,207. Library of Congress no. 74-5914)

In American Genesis: Captain John Smith and the Founding of Virginia, Alden Vaughn describes the struggles of the British attempt to found a colony in Virginia. The book first considers the background of John Smith and then the founding of Jamestown and its initial survival in the first quarter of the seventeenth century. The work then describes the progress of the colony after the exodus of John Smith. The work contains no notes even though quotes are spread throughout the book and the author provides a bibliographical essay covering sources and further reading.

The first chapter relates the incredibly adventurous background of John Smith. He sailed, soldiered and traveled through Europe, the Mediterranean, and much of the surrounding areas. His many battles led to many victories, fame and money only to be lost in a few losing efforts. Numerous enemies captured Smith only to have him escape with the help of a lady in almost every case (a fact that inevitably fed the Pocahontas story or vice versa). His bravery, cunning and military prowess served him well and he chose to continue his adventures in the New World.

John Smith became one of the original founders of Jamestown, as well as one of the few original survivors. The initial settlers respected his keen military mind and common sense, if not his bawdiness, yet Smith always seemed to have enemies plotting his downfall. His reputation, bragging or general demeanor upset some influential people from the start of the voyage and eventually led to his recall to England a couple years later.

Besides basic survival necessities, the initial colonist faced a moody Indian population, which far outnumbered them. The handling of the Indians caused frequent debate in Jamestown. In an expedition up the James River, the Indians captured Smith and brought him to their chief Powhatan. It was during this adventure that the Pocahontas story supposedly happened. John Smith and Powhatan developed a mutual respect, if not love for one another, based on this meeting. Smith’s reputation in the colony eventually rose and he became its leader for a short period (one and a half years).

Smith used common sense and vigilance to correct the problems of the colony. Putting much of the population to work and securing them from Indian attack consumed the vast majority of his administration. In dealing with the Indians, Smith cajoled, intimidated and threatened them into not only peaceful relations but into supplying his colony with food. He and Powhatan became rivals and to some degree equals, which kept them from initiating racial conflicts. Although he attempted every trick he knew before resorting to violence against the Indians, Smith felt no love for their race.

When a restructuring of the company in charge of the colony came about in 1609, the new company leaders recalled Smith back to England. While in England, he became the company’s leading writer on the benefits of the colony. He continued in this role in England until his death, never to see Virginia again. Smith did return to America and wrote of his exploration of coastal New England. He also saw Pocahontas again when see traveled to England with her husband John Rolfe. His writings and his reputation became prodigious.

In the rest of the work, the author describes the ups and downs of the colony and its people. Their problems continued to be disease, famine and Indian conflict. Throughout his descriptions of the 1610s and 1620s, the author invariably compares every colonial leader to John Smith. Clearly the author feels that Smith’s common sense and tenacity was what Jamestown needed all along. The reformation of local government and the establishment of tobacco farming aid in the progress of the colony. While Smith had no active part in these positive developments, he kept abreast of them in England.

In 1622, the Indians perpetrate a massacre, which almost destroyed the colony. The Indians butchered over 300 men, women and children in a surprise attack. The sheer violence of the incident caused a crisis in the company and eroded imperial confidence in the company. The treatment of the Indians to that point followed a fairly enlightened view of peace and proselytization. After the massacre the English viewed the Indians as culturally inferior and religiously damned. Their treatment altered accordingly to a more vindictive and malicious manner. In a government hearing over the status of the colony, John Smith testified against the same company leaders who had removed him from the colony. Smith criticized the company’s handling of the Indians and the colony in general. The author does not attribute the destruction of the company to Smith, but to his view, which was shared by many others.

In the last chapter the author describes the numerous writings of John Smith. In advocating the continuation of the Virginia colonial experience, Smith promoted two essential themes over and over. The glorious future of Britain and the colonies offered a potential, which in Smith’s eyes simply could not be passed up and that any further development must take into account past experiences. Vaughn also debates Smith’s reputation as a historically important figure in American history in the last chapter. He concludes by stating the recent historiography confirms Smith’s stature and importance.

The book suffers from a lack of focus. The establishment of the colony or the life and times of John Smith offer sufficient material for a work of this nature, yet the author bounces from one subject to the other without effectively tying them together. Where John Smith appears in the work, little else matters. When Smith is absent the author proceeds for extensive periods of time without mentioning him only to compare his views or attitudes to the problems of the colony. Even by the author’s own admission, Smith had little direct impact on the colony after his own departure, but Vaughn continuously invokes his name in comparison.

Vaughn quotes numerous sources within the text, but there are no citations. He also attributes attitudes and qualities to Smith in a vain attempt to put the man in historical context. The author cites no authority for these attitudes; he merely assigns Smith the prevailing English stereotype of the period. Vaughn also supposes that Smith kept abreast of events in the distant colony without offering any proof.

These suppositions and comparisons constitute the only connection of Smith to the colony after 1609. The book should have focused on either John Smith or the colony, not half on one and half on the other. Information within the book on John Smith should be taken with a grain of salt. Information on the colony appears viable if one can ignore the sometimes not so subtle leadership comparisons to John Smith.

Texas Christian University

Scott Cowin