#133 Opechancanough’s Last Stand

The History of the Americans

Jack Henneman

History

4.9 • 632 Ratings

🗓️ 16 November 2023

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It is early spring 1644, and Europeans are fighting Indians in New Netherland and Maryland. In Virginia, though, it is quiet. It has been twelve years since the Second Anglo-Powhatan war ended after a decade of fighting that began the day the sky fell, March 22, 1622. On that date Opechancanough sprung his colony-wide ambush of the English settlements along the James. Indian soldiers loyal to the Powhatan confederacy killed almost four hundred English and other European settlers on that day, and many more in the years that followed. But peace had come in 1632, and despite occasional crises that might have triggered war, the old chief had kept that peace. We covered Opechancanough and the Second Anglo-Powhatan War in three episodes more than a year ago, “Who Was Opechancanough?,” “Opechancanough’s War,” and “After the Sky Fell,” which are definitely useful background if you have not listened to them, or haven’t listened to them in some time.

The peace would end on April 18, 1644, and that is the story of this episode.

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Selected references for this episode

James Horn, A Brave and Cunning Prince: The Great Chief Opechancanough and the War for America

Helen C. Rountree, Pocahontas, Powhatan, Opechancanough: Three Indian Lives Changed by Jamestown

Robert Beverley, The History & Present State of Virginia

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the History of the Americans podcast, episode 133.
0:11.5	I'm your host, Jack Heneman, and I am recording this episode on November 16, 2023, and Austin, Texas.
0:19.3	We are telling the history of the lands now encompassed by the United States
0:23.4	from the beginning without intentional presentism.
0:28.3	I finished the writing of this episode in the Churchill Bar
0:31.7	in the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver,
0:34.5	which is the quintessential smoke-filled room.
0:40.3	After the meetup of Denver area fans on November 12th, great conversation ensued. This group of Coloradans knew more about Roger
0:47.2	Williams and the founding of Maryland and other topics than your typical Colorado and gave me
0:53.2	some great ideas for episodes about the history of Colorado,
0:56.7	assuming I live that long. That reminded me of one of the most delightful discoveries in doing this
1:04.0	project, the idiosyncrasies and the teaching of history around the spectacular country.
1:10.8	Aside from college sports, the last vestiges of state identity in most of the country
1:17.0	may be the history curricula of local schools, which teach fabulous stories that only the locals
1:24.4	know. Texans all learn about Cabezza de Vaca,
1:28.5	yet most Americans have never heard of them.
1:31.4	People from Wisconsin have all heard of Jean Nicolet,
1:34.8	but I hadn't until I read about his fantastic voyage in 1634.
1:41.0	And Colorans know about Alfred Packer, a Colorado cannibal.
1:45.7	Sounds like an excellent topic for an episode in about a decade.
1:51.5	It is early spring, 1644, and Europeans are fighting Indians in New Netherland and Maryland.
1:58.2	In Virginia, though, it is quiet.
	...

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