#64 Jamestown and the Powhatans Part 6: Timeline 1609-1622
The History of the Americans
Jack Henneman
4.9 • 632 Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2022
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The episode begins with current events, sorting out the correct reading of the “letters of marque and reprisals” clause of the US Constitution, which actually has nothing to do with Jamestown but touches on the Russo-Ukraine war, which is raging as we write this. We express a mix of approval of and gentle criticism of Representative Lance Gooden of Texas, who also appears to love letters of marque. For those of you listening in the future, we hope it resolves satisfactorily for the people of Ukraine.
The rest of the episode is an overview of the Jamestown settlement timeline between John Smith’s departure in October 1609 and the start of the Second Powhatan War on March 22, 1622, just five days short of 400 years ago as I write this. Big picture, etc. That will set us up to hit the highlights during that stretch over the next few episodes. Oh, and we touch upon the signal events of 1619.
Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2
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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
David Price, Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Start of a New Nation
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the History of the Americans podcast, Episode 64. |
| 0:10.6 | I'm your host, Jack Heneman, and I'm recording this on St. Patrick's Day, 2022, in Austin, Texas. |
| 0:18.4 | I'm not my usual location. |
| 0:20.0 | Normally, I do this really early in the morning |
| 0:22.5 | to cut down on an outside noise, but now it's mid-afternoon, and I'm trying to get through |
| 0:28.6 | this so I can watch some basketball, and there's lawn guys in our neighborhood. Actually, |
| 0:33.8 | they're employed by me, so it's kind of a pain. So I've come to an office in my wife's psychotherapy building and hoping that will be better, |
| 0:42.3 | but there's more traffic outside. |
| 0:44.1 | So we'll just see how this goes. |
| 0:46.0 | Anyway, in addition to it being Patty's Day and the first day of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, |
| 0:53.8 | today, March 17th, is the 405th anniversary |
| 0:58.7 | of the death of Pocahontas as she sailed out the Thames estuary with her husband, John Rolfe, and their |
| 1:06.7 | baby son Thomas. Before we get to the main history topic of the day, there's a current |
| 1:13.3 | events item that caught my eye. It's always a little risky to talk about current events on a |
| 1:18.2 | history podcast because people might listen to this episode years from now. You'll have to cut me |
| 1:24.5 | some slack and refer to the date. It's March 17th, 2022 right now. |
| 1:30.2 | Anyway, there's an amusing item in the news at the weird intersection of Texan politicians, |
| 1:37.3 | an old provision of the United States Constitution, and the Russo-Ukraine war, which is raging right now. |
| 1:45.3 | Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution confers unto Congress the power to grant letters of mark and reprisal |
| 1:52.9 | and make rules concerning captures on land and water. |
| 1:58.3 | There's a great deal to be said about this obscure provision, or at least I can find a |
| 2:03.6 | great deal to be said about it, and I imagine that many moons from now I will do an episode on it. |
... |
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