The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captain John Smith into Europe, Asia, Africa, and America From Ann. Dom. 1593 to 1629

John Bernhard Smith

thg 1 1704 · Awnsham and John Churchill

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Captain John Smith dmiral of New England, was an English soldier, explorer, and author. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania, and his friend Mózes Székely. He was considered to have played an important part in the establishment of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. He was a leader of the Virginia Colony (based at Jamestown) between September 1608 and August 1609, and led an exploration along the rivers of Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay. He was the first English explorer to map the Chesapeake Bay area and New England.

His books and maps were important in encouraging and supporting English colonization of the New World. He gave the name New England to the region and noted: "Here every man may be master and owner of his owne labour and land... If he have nothing but his hands, he may...by industries quickly grow rich."

When Jamestown was England's first permanent settlement in the New World, Smith trained the settlers to farm and work, thus saving the colony from early devastation. He publicly stated "He that will not work, shall not eat", quoting from the Bible, 2nd Thessalonians 3:10. Harsh weather, lack of water, living in a swampy wilderness and attacks from the Powhatan Indians almost destroyed the colony. The Jamestown settlement survived and so did Smith, but he had to return to England after being injured by an accidental explosion of gunpowder in a boat.