John smith biography for students

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They lost many from starvation and disease, and the men had little interest in anything but looking for treasure. He came from a family of farmers who were located near Alford, Lincolnshire, England.
  John Smith Fact 2John Smith was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth, from 1592–1595
  John Smith Fact 3In 1596 at the age of 16 John Smith started life at sea in the military and at first fought in the Netherlands.
  John Smith Fact 4John Smith then moved on to western Europe and joined a Christian army fighting the Turks in Hungary
  John Smith Fact 5The early escapades of John Smith earned him the rank of a captaincy and he was honored with a coat of arms which moved him up the social ranks in England.
  John Smith Fact 6In 1606 King James I of England granted a charter to the Virginia Company to establish colonies in Virginia.
  John Smith Fact 7Captain John Smith became involved on 20 December 1606 joined an expedition of three ships, the Discovery, the Susan Constant and the Godspeed, to the New World.
  John Smith Fact 8On the voyage John Smith clashed with Captain Christopher Newport who was in charge of the three ships.

What did you learn?

How old was John Smith when his father died, and he had to support himself?

What were two of the first types of jobs that John Smith did?

Seaman and mercenary

What was the name of the company John Smith joined to create a settlement in the New World?

The Virginia Company

What saved John Smith’s life during his first voyage to the New World?

Instructions from the Virginia Company that he was to be one of the leaders of the settlement

When John Smith was captured by Powhatan, who saved his life?

Pocahontas

What was the purpose of John Smith’s last expedition to the New World?

Explore the northern coastline

John Smith Facts & Worksheets

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The new governor, Gates, found there was not enough food to support everyone. The hunt for a suitable site concluded on May 14, 1607, when Captain Edward Maria Wingfield, president of the council, picked Jamestown as the colony’s location.

In early January 1608, Captain Newport and almost 100 new immigrants arrived on the First Supply, but the settlement was burned down due to carelessness.

The Sea Venture was shipwrecked on the Bermuda islands.
John Smith Fact 22In September 1608 John Smith was elected president of the local council instituted a policy of discipline. In 1615, French sailors captured Smith off the coast of the Azore Islands. His writings encouraged settlers to pursue self-reliance, hard work, and reinvention, themes that later became central to the American Dream.

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John Smith

Captain John Smith is often mentioned in American history classes. Each person had only a cup or two of grain-meal per day. John attended school until his father died when he was a teenager. The facts about are a fast and accurate way to gain a good understanding of the life of this famous man who played a major role in the colonization of America.

He then escaped from the Ottoman lands and returned to England in 1604.

Life in Jamestown

Statue at Historic Jamestowne

In 1606, the Virginia Company hired Smith to help settle the Virginia Colony for profit. One year later, in May 1610, the survivors arrived at Jamestown in small boats they had made.

Then, in April, rats and dampness destroyed all their stored corn. January 1580 – June 21, 1631) was an English explorer who helped found the colony at Jamestown, Virginia. Eventually, he was arrested for mutiny and locked up, with a plan to execute him once they arrived in Virginia. The situation between the 2 men was so bad that Captain Newport planned to execute him upon arrival in Virginia.
  John Smith Fact 9The execution never happened because when Captain Newport opened his sealed orders from the Virginia Company on April 26, 1607 he discovered, to his horror, that Captain John Smith had been designated as one of the leaders of the new colony.
  John Smith Fact 10In May 1607 the Jamestown settlement was established in Virginia.
  John Smith Fact 11The Powhatan Native Indians inhabited more than 100 surrounding villages.

"He who does not work, will not eat."
John Smith Fact 23The Powhatan stopped trading with the colonists in an attempt to starve them out and the First Powhatan War erupted. For the next five years, Governors Gates and Sir Thomas Dale kept strict rules.