John smith explorer head printout

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The colony struggled to feed itself, and Smith proved skillful at securing food from the Virginia Indians. Among people deceased in 1631, John Smith ranks 3. He installed a policy of rigid discipline, strengthened defenses, and encouraged farming with his order that all must work or face starvation. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in 43 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 42 in 2024).

He was a leader of the Virginia Colony between September 1608 and August 1609, and he led an exploration along the rivers of Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay, during which he became the first English explorer to map the Chesapeake Bay area. The Barbarous Years - The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675 (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012) John Smith.

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He instilled greater discipline among the settlers, enforcing the rule "He who will not work shall not eat." Under Smith's guiding hand, the colony made progress: The settlers dug the first well, planted crops and began repairing the fort that had burned down the previous winter.

The English settlers had a rocky and often violent relationship with the Powhatan.

John Smith

Leadership of Jamestown

In September 1608, Smith was elected president of Jamestown's governing council. Smith had settlers dig the first well inside the fort (and Jamestown Rediscovery archaeologists have found that well and the many unique artifacts it held when it became a trash pit).

He was fighting in Transylvania in 1602 when he was wounded in battle, captured, and sold as a slave to a Turk. They can quote his order: “He that will not worke, shall not eate.” But few know that Smith’s adventures started years before Jamestown.

Born in 1580 in Willoughby, England, Smith left home at age 16 after his father died.

Captain John Smith. He returned to England for treatment in October 1609 and never set foot in Virginia again.

Smith produced some of the most detailed reports about early Virginia, such as True Relation of Virginia in 1608, Map of Virginia in 1612, Generall Historie of Virginia (beginning in 1624, there were six editions in eight years), and True Travels in 1630.

After him are Steve Howe (1947), Michael Howard (1941), Annie S. D. Maunder (1868), Rowland Hill (1795), Bryan Ferry (1945), and William Jones (1746).

Others born in United Kingdom

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Among EXPLORERS In United Kingdom

Among explorers born in United Kingdom, John Smith ranks 12.

The colonists continually raided Powhatan villages for food and Powhatan warriors attacked the fort at Jamestown. In 1614, Smith made another voyage, exploring and mapping the shores of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts and naming the region "New England."

He wanted to return and form a colony there, but on the way back in 1615 he was captured by French pirates and imprisoned for several months.

Later Life and Death

When he was released, Smith was unable to find anyone in England to back further voyages across the Atlantic.

Smith’s first meeting with Chief Powhatan, the supreme leader in the Chesapeake region, was eventful, but historians have cast doubt on whether the captain’s life was really saved by Powhatan’s favorite daughter, Pocahontas, as Smith reported years later. Smith’s strong leadership helped the colony survive and grow but also made him enemies within the fort.

He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania, and his friend Mózes Székely. John Smith is the 75th most popular explorer (down from 58th in 2024), the 752nd most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 485th in 2019) and the 12th most popular British Explorer.

John Smith is most famous for his exploration of the New World and his discovery of the Chesapeake Bay.

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Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, John Smith ranks 75 out of 498.