Samuel Argall facts for kids
Sir Samuel Argall (born in 1572 or 1580, died in 1626) was an English explorer and naval officer. He was known for his important voyages to the New World and his role in the early days of the Jamestown colony in Virginia.
In 1609, Argall, as a sea captain, found a faster way to sail from England to Virginia across the Atlantic Ocean. He also helped save the Jamestown colony from starvation in 1610.
Argall is also known for his actions involving Pocahontas, the daughter of the Powhatan Chief. He took her captive in 1613 to help make peace between the English settlers and the Powhatan people. Pocahontas was a friend to the English and was treated with respect. Later, peace was made when Pocahontas married English planter John Rolfe. Argall also stopped French efforts to build colonies in Acadia (now part of Canada) and in North Africa.
After serving as Governor of the Virginia Colony, King James I made Argall a knight. Some settlers complained that he was too strict, but later investigations showed these claims were not true.
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Early Life and Family
Samuel Argall was born in Kent, England, and was baptized on December 4, 1580. He was the fourth son of Richard Argall and Mary Scott.
A Shorter Way to Virginia
In 1609, Captain Argall, working for the Virginia Company of London, discovered a new, shorter way to sail from England to the Virginia Colony. Instead of sailing south to the warm tropics and then west, he sailed west from the Azores islands to Bermuda and then straight west to the Chesapeake Bay.
His journey took about nine weeks. This new route helped English ships avoid Spanish ships that were not friendly and saved a lot of supplies.
When Captain Argall arrived at Jamestown, he found the colonists in a very difficult situation. They were running out of food. Argall shared all the food he could spare and returned to England later that summer. His help came at a very important time for the colony, as this period was known as the "Starving Time". Without his supplies, the colony might have been completely lost.
During this trip, Argall also stopped the Spanish from finding out how weak the Jamestown colony was. He chased away a Spanish ship that was trying to spy on Jamestown.
Working with Lord De La Warr
Argall returned to Virginia in the summer of 1610. He was working under Royal Governor Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, who was strengthening the colony's defenses. Governor De La Warr became very sick and returned to England in 1611. Sir Thomas Dale then became the Deputy Governor.
While serving under Governor Dale, Argall sailed up the Potomac River in March 1613, looking for food for the settlement. There, he traded with the Patawomeck, a Native American tribe connected to the Powhatan Confederacy.
Pocahontas and Peace
While trading with the Patawomeck, two English colonists found out that Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Wahunsonacock of the Powhatan Confederacy, was staying there. Captain John Smith later wrote that she had been there for about three months.
Learning this, Argall decided to capture Pocahontas. He hoped this would help in talks with the Powhatan people. Argall asked the local chief, Japazaws, to bring Pocahontas onto his ship, suggesting they use a copper kettle as a gift to lure her.
According to the Patawomeck people's stories, the colonists, with Japazaws' help, tricked Pocahontas into being captured. Argall's goal was to trade her for English prisoners held by Chief Powhatan, along with weapons and farming tools that the Powhatan people had taken. Powhatan returned the English captives, but not all the weapons and tools. This led to a long period of disagreement.
Eventually, peace and trade were restored between the English and the Powhatan Confederacy. This happened after English planter John Rolfe met and married Pocahontas.
Argall also commanded the ship that took Pocahontas, her family, and her brother-in-law Uttamatomakkin to visit England in 1616. He also captained the ship that brought John Rolfe back to Virginia after Pocahontas's death.
Actions Against French Colonies
Later in 1613, Argall was ordered by London to attack Acadia, a French colony in what is now Canada. First, he attacked the French Jesuit colony of Saint-Sauveur on Mount Desert Island (now in Maine). He took fourteen prisoners back to Jamestown.
He then returned to burn down an older French settlement on Sainte-Croix and the French site of Port Royal (now in Nova Scotia). One of his French prisoners later wrote good things about Argall's character and how he treated the prisoners. Argall was also the first Englishman to visit Manhattan, where he warned the Dutch that they were building on English land.
In the Virginia Colony, some people saw Argall as a strict leader who did not care enough about the poorer colonists. After Argall became Principal Governor of Virginia in 1617, Lord De La Warr was on his way from England to look into complaints about him, but De La Warr died at sea in 1618. Sir George Yeardley took Argall's place as governor in 1619. After Argall returned to London, he was cleared of the complaints against him and continued to serve King James I.
In 1620, Argall was the captain of a merchant ship that joined an expedition against Algiers in North Africa. When he returned, he became a member of the Council of New England. Later, he was named admiral for New England.
On June 26, 1622, King James I made Argall a knight. In 1625, he was the admiral of a fleet of 28 ships. His fleet captured many other nations' ships off the coast of France. In October, he commanded the lead ship in an attack on Cadiz, Spain, which was not successful.
Samuel Argall never married. He died at sea around January 24, 1626. He was buried in St Gluvias churchyard in Penryn, Cornwall.
Representation in other media
- Argall (voiced by Kevin Farrell) appears in the Animated Hero Classics 1994 episode Pocahontas.
- Yorick van Wageningen portrays Argall in Terrence Malick's 2005 film The New World.
See also
In Spanish: Samuel Argall para niños
