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Failed European Colonies in the New

World
Advisor: Kathleen A. Duval, Associate Professor of History, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
National Humanities Center Fellow.

Glossary
famished: extremely hungry,
starving
imperative: absolutely necessary
reluctant: hesitant and unwilling

Contextualizing Questions
1. What kind of text are we dealing with?
2. When was it written?
3. Who wrote it?
4. For what audience was it intended?
5. For what purpose was it written?

Text Analysis
Excerpt 1
1. In what condition were the Powhatan when the Spanish arrived?
The Powhatan were very famished, they believed that they were going to die
this witer when the Spanish arrived.
2. The Powhatan seem to take de Velascos return as a good omen. Why? What
might they have thought he and the Spanish could do for them?
The Powhatan were happy when velascos returned because they thought he
was dead. They thought this was a good sign because they might have thought
the Spanish might be changing because every time the Spanish takes someone,
they never come back. If they Spanish were coming, they were hoping that they
would bring food supplies.
3. How would the translation of Indian religious concepts into terms like
Heaven and God have affected the priests? How might they affect
Governor de Hinistrosa?
By them using our terms, the missionaries think that there being successful
and the priest want more funds given to them so they can spread Christianity.
4. How might the priests have understood de Velascos claim that the Powhatan
wanted to be like him? What might the Powhatan have meant?
The priests new that the Powhatan wanted to switch into catholic. Velasco has
been gone for a long time so the powhatan thought he was dead. So they
wanted to be strong to defend themselves from the Spanish.

5. At this early stage, why might the Powhatan have wanted the priests to remain
with them?
They wanted the priest to stay with them because they would get resources
from him like food and water. Also they know how to control them.
6. Why would it have been important to tell Governor Hinistrosa about the Indians
desire to be like de Velasco and about their desire to have the missionaries
remain with them?
Its important to tell the Governor Hinistrosa about the Indians desire to be like de velasco because this
would encourage the governor to send resources like food and water to convince the priests to turn the
natives into Christians.

Excerpt 2
7. In the entire text the Jesuits mention the Powhatans good will three times.
Why might they have done so? How do the Spanish interpret this good will?
Why might the Powhatan have shown them good will at this early stage?
They want to suggest that the powhatan are open to conversion because
they want to get more resources.
8. How well equipped were the Jesuits to establish a mission?
The Jesuits were ill-provisioned for their trip
9. What were the Jesuits goals in establishing Ajacn? If the Powhatan asked them
to remain in their land, as de Velasco said they did, were the Indians embracing
the goals of the missionaries?
The Jesuits goals were to turn the native into Catholics. When the Powhatan
asked them to remain in their land, there werent embracing these goals.
10.

Why did the priests write for provisions?

The reason that the priests wrote for provisions were because they needed food
and they wanted to grow plants so they wanted seeds, having these items
would stop the hunger and maybe convince the natives to switch into catholic
11.
What did the chief ask from the Jesuits? Why might he have given such
specific instructions?
The reason he asked the Jesuits a favor was because he wanted seeds so he can
grow plants and it would help the powhatan have their own control of their food
supplies.

Excerpt 3
12.

What blundering may have occurred? Why did it so upset the priests?

People would trade trinkets with the Indians for corn but now every time they
meet the Indians they want an exchange. The priest is mad because he wont
get food unless he gives them something back.

13.

How did the Powhatan respond to the blundering?

Unless they got trinkets back from the priest they would not give away their
food.
14.
After the priests wrote this letter, the ship that brought them to the
Chesapeake left, carrying the letter to the governor of Cuba. The next time
sailors arrived, they discovered that the Powhatan had killed all of the Jesuits.
What do you think happened? Can you come up with multiple theories?
I think that the Indians thought that they could no longer trust the priest
because they were trying to turn them away from their own religion.
15. Why did Ajacn fail? What insights does its failure give you into why many
(probably most) early attempts at colonizing North America failed?
Because if the lack of food the priests werent prepared, I think this failed
because they didnt understand the native culture, because they were different it
prevented them from understanding the natives.
16.
In 1607, the English founded Jamestown near where Ajacn had been. The
English did not know its history, but the Powhatan surely remembered it. What
might they have thought when the English arrived? How does knowing about the
failure of Ajacn affect your understanding of Jamestown?
When the English arrived they were dressed really different, the powhatan
wanted to know why they were there.

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