Originally published on December 14, 2021 (Episode 237)
Introduction
While this is conversation will be about one of the most critical moments in the history of North America, and about one of its most fascinating unknown personalities, it’s also a conversation in our continuing series on historical thinking. As you’ll see, James Horn’s book deals with many questions of evidence. And evidence is the answer to the question “How do I know what I claim to know about my question?” As you’ll hear, that is a question that James Horn had to ask himself many times as he worked on this book.
The story culminates, not begins, at about eight o’clock on the morning of March 22, 1622, warriors of the Powhatan chiefdoms launched a devastating assault on the English colony of Virginia. By nightfall, between a quarter and a third of the colonists were dead. Settlements, farms, and food stores had been destroyed. Survivors fled into fortified outposts where hunger and fear soon stalked them, as Powhatan warriors continued their attacks.
Just when the colony seemed on the verge of stability, it was thrust back to the precarious days of its founding, huddled at Jamestown and struggling for survival. Behind the plan for the uprising was Opechancanough, one of the most formidable and least understood figures in North American history. His long life, from the early days of contact to the mid-seventeenth century, reveals both the resilience of Native resistance and the violent foundations of colonial America.
This week’s conversation with James Horn explores Opechancanough’s remarkable career, the war he waged against English settlers, and the enduring questions of evidence that shape how we reconstruct the past.
About the Guest
James Horn is President and Chief Officer of the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation, affiliated with Preservation Virginia. A leading historian of early America, he is the author of numerous books.
For Further Investigation
James Horn, A Brave and Cunning Prince: The Great Chief Opechancanough and the War for America (Basic Books, 2021)
James Horn, A Land as God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America (Basic Books, 2005)
James Horn, A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke (Basic Books, 2010)
James Horn, 1619: Jamestown and the Forging of American Democracy (Basic Books, 2018)
“Opechancanough” — Encyclopedia Virginia
Historic Jamestowne — archaeological research and preservation
💬 Listen & Discuss
What does Opechancanough’s story reveal about how historians use evidence? And about the shape of European and native relations, from that point onward? Share your reflections in the comments—and consider sharing this episode with a friend who thinks they know the story of Jamestown.
