Roanoke may be famous for failing and being a mystery, but Jamestown is famous for surviving. In 1606, the Virginia Jointstock Company asked for permission to try colonizing America again. A jointstock company is a group of people, in this case all men, who gather their money and resources together to send an expedition in order to colonize. If the group is successful, the jointstock company makes a profit. If it fails, they have lost their investment. Anyway, the Virginia Company sent a group to colonize and in 1607 Jamestown was settled on the coast of Virginia on the James River. (By the way, are you seeing a pattern here of how things were named?) The group's main focus was gold, which meant planting stable crops for sustenance was not a priority. As a result, LOTS of men died due to starvation (hence "Starving Time").
Read this little ditty about how desperate they were for food. (I apologize for the one curse word in the opening paragraph. I did not realize that was in there until after the post went live. Just ignore it please.)
Another legacy of Jamestown is the relationship between John Smith (the man who got the colony on track) and Pocahontas. We will be discussing this topic all week so I'm not going to get into it here. What I want you to do is examine the four photos below and
read this story. Why do you think, out of all the important aspects of Jamestown and the beginnings of America, does this relationship capture out attention. Especially when most people think it was romantic, thanks to Disney, when it really was not. Do you have a problem with the Disney characters looking NOTHING LIKE the actual people from the 17th Century?
Wow, this 'starving time' made me really want to hurl. Especially the fact that I was eating while I read it. Anyway, during the winter of 1609 and 1610 there was no food and not even a way to get food so it came to where they had to eat their dead loved ones and their..umm how do I put this, I guess I will call it their crap. They ate their crap.(EWWW!!!) Now that is just plain disgusting! I would rather die than eat any person or anything else that disgusting. Anyone else agree?? Anyway the point was to show that they were so hungry that they would do anything just to get some food. They would even go kill someone's wife while she was sleeping, cut her up, salt her and eat her!! Okay, yes I get it they were STARVING! You got the point across Mr. Haston, thanks. Okay? Next subject. Pocahontas. So obviously, Walt Disney had to sugar coat this story a little bit so it would appeal to young children and so their mothers would actually let them watch it, but I think they may went just a little too far with the sugarcoating. In fact, they went so far that they totally ruined or at least changed the movie to a happier ending because you know that all Disney movies end with the "And they lived happily ever after". I think that it would have been best if Disney didn't even make a movie about Pocahontas. They just screwed up the story and made it sound like a stupid love triangle. Then making the characters look nothing like they did in real life made it even worse! (At least give John Smith a mustache!) Lastly, I think this movie ruins the whole story of Jamestown. They basically covered up the truth with lies. By the way, I like how I am criticizing this movie when I haven't even ever seen it. (328)
ReplyDeleteBTW..Don't you think the language in the first article wasn't really necessary??
DeleteI was thinking the exact same thing! I would much rather die than eat... that kind of stuff to stay alive!
DeleteHartwig, I apologize for the curse word in the starvation article. I did not realize it was there until you and Gilmore brought it to my attention. Thanks for letting me know, and I hope you'll forgive my negligence. I have updated the blog with a disclaimer.
DeleteI was just making sure you noticed.. I didnt think you would put something on there like that if you had know about it or at least explained it...
DeleteWell, I actually think the Disney depiction of Pocohontas, or Matoaka as we learned today, shares some of the same characteristics as the real one does. They both have the same sort of face, though one is pudgier and probably not as tan. Also, with all four portraits, the actual people are much older and dressed up. John Smith from the movie DEFINITELY does NOT have a walrus beard or moustache(Mr. Haston, please don't ever to try that "style", it's a little too groovy). The original portraits look a lot more "well dressed" and I'm sure they were suffering inside those suits, both Mataoka and John Smith. According to the articles we read today they would have been a lot less attractive when they met. Starting now I am thinking of Pocohontas and Mataoka as two different people- one real and one a Disney fantasy. I really don't have any issues with Disney making them look better because I never saw the movie. As long as I know the truth I can watch the movie Pocohontas in a peaceful state of mind.(185)
ReplyDelete-Hope=)
p.s.Oh yeah and the starving stuff! That just disturbs me and makes me sad....so terrible! And if my husband killed me and ate me, once he possibly got to heaven there would be A BIG DISCUSSION!
ReplyDeleteOk....The "little ditty" is disgusting. This starving time is all sad. People would turn on each other threatening to kill their friends and family. YUCK! People even dug up people who died three days ago and ate their bodies. Whether they ate it raw or cooked, both ways are....Ok. I won't gross you out anymore. Let's talk about the main part of this blog. This whole hideous "eat or be eaten" senario starts with a simple begining. John Smith started the colony of Jamestown but things got bad with indian attacks, laziness, starvation, and many other major issues. John Smith got injured in a gunpowder explosion and had to go back to England. When he came back he found the greusome things from the "little ditty" above. Now, lets backtrack a moment here. You probably have guessed that Jamestown failed, and England failed to colonize on North America. If I left it as it is, thats what would have happened. Thankfully, the indians came to the rescue! You might be thinking, why would the indians attacking them help them? Let me explain. John Smith was exploring with some men and was attacked by indians. He lost his men and was taken to Powhatan, the indian cheif. Powhatan ordered Smith to be executed. His head was placed on a rock and they prepared to beat him to death. Just then, Pocahontas came and "saved him". Are you wondering about the quotes? This whole ritual was a common way to make the Europeans become friends with them, so they would not kill them all. Anyway, Powhatan stopped the execution and made John Smith his adoptive son. When the starving time came, the indians (being the kind and loving relatives they were) gave the colonists food and other supplies for nothing. What an amazing story! Turns out, this was such a good story that Walt Disney (yes, the Mickey Mouse man) decided to create a full length animated movie about the story of Jamestown! Sorry, its name was changed to Pocahontas (for unknown purposes). As the pictures above show, Walt Disney probably thought "Hey, lets make John Smith have no beard and be 20 instead of 30 so he looks more attractive!" He also did modifications for Pocahontas. "Ah! I have it! Lets make Pocahontas 18 instead of 12 and photoshop her face so she looks beautiful!" Thanks a bunch Walt.(410)
ReplyDelete-Liam Staab
This work is entitled: "A Briefe Short Story About the Facts Over Fiction About Jamestown and the Myths Associated With It"
DeleteOkay, when I read about Jamestown's "Starving Time" in our history book, it did not seem as bad as it really was. I knew that everyone did not have any food, but I did not realize what extremes the people went to to stay alive! Honestly, I would much rather die from starvation than to have to eat... well, the things that they did to stay alive. I would probably end up dying anyway because of the things that I ate to keep myself alive, so it would be pointless for someone like me to even try to stay alive by eating those kinds of things. I feel bad for all of the people that were killed by other family members that were too selfish to think of anyone but themselves. So my point is that I learned a lot just from that one article. Now, I haven't actually seen the Disney Pocahontas movie, and I haven't exactly "picked a side" about whether or not the movie should have been made differently. I am not really bothered that the people in the movie don't look like what they really did look like, but it seems like (at least to me) something pretty easy to actually get right about the movie since nothing else is really accurate. I understand that the Disney movie isn't anything like what actually happened, and I think that they could have made it made it much more realistic. I do think it's okay to show little kids this movie because they will probably end up finding out what actually happened, and parents can just explain to their kids that this is not what actually happened. I do agree that a movie about what actually happened would probably be as good as what the people at Disney made up. :)(302)
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the two articles I have alot to think about. In the first article I didn't imagine them ever going to such extremes. Just like it said through it wasn't in our history book, or in most accounts about the starving time. When I currently thought about this time I thought about people struggling to find food. It didn't even cross my mind that people actually killed their own family members just so they could live. Not even mentioning digging up an Indians grave, or some other things they ate. I suppose it is their fault however, because gold was their main focus when they got there. They didn't really think about that they might actually have to eat while they were there!!!! Its funny how one little article can change your whole perspective on how you look at something in history. There was also a movie made about Pocahaontas by Walt Disney. I've grown up watching this movie when I was little, and so I can kinda relate on how little kids might think of this movie. At first I just thought about a pretty little princess dancing around the forest talking to trees, and then one day meeting the man of her dreams. Of course I never thought about it being about a real person. As I grew up I can say I thought that it all was true (except for the talking tree of course),and thats what she looked like. I would be fine about this movie if it wasn't suppose to be based on Pocahontas' life. Since it is suppose to be, and its not very accurate I would advise that children be told before seeing it that its not her real story. For the pictures go I just wish they made Captain John Smith look more like himself in real life.(307)
ReplyDeleteOkay, first off, there is a word in the first article that kind of disturbs me, #1 that the author used this.
ReplyDelete#2 that you would use the article! But in any matter, it still grabs my attention of what they were eating. God has given a will to survive in all humans, because of this, I do not think that under any other circumstances they would have done this. Trust me, while I was sick I watched survivorman because I couldn't reach the remote....Now on to the next story this sounds like a tale of a man who goes from rags to...ummm higher quality rags? I mean he didn't exactly get rich, but he definitely was better off than he was. Whatever the case, did anyone else realize that he used his "savage guide" as a human shield? I think that's horribe! I hope he was at least dead!
(152) P.S. Why would you NOT use his real face? I mean where can you find a more awesome mustache than his!?!?!
DeleteSorry again for the oversight Gilmore. I appreciate you bringing it to my attention. I updated the blog with a disclaimer.
DeleteGilmoe, they didnt give him the stache because its
Deleteawesomeness was to hard to animate
Very true J$. And that is what I thought had happened, but im just glad that you were able to see it Mr. Haston.
DeleteI think they got way to desperate for food, when it comes to the point when you want to eat your wife, I think, they should be putting their efforts into finding another source of food instead of butchering their fellow colonists, mainly because it is bad to keep losing members of your settlement. For the part about relationships…I think the relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith is so important because Smith was a leader and having a leader equals good, since Pocahontas “saved” his life. However, it does not really bother me that the Disney version changed their look. One reason is because I’d prefer not to see a naked little girl over a voluptuous woman. John Smith was good looking in the movie because they needed a good looking male character (all the rest where ugly). (136)
ReplyDeleteway to use big words J$!
DeleteOk, so these days we say we are “starving”. No, THESE people were actually STARVING. Becoming a cannibal to live? Gross! But it shows just how desperate they were. Can you imagine eating one of your family members just so you could live? That’s sad and nasty. Eww! And the crap!?! I would just die of starvation. EWWWWW! But think about it. This was their way of survival. I can see why this is not a commonly known fact, but it goes to the extreme of what living meant to these people. These two years were a literal definition of “Starving Time.” But seriously, we should think about what we are saying the next time we are say, “I’m so starving!” Go kill your family and eat them or eat someone’s poop. THEN you can say you were really starving. Thank you very much, Mr. Haston for sharing this wonderful piece of information. Now about a not as revolting subject. Disney likes to make things seem pretty and unrealistic. That’s their job as moviemakers. I mean their Disney after all, with the castles and magic. People think that there was romance between Pocahontas (or should I say Matoaka) and John Smith, when there was none at all. Admiration was there, but no romance. Because she was supposedly a Native American princess, Disney had to make a romantic story out of it, and of course the princess has to have a prince (aka John Smith). The truth about Pocahontas’ life is definitely not in the Disney movie. Most people don’t bother to look up the real story about anything so they just go by what movies say. I think this story got attention because it was about a positive relationship between a native and an Englishmen, when there was conflict between the natives and Europeans. Historically, the Disney characters don’t look anything like the 17th century pictures. I actually don’t care that the characters aren’t historically correct because they’ve already messed up the story and I like them that way. If you know the truth and what’s not, Pocahontas is a fun movie to watch. (364)
ReplyDeleteP.S. I was eating Reese’s ice cream that was like poop colored…while I was reading that…ewww
Oh and the best part…”I’d rather die tomorrow than live 100 years without knowing you.” –John Smith (: (: (: That’ll get ya THREE more dates, guys!!!(:
OR maybe even 3 more girls?!?! :)
Deletehartwig-lol (:
Deletegilmoe-yes, really
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWell first of all, the whole eating your fellow mates was disgusting! I can’t believe that a husband would kill their wife for food, but I guess if you still wanted to live and have nothing to eat, I would probably do the same thing too. Now about the Pocahontas movie. Well of course Disney made the movie seem so sweet and loving (besides Thomas killing Kocoum and the creppy, fat and ugly Ratcliff ). They LOVE to make things feel so magical and pretty. But you can’t blame them. That’s their job, to make kids believe in all that magic and junk. I still can’t believe people still believe that Pocahontas and John Smith had this wonderful relationship. NOT! Disney should have added some more actual events and should have used some more information to make this movie. It just makes me mad that people offered to help them with the movie, but NO we can do this all without your help. See how that turned out. I think this movie got people’s attention was because it was a Disney movie. Another one would probably be the relationship between the Native Americans and the Englishmen. I actually do not have a problem with how the characters looked. John Smith looked a whole lot better on the movie than what he did in real life.:) Pocahontas on the other hand looked bigger in her actual painting than want she did in the movie. But she looked really pretty in the painting and the movie too. (256)
ReplyDeleteThese pictures were quite hilarious to me, especially John Smith's. I love how his hair is like these golden locks of hair,while the real John Smith's hair is all weird. Anyway, reading about the starving time is just nasty. Ok listen, I know you're hungry but you don't eat your poop that's just gross. During the starving time from 1609-1610, people were so hungry they would eat their poop. There was one story of a husband killing his wife and he ate her! What a "good husband." All in all i think it was a little too much information, but there was also the story of Pochahontas. And yes Mr. Haston, I do have a problem with the fact that the characters not looking anything like the real people. I think that by portraying this film, Disney is telling little children about how history doesn't matter...life is just a fairytale with raccoons that braid hair. If Disney does not show children how we need to learn about history, then all they will do is dress up in little costumes saying" Look Mommy I'm a fairy princess." Disney was offered by historians to help them with the movie but they didn't want help. They just wanted to fool little innocent children. Well HA! to you Disney I can't be fooled. I think Disney should have a movie that portrays the real world, not some fantasy life that will NEVER happen, because I'm pretty sure trees don't talk. Anyway, I hope this shows how Disney is inconsiderate to history.(257)
ReplyDeleteP.S. Disney just got served!
I think the way that the colonist would eat each other is quite disgusting. You could be eating your own family! They would need to find a new food source of food or the colony would eventually die out. I personally don't really care about the Pocahontas movie not matching up with the true story. All Disney was doing was making entertainment for its viewers. They never wrote on the cover "Based on a true story". The pictures are different thought. I think that they should have at least made them look close and not completely different. There should have been a movie that was more accurate, but I don't see a problem with the one they made.(118)
ReplyDeletelook at who played John Smith http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Mel_Gibson
ReplyDeleteThis was disgusting. I could have lived a full and happy life never knowing this. I don't think our history book really captures the full effect of the Starving Time. To be so desperate to have to eat a person and other gross stuff is horrible. Personally, I don't care if I'm starving and about to die I would never eat another human being. Gross. On a less controversial note, I honestly don't have a problem with the Walt Disney movie Pocahontas. This may come as a shock to people, but it's a DISNEY movie of course the main character has to look like "Indian Barbie" and fall in love. That's the whole point of Disney movies. Walt Disney did not make this historically accurate, but it was a cute movie to watch as a child. I loved it when I was younger. I have absolutely no problem with Disney changing the story or Pocahontas and Smith's looks for younger viewers.
ReplyDelete[161]
It is sad how the people actually ate the dead people. It isn’t right to do wrong even when you are in slavery. I think it is wrong how John Smith killed his master to get away. Most of the things they struggled with then we struggle with today. I had to have been harder for them because they had less technology and they were new to the land. That story on the Starving Time was really sad. I wish that the Natives would have helped then because they were new. I don’t believe all the details in the story John Smith wrote. There were a whole lot of details he could have switched up to make himself look better. I do believe he was a proud man. I love the mustache and beard John Smith had in real life and wish they had that in the movie. On the other hand Pocahontas was really ugly. I can’t believe Disney changed it that much. (165)
ReplyDeleteIn the movie John Smith said the most important pick up line ever. After reading the article on survival, this is how I put it: "I would rather die than to eat people and poop.” I think it is sick to even think of that. The pictures of John Smith and Pocahontas are very different. John Smith was not the amazingly handsome man that was just so awesome he is better than any boy band named "One Direction." He was not a blond, had a beard, and so much more. Pocahontas, in the movie, is seen to be a beautiful young woman. In real life Pocahontas was not quite so attractive and not able to do all the things she did in the movie like speak English. There are a lot of differences between the real picture and the fake one for both characters. (144)
ReplyDeleteIt’s funny to me that John Smith is portrayed as a prince with flowing blond hair when in reality he was an old guy with a beard. Pocahontas looks like Barbie Indian addition. The movie is a mockery of the Indian nation and disgraces Pocahontas name. The eating of humans and there poo is just plain nasty. If you’re starving and you can’t find real food eat bugs. I think it’s wrong that this is not included in textbooks because it makes me wonder how much more they left out. I think Disney should publicly apologize to the Native Americans for mocking their culture. Imagine if Disney decides to make a movie about George Washington. They make him fall in love with a British general’s daughter and there love pushes the rebel army to fight. It would enrage America that’s how the Indians feel. (144)
ReplyDeleteEW! That starving time business is gross! I understand, if you're hungry, you're hungry. But there is no way I could ever bring myself to eat my family! Or anyone, for that matter. Honestly, I'd rather just die from starvation than feast on my relatives. Anyway, moving on to Pocahontas. Can you really blame Disney for wanting to make yet another enchanting love story? I mean, even the name Pocahontas sounds magical (John Smith, not so much, but you get the point). Based on those pictures, can you blame Disney for wanting to improve their image a bit? I glanced at them quickly at first and I thought John Smith was Santa Claus and Pocahontas was a man. I understand why it may make people mad, the way Disney pretty much completely deformed the already tragic, drama-filled story. But, unless you're actually a Native American and from Pocahontas's tribe, why are you so angry about it? It in no was effects you or your life if Pocahontas saved John because of love or tradition. If you're THAT enraged about it, maybe you should go talk to Grandmother Willow and sort things out for yourself. (196)
ReplyDelete*in no way effects***
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I think it is horrible what happened during that winter. It made me want to puke when I read that. The fact that there was so much cannibalism and, um..., people eating other stuff, shocked me and gave me the creeps. I just can't believe that guy did that to his wife! Seriously! What happened to forever?! I guess the women back then were viewed by the men as only good for having kids, cleaning, and cooking, but still, come on! Ok, now that I've finished going off on that dude, I think I can kind of see why Disney made the characters look nothing like the actual people. MONEY. Think about it, you normally don't want to go to the movies to watch a love story with two butt-ugly people, do you? Of course it wasn't really a love story in the first place, but I'll save that for Monday. It captures people's attention pretty well, especially little girls who are about 5-9 or 10 years old. It would probably scare the little kids if Disney used what John Smith and Pocahontas actually looked like in the movie. (193)
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh I just looked up Pocahontas 2, and John Rolfe is in it! we should watch it in class, mr. haston... :)
ReplyDeleteIf I had never read the first story I would have never realized that the Colonists of Jamestown ate their dead. I guess history books try to not tell us about the gruesome things in our nation’s history. If 440 of your friends die you would go mad, and if you didn’t have anything else to eat your only choice would be the dead, so I could see why the colonists would eat the dead. First thing I have to say about Smith is that he was a boss; he fought in a war, got captured and escaped by killing his master, and rejoined the fight. I can’t think of any other person that had done that. After the discussion in class I still wonder about the authenticity of this story. The Pocahontas myth will be like the Lost Colony of Roanoke, no one will know the answer. I also think it’s a big deal that Disney got the Pocahontas and John Smith characters all messed up.(167
ReplyDeleteTalk about cannibals! The article on the "starvation period" definetly made me lose my apetite. That was disgusting! It shows how humans will go to all costs to benefit themselves. The man that killed his wife to eat her during her sleep shows how selfish people were, instead of having the mindset that God will provide.I cant't even imagine eating those things! it makes me grateful for where I am. And no, I do not get upset by the characters not looking exactly like the real humans. To go back to our discussion in class last week, or more like the debate, Disney did NOT make this movie to be historically accurate! Therefore, they made the characters attractive so people would want to see the movie. Personally, I think if they would have made the characters look like the real people, it would have given kids nightmares because they weren't the prettiest people in the world. The point of the movie was not to give children a great, accurate historical view on this story, but to entertain them with a fascinating love story on two groups of people that overlook their differences and learn to accept others things and ways. (199)
ReplyDeleteThe winter of 1609 to 1610 must have been hard for the colonist to even consider eating those two items. The man that ate his wife is kind of nasty, and to leave only her head is even weirder. The other article said that the colonists hated John Smith, unlike the movie. That article also made John Smith look good in a way. The Pocahontas movie was way off on looks and the story line. John Smith was supposed to have a mustache and beard. Pocahontas was bald and was 11 to 12 years old. Personally I think Disney made it this way to get viewers. (106)
ReplyDeleteOkay…so about the Starving Time. Like everyone else I find that quite NASTY and GROSS! I’m with everyone else that said they would die rather than eating other people and you no what:) (I really don’t want to say it cuz its just ewwww) I would go like jump in the ocean and drown myself. The next time I or someone else says they’re “starving” I’m gonna think of this. (Gee thanks Mr. H! I’m permanently scarred) But it is something to think about. These people were pretty desperate. I just wonder why they had such a strong will to survive. If I were there I would be like “Forget this colonizing junk.” I guess they were just determined. And it’s really sad how they had to dig up bodies and kill people. (and then it says they salted them???? Really????) Okay off to Pocahontas. I don’t have a problem with Disney making this movie. Even though it is inaccurate like Jared said, Disney didn’t say “Based on a TRUE story.” They had to make the animated characters look good. If they made them look the same as in real life I know I most likely wouldn’t want to watch that movie. Like I said in class, it’s like Columbus. They make all of those kid-friendly videos and stories about Columbus and make him look like “the hero that discovered America, and he’s why we’re here today.” This movie is the same way. They show it as two different people from two different worlds who like each other despite the conflict between their people. And then Pocahontas saves her love. With these two topics I guess we just have to trust that you will eventually learn the truth. I’m sure many other things fall under this too. (297)
ReplyDelete~1DirectionNiall4eve:)~
PS My profile pic is of the new 1D single LWWY (live while we're young!) ITS AMAZING!!! GO 1D!! and Niall has a solo too!!