Name: __________________
Date: __________________
Pocahontas and John Smith DBQ
Directions: Using the primary and secondary source material, analyze the evidence to answer the
essential question in the assertion by providing your opinion on the historical event using
evidence from the documents to support your answer.
Essential Question – Did Pocahontas save John Smith’s life by protecting him from her tribe?
John Smith Accounts (Source 1.1 and Source 1.2)
1. What are the different facts in Smith’s two accounts of his captivity in December of 1607?
A True Relation (Source 1.1)
2. Why would Smith add on to his earlier story?
General History (Source 1.2)
Name: __________________
Date: __________________
Comparing John Smith Accounts and Historian Interpretations
Assuming that the basic facts (though not necessarily the interpretation of the facts) in Smith’s
latest account (General History Source 1.2) are true, record below a “play-by-play” description
of the facts in the passage.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
1. Which historians believe that the basic sequence above occurred? Describe what they
think the facts mean:
a) Historian ____________________ believes….
b) Historian ____________________ believes….
2. Which historians believe that the basic sequence above did not occur? Describe what they
think the facts mean:
c) Historian ____________________ believes….
d) Historian ____________________ believes….