Encouraging John Smith

Dear Mr. John Smith,
As a citizen of the new world, I have come back in time to send you a word of encouragement. You, sir, are seen in the future as a great leader of the colonists in Virginia. Your vision for the future of this great land has come to pass. The completion of your duties as an explorer has inspired future explorers. As an explorer, you were obligated to discover new land, map and document that land, establish a trustful relationship with the natives, establish trade and document the natives, seek profit for your home country, and promote settlement in the new land.


You fulfilled your obligations in discovering, mapping, and documenting the new world. There is little question that your solid example of exploration led to the further exploration beyond the English colonies. Your descriptions of the new world, known today as the United States of America, is vivid enough to picture hundreds of years later, and have served as a model by which future explorers have tried to mimic. Men you will never meet will match your bravery and discover that this land is larger than you can imagine. As every explorer should, you opened the door for future generations to follow in your footsteps.


Though you did establish trust with the natives and open a trade with them, you did not do enough to document their community, love, and friendship. You spoke about their actions, their homes, and their traditions, but you neglected to gain any understanding of them as a people or to share that understanding with the settlers and England. Just as Columbus failed them by allowing them to be enslaved, you failed them as well by not convincing your fellow countrymen to see them as something more than savages. If you could see what your countrymen have done to my ancestors because of fear of the native Indians, you would have done more to ensure that they were understood as a nation. You would have made sure they were seen as fellow countrymen. Your trade with them for food and furs was a good start, but when farms were established by settlers and hunting was mastered, native trade was no longer necessary. Therefore, in the eyes of your countrymen, the native Indians were no longer welcome. They were forced off their land, slaughtered, and have disappeared into history. You, sir, have failed on this point.


Your love for your country, England, has not escaped the future generations studying your legacy. You adequately supplied your crown with gold and goods from the new world. Unfortunately, the love for these things and other goods from the new country increased from gold and trade to taxing and oppressing the citizens of the new world until a revolt occurred. From this revolt, freedom from England was obtained, and a new country was formed. You were smart Mr. Smith, for not making gold your main goal of exploration.


You promoted the settlement of the new world. Your love for New England seemed to parallel your love for England, if not outweigh it, and your desire for greater settlement in that colony is observed through your writing. Many people did come to settle there, farms were plentiful, and apprentices were taken and trained. This concept helped settlements grow and flourish. Your vision of the future of New England has come to pass not only for New England, but also for all of what is now considered to be the greatest country on Earth.


As an explorer, you had to fulfill certain obligations to your country, to your profession, and to your heart. Though I do not think you did enough to understand and help others understand the native Indians, you did fulfill every other obligation. As you prepare for your next voyage, sir, take this encouragement from someone who will go where you have already been, and know that as an explorer, you made all the difference.


Sincerely,


Jeanette Schaaf