Captain Samuel Argall Character Analysis

A military veteran and naval captain who was a favorite of Lord De La Warr and who served as deputy governor of Virginia under him, having been brought over from England in 1610 to try to find a way to stop relations between the Jamestown colonists and the surrounding tribes from deteriorating further than they already had. Argall secured the favor of the Virginia Company’s wealthy backers by employing the trade of hostages and captives as a method of negotiating with the Powhatan tribes. Argall also played an instrumental role in capturing Pocahontas and bringing her to Jamestown as a valuable hostage. After Pocahontas’s conversion to Christianity and her marriage to John Rolfe, Argall accompanied John Rolfe and Pocahontas to England. After using the trip to spread the word about the Virginia Company’s “success” in the New World, Argall was appointed Governor of Virginia. As governor, he was tasked with managing a floundering colony as relations with the surrounding tribes deteriorated.