The American Dream of Captain John Smith
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 16309978 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Karen Ordahl Kupperman (corresponding author), J A Leo Lemay, John Smith (0000-0002-0280-629X) |
| Year | 1992 |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 495 |
| Publication date | 1992-09-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The New England Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0028-4866 • E-ISSN: 1937-2213 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/366333 |
| OpenAlex | W2120995433 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
Here is a study of character, writings, and ideals of Captain John Smith, popularly recognized as greatest English explorer and colonizer of his time - perhaps of all time. Reading closely facts of Smith's life and, especially, Smith's own words, J. A. Leo Lemay offers fullest appreciation to date of Smith's contributions to American colonization and culture. The result is a new interpretation and appreciation of man who, more than any other of his time, saw potential of America for creating a new society unencumbered by feudal vestiges of Old World. Smith fulfilled heroic roles of both European Renaissance and American frontier. Before sailing for Jamestown in 1607, he fought in two major European theatres of war, finally serving as captain of a Christian cavalry company in Balkans fighting against Turks. In America, Smith became early Virginia's most famous and feared Indian fighter. Powhatan himself testified that if a twig but breake every one cryeth there commeth Captaine Smith. According to Lemay, Smith was also one of 17th century's greatest political and social egalitarians and visionaries. His American Dream prefigured and contributed to ideals that Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Joel Barlow, James Madison, and other founders of American republic built into their aspirations for a new nation and new society. The author describes Smith as an explorer whose skill was unmatched in his time. His maps of Chesapeake Bay area and New England coast provided essential information for colonization of Virginia, Maryland, Plymouth, and Massachusetts Bay colonies and remained most reliable guides to those areas until nearly end of century. Lemay also shows Smith to have been a skilled diplomat and trader who treated Indians fairly and with respect. He was, in author's words, the best friend among whites that Indians ever has as governor in early Virginia. He sympathized with Indians' situation and appreciated their point of view, although he conceded that in end progress would prevail
Art · Art history · Biology · Dream · Environmental ethics · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Mormonism, Religion, and History · Neuroscience · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.22 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1999 - 2021 (23) |
| Highly cited | No |