by Rachel Jonitis

Created on: October 05, 2010

Throughout history, there have been many battles, skirmishes, and massacres involving various Native Tribes and the early settlers all over what was to become known as America. While the first interactions between our First Nations and the Europeans were more often friendly then not, rising tension over land and misunderstandings of culture often lead to violence between the “savages” and the “civilized” settlers. One of the first documented eruptions of violence, although it can’t necessarily be considered a battle, was a skirmish that lead to the death of Juan Ponce de Leon, the first Spanish explorer to arrive in what is now Florida and he sailed with Christopher Columbus on his second trip to the New World. In 1521, Juan Ponce de Leon and 200 men harbored on the southwest coast of Florida, near Caloosahatchee River, or what is now Charlotte Harbor. A fleet of 80 Calusa canoes attacked the ship that was attempting to land, and after fighting throughout the majority of the day, Juan Ponce de Leon was fatally injured by a poisoned arrow and the colonists surrendered.

The next notable Battle, which inevitably turned into a full out war was the Anglo-Powhatan Wars that began in 1608 when the relationship between the colonists at Jamestown and the tribes of the Powhatan Paramount Chiefdom began to deteriorate. The local tribes had had a bad harvest, and the colonists were taking more than their share of food, while John Smith was attempting to make trade agreements with rival tribes in Chesapeake Bay. In the summer of 1609, John Smith began attempting to build more forts on native territory, and when land could not be bought it was taken by force, something that was not at all well received by the natives. Smith was soon thereafter injured in a gunpowder explosion and sent back to England, and from then forward the colonists began to starve.

In November, the Powhatans ambushed and killed Captain John Ratcliffe while he was at Orapax intending to buy corn. Francis West (Deputy Governor of Virginia) then sailed to the Patowomecks to attempt to buy some corn, but instead beheaded two of them and began sailing directly for England. From this point forth the colonists were unable to trade with the natives and thus were beginning to starve, and when Sir Thomas Gates arrived, he evacuated Jamestown. As luck would have it, they met Lord de la Warr on their second day of sailing and de la Warr commanded that they return to Jamestown with

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