Quiz for Thinking Like a Historian: Who Was Pocahontas?

Question

1. What does John Smith suggest in source 1 about why Powhaten allowed him to live?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is d. In source 1, John Smith assumes that Powhaten allowed him to live because Pocahontas showed that she did not want him to die. Smith believed that Pocahontas’s feelings for him changed her father’s mind.
Incorrect. The answer is d. In source 1, John Smith assumes that Powhaten allowed him to live because Pocahontas showed that she did not want him to die. Smith believed that Pocahontas’s feelings for him changed her father’s mind.

Question

2. What does source 2 suggest about the power relations that existed among Powhaten’s people?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. The engraving depicts Powhaten as a man much larger than most of the other people surrounding him in order to illustrate his power over them.
Incorrect. The answer is c. The engraving depicts Powhaten as a man much larger than most of the other people surrounding him in order to illustrate his power over them.

Question

3. On which of the following bases does John Rolfe justify his 1614 marriage to Pocahontas in source 4?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. John Rolfe justifies his marriage to Pocahontas on the basis that they loved one another and that their love made it possible for him to teach her “the knowledge of God.”
Incorrect. The answer is c. John Rolfe justifies his marriage to Pocahontas on the basis that they loved one another and that their love made it possible for him to teach her “the knowledge of God.”

Question

4. What message do you think Simon Van De Pass intended to convey through his 1616 portrait of Pocahontas (source 5)?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is a. Van De Pass’s portrait underlines Pocahontas’s Indian-ness through her complexion and by listing her Native American names. It also emphasizes her assimilation to English culture by depicting her in English clothing and referring to her as Rebecca.
Incorrect. The answer is a. Van De Pass’s portrait underlines Pocahontas’s Indian-ness through her complexion and by listing her Native American names. It also emphasizes her assimilation to English culture by depicting her in English clothing and referring to her as Rebecca.

Question

5. Which of the following describes Pocahontas’s feelings in her conversation with John Smith in source 6?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct. The answer is c. John Smith’s recounting of his alleged conversation with Pocahontas in England in 1616 suggests that she regarded him with a great deal of ambivalence, remembering him as a father figure but also recognizing that, as an Englishman, he was probably untrustworthy.
Incorrect. The answer is c. John Smith’s recounting of his alleged conversation with Pocahontas in England in 1616 suggests that she regarded him with a great deal of ambivalence, remembering him as a father figure but also recognizing that, as an Englishman, he was probably untrustworthy.