April 1614
Policy and racial inequalitySupplement
Amonute / Pocahontas marries John Rolfe after captivity
Virginia; Powhatan peoples
Amonute, also known as Pocahontas and Matoaka, married John Rolfe after English colonists had held her captive since 1613. Her baptism and marriage served colonial diplomacy and a temporary peace between the English and Powhatan peoples.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
Her own account of consent and motives does not survive. Presenting the marriage simply as a romance erases captivity and unequal power; her motives cannot be stated with certainty.