The Massacre of the Settlers

Virginia Indians murder men, women, and children in a surprise attack that took place in the English colony on March 22, 1622. This fanciful image, created by the renowned de Bry engraving and publishing company in Frankfurt, Germany, depicts Jamestown (seen in the background), as a European-style moated and fortified village. In fact, the attacks took place on plantations along the James that were some distance from Jamestown. The Virginia Company of London issued an official report written by Edward Waterhouse that recounted the event in which 347 colonists, or at least a quarter of Virginia's English population, were killed. The report stated that the colonists had been executed with the purpose of their "utter extirpation." The Indians, according to Waterhouse, were "beasts," "without remorse or pitty," a "Viperous brood" of "hell-hounds" and "wicked Infidels" who "despised Gods great mercies."