The Poisoning: A War Crime in Early Virginia and the Origins of English America

In May 1623, in the midst of the second war between Powhatans and English on the shores around Chesapeake Bay, a group of colonial soldiers traveled to Pamunkey territory to rescue a dozen captives. After securing their release, and under the pretense of negotiating an end to the war, the English distributed poison to 200 Indigenous peoples. This act, unprecedented in the annals of encounters between English and others, followed what the colonizers had called a “barbarous massacre” carried out by the Powhatans a year earlier. These actions represented an enormous increase in the scale of violence between Natives and newcomers in eastern North America, setting the stage for even deadlier wars to come in the contest to control the continent’s Atlantic coast. But even amidst the horrors of bloody conflicts, the poisoning stood out since it violated what Europeans, including the English, understood as acceptable under the laws of war. Analyzing this war crime provides new insights into our understanding of the formative era of colonization in North America.

This is the Ritchie Distinguished Fellow Lecture, given by Peter Mancall, distinguished professor of history at USC.