Editing John Smith (explorer) (section)

===Credibility as an author===
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[[File:Adventures of Captain John Smith in Virginia 1624.jpg|thumb|1624 John Smith's ''The Generall Historie of Virginia'']]
[[File:The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles by Captain John Smith.jpg|thumb|''[[The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles]]'' by Capt. John Smith, 1624]] 
[[File:John Smith 1624 map of Bermuda with Forts 01.jpg|thumb|Smith's 1624 map of the Somers Isles (Bermuda) showing [[St. George's, Bermuda|St. George's Town]] and related fortifications, including the [[Castle Islands Fortifications, Bermuda|Castle Islands Fortifications]]]]
Many critics judge Smith's character and credibility as an author based solely on his description of Pocahontas saving his life from the hand of Powhatan. Most of the scepticism results from the differences between his narratives. His earliest text is ''A True Relation of Virginia'', submitted for publication in 1608, the year after his experiences in Jamestown. The second was ''[[The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles]]'', which was published in 1624. The publication of letters, journals, and pamphlets from the colonists was regulated by the companies that sponsored the voyage, in that the communications must go "directly to the company" because no one was to "write any letter of anything that may discourage others". Smith violated this regulation by first publishing ''A True Relation'' as an unknown author.{{sfn|Lemay|1991|p=40}} Leo Lemay theorizes that the editor of ''The Generall Historie'' might have cut out "references to the Indians' hostility, to bickering among the leaders of Virginia Company, and to the early supposed mutiny" of Smith on the voyage to Virginia.{{sfn|Lemay|1991|p=41}}

The Pocahontas episode is subject to the most scrutiny by critics, for it is missing from ''A True Relation'' but it does appear in ''The Generall Historie''. According to Lemay, important evidence of Smith's credibility is the fact that "no one in Smith's day ever expressed doubt" about the story's veracity, and many people who would have known the truth "were in London in 1616 when Smith publicised the story in a letter to the queen", including Pocahontas herself.{{sfn|Lemay|1991|p=51}}

Smith focuses heavily on Indians in all of his works concerning the New World. His relationship with the Powhatan tribe was an important factor in preserving the Jamestown colony from sharing the presumed fate of the [[Roanoke Colony]].

{{Blockquote |text = Realizing that the very existence of the colony depended on peace, he never thought of trying to exterminate the natives. Only after his departure were there bitter wars and massacres, the natural results of a more hostile policy. In his writings, Smith reveals the attitudes behind his actions. |source = William Randel<ref>{{cite journal|last=Randel |first=William |title=Captain John Smith's Attitudes toward the Indians |journal=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography |volume=1939 |pages=218–229 [219]}}</ref>}}