Pocahontas II: Journey To A New World - Comparisons To Real Life Events

Comparisons To Real Life Events

Pocahontas did travel to England in 1616, although at the time of her journey she had already been baptized and taken the Christian name Rebecca. Furthermore, she was already married to John Rolfe at the time, as well as the mother of his son, Thomas. She traveled to England accompanied by Rolfe, her son, Uttamatomakin, and a retinue of Native American women. While in the film she appears to have stayed in England for about a week or two, she actually remained in England until her death in March 1617. John Rolfe was certainly in love with her, as expressed in letters he wrote, but it is unknown whether Pocahontas loved him in return, or if she simply saw their marriage as a political alliance. The return voyage was halted before the ship made it to open sea as Pocahontas was too ill for them to continue; she died soon after and was buried at Gravesend, Kent on the Thames. Her son, Thomas, was also very sick but managed to survive and remained in London while his father continued on to Virginia. Rolfe died before he saw his son again.

In real life, Ratcliffe died in 1609, three years before Pocahontas came to England. She did encounter John Smith during her stay, but was angry with him for betraying the kin relationship that her father had established with him.

During the "What A Day In London" sequence, a character appears who is evidently intended to be William Shakespeare, and is shown getting the idea for the line "to be, or not to be", from his play Hamlet. In reality, Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, preceding Pocahontas' arrival in London, on June 12, 1616, by two months.