John Rolfe (l. 1585-1622 CE) was an English merchant and colonist of Jamestown best known as the husband of Pocahontas (l. c. 1596-1617 CE). He is also known, however, for his successful cultivation of tobacco in Virginia which established the crop as the most lucrative export of the early English colonies of North America.
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Definition
Timeline
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1585 - 1622Life of merchant, colonist, and tobacco farmer John Rolfe.
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1609John Rolfe is shipwrecked on Bermuda en route to Jamestown.
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c. 1609John Rolfe married to Sarah Hacker who dies in Bermuda.
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1610 - 1612John Rolfe experiments with, plants, and harvests a successful tobacco crop at Jamestown.
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1611 - 1619John Rolfe's tobacco blend becomes lucrative cash crop; Jamestown investors become rich.
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1614John Rolfe marries Pocahontas; union ends the First Powhatan War.
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1614 - 1622Peace of Pocahontas between English colonists and Powhatans; established by the marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe.
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1616John Rolfe and family travel to England on promotional tour for Jamestown.
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1617Death of Pocahontas in England; John Rolfe returns to Jamestown.
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1619John Rolfe marries his third wife, Jane Pierce.
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1622Death of John Rolfe, most likely in Indian Massacre of 1622.
