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Was she really the one then closest to Powhatan’s heart, and did he believe that Smith would know this from his days of captivity and thus recognize her presence as a white flag? Or was she, as the daughter of a commoner and without claims to political power, among the children he could most afford to lose, and thus the one whose safety he chose to risk? Or did he as a shrewd statesmen simply choose the daughter in whose abilities he had most confidence?

Explanation and Analysis:

In this passage, Townsend, who has just described Pocahontas’s first visit to Jamestown to negotiate the release of several Indian hostages, questions why Pocahontas was sent to the colony. Though cultural myth asserts that Pocahontas was Powha...

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