22nd March 1622: The Indian Massacre of 1622 occurred in the English colony of Jamestown, Virginia

The surprise attack was launched against English settlers by the the Powhatan Confederacy, led by Chief Opechancanough. The assault was carefully planned and coordinated, with multiple tribes participating in simultaneous raids on English settlements along the James River.

The attack was launched in response to the expansion of English settlements and plantations into Powhatan territory, and resentment at unfair trade practices and cultural differences. Prior to the massacre there were several violent incidents and provocations on both sides had escalated into the First Anglo-Powhatan War and, although this was followed by a few years known as the Peace of Pocahontas, tensions and hostilities again began to build from 1620.

Opechancanough, chief of the Powhatan Confederacy, launched the attack 22 March, 1622. Catching the colonists unaware and unprepared, 347 out of approximately 1,250 English colonists were killed, including men, women, and children.

With the colony’s population greatly reduced, efforts to expand and develop the settlement were severely hampered. Hundreds more died in the following months from malnutrition, starvation, and disease due to the destruction of their crops.

The massacre had far-reaching consequences for relations between English colonists and the Powhatan tribes. It marked a turning point in the conflict between the two groups, leading to increased hostilities over subsequent decades that erupted into further full-scale wars that eventually led to the decline of the once-powerful Powhatan.