The natives and the colonists came into increasingly irreconcilable conflicts as the land-hungry export of crops , tobacco ( which had been first developed by John Rolfe ) , became the cash crop of the colony . The relationship became even more strained as ever-increasing numbers of Europeans arrived and began establishing " hundreds " and plantations along the navigable rivers . Beginning with the Indian massacre of 1622 , in which his forces killed many settlers , Chief Opechancanough abandoned diplomacy with the English colonists as a means of settling conflicts and tried to force them to abandon the region altogether . On March 22 , 1622 , approximately a third of the settlers in Virginia were killed by Powhatan forces during a series of coordinated attacks along both shores of the James River , extending from Newport News Point , near the mouth of the river , all the way to Falling Creek , near the Fall Line at the head of navigation . The colony eventually rebounded , however , and later they killed hundreds of natives in retaliation , including many warriors poisoned by Dr. John Potts at Jamestown
Indian massacre of 1622
Indian massacre of 1622
Opchanacanough