More tensions with the natives
In 1616 the Chickahominy tribe, which had previously agreed to pay tribute to the colonists in the form of bushels of corn as part of the peace treaty between them, discontinued their tribute and joined the Powhatan confederacy. Two years later Powhatan died and his younger brother, Opechancanough, became the leader of the confederacy, bringing with him a virulent anti-English policy. The new chief had long argued for the destruction of the English settlements and the permanent expulsion of the intruders from Virginia, and the expanding tobacco plantations gave his arguments more weight with the warriors of the native tribes.
Opechancanough used a campaign of deceit to bring his warriors into close daily contact with the settlements at Martin’s Hundred and elsewhere. The warriors in many cases pretended to become Christianized, and desirous of adopting the ways of the whites, living in the towns and hamlets rather than in those of their tribes along the tributaries of the James. While very few natives had firearms, due to both colonial policy and a perennial shortage of gunpowder, they were equipped with iron weapons which they traded for with the colonists, including tomahawks and knives, as well as heavy war clubs. They would soon use them.