When the English started to colonize North America in the 17th century, individuals like John Smith and John Rolfe became critical to their success. John Smith was one of the individuals who helped to establish the first permanent English settlement in Jamestown (1607). Smith helped to establish sanitation systems and eased tensions between the colonists and the Powhatan Confederacy.
John Rolfe was critically important as well. This is due to the fact that he helped to teach colonists how to harvest tobacco, a popular cash crop that would help the Jamestown colony to become extremely profitable.
