King Philips War

May 26, 1637 was a fateful day in the history of America. The actions of Major John Mason and his Puritan men set a precedent for the next two hundred years of European and Indian relations. On that clear May night near the Mystic River of New England, hundreds of Pequot Indians were killed by the Europeans and their allies, most of the victims being the elderly, women, and children. This massacre was a massive turning point in the Pequot War, effectively ruining the tribe. Already weakened by disease and by competing native tribes, the Pequot were quickly routed and by September 21, 1638 the war ended with the Treaty of Hartford. The treaty

Butler, J. (2007). . In New Worl Faiths: Religion in Colonial America. [ebrary book]. Retrieved from http://lrps>wgu.edu/provision/17908228

During the five years from 1675 to 1680, there were two significant conflicts within the English colonies: Bacon's Rebellion and King Philip's War. These are two pivotal events in early American history, embodying the complexities of colonial expansion and indigenous resistance. Despite occurring in different regions and contexts, these conflicts share fundamental similarities while showcasing distinct dynamics and outcomes. By delving into primary sources, we can uncover the intricate parallels and contrasts between these two tumultuous chapters in colonial America. First, let us review the origins and catalysts of both events, starting with Bacon's Rebellion.

The social interactions that the New England and Chesapeake colonies had between Indians and their own people were very different due to alternate motives. Documents A and H each show the steps taken in order to achieve social unity. It is obvious that the two colonies didn’t have the best relationship with the Indians, but both colonies had different approaches when it came to mending relationships. Bacon’s Rebellion was a revolt against Governor Berkeley of Virginia in 1676 that started due to Berkeley's resistance of not fighting against the Indians because of the fur trade. This showed that the Chesapeake colony would rather take a better economy as opposed to stable social interactions,

The 16th century began with the migration of the Puritans to New England and the Catholics to the Spanish Southwest. Both of these religions influenced the development of their colonial societies differently. The religions influenced their societies differently because the Puritans from New England were stricter, favored independence, and did not believe in a hierarchy unlike the Catholics from the Spanish Southwest.

Metacom’s father, Massasoit, was a grand sachem of the Wampanoag, who stressed the importance of a peaceful relationship between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims. After meeting with the colonists at Plymouth, Massasoit was sure that the English would be excellent trading partners, resulting in peace accords. The English and Indians traded, and the Indians also taught the English how to

A few years before the tragedy, the two sons of Massasoit, a Wampanoag chief, were given English names. Metacomet's brother Wamsutta had his name changed to Alexander, and Metacomet's was changed to Philip which soon was recognized as King Philip to the English people. When their father passed away, they both shared the power. Unfortunately, Alexander died suddenly after being arrested by the English due to their suspicions about the chief having plans for a war against the colonists. As a result, King Philip

The New England colonies developed rapidly, largely due to the influence of the Puritans. The Puritans came to the new world seeking religious freedom and helped found most of the colonies in the New England region. The Puritans wanted a United government that will later become the basis for the Unites States, they believed that the overall well being of the people was more important than the well being of the few, and the Puritans believed that religion, church, and community were important aspects of the people’s lives. The Puritans’ religion allowed them to prosper in the political, economical, and social development of the New England Colonies in the 1630-1660’s.

Lepore’s chief criticism of the story was that Philbrick based his account of King Philip’s War solely on Benjamin Church’s unreliable narrative. She called his narrative unreliable because Church’s son wrote it well after the war. However, I believe that although Philbrick used Church as a major source, there were several other sources he used to gather information.

Soon after their arrival, the Colonists found themselves at war with these Native Tribes in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the First Indian War. As Jill Lepore examines in her work, the malleability of the memory of the conflict popularly known as King Phillip’s War through American history. As the British Colonies developed into the United States of America, through revolution and independence, King Phillip’s War took on new meanings at different times in the development on an American Identity. Arriving in the New World the British Colonists were quickly met with a complexing issue; where do the Native Algonquin Speaking groups fit into our plans for a Utopia? Instead of allowing for religious freedom, the same religious freedom the Colonists were not afforded in England, the Colonists invested heavily in the conversion of the Indians of Massachusetts.

The Indian-White relationship had long been breaking down, due to a developing question between the pioneers and the Indians. One of the reasons of this doubt was that the pilgrims were exploiting the positive attitude of the Indians. The King Phillip's war was a contention between the Native Americans and the pilgrims. This contention was the aftereffect of numerous abuses toward the Indians executed by the homesteader. The King Phillip's war was an advocated war. Numerous elements added to the flare-up of this war, for instance numerous Indians felt that they did great to the pioneers and that the settlers were the first doing incorrectly. Another variable was that Englishmen were exploiting the Indians when arranging land; the pioneers were

The relationship between the English and the Native Americans in 1600 to 1700 is one of the most fluctuating and the most profound relationships in American history. On the one side of the picture, the harmony between Wampanoag and Puritans even inspires them to celebrate “first Thanksgiving”; while, by contrast, the conflicts between the Pequots and the English urge them to antagonize each other, and even wage a war. In addition, the mystery of why the European settlers, including English, become the dominant power in American world, instead of the indigenous people, or Indians, can be solved from the examination of the relationship. In a variety of ways, the relationship drastically alters how people think about and relate to the aborigines. Politically, the relationship changes to establish the supremacy of the English; the English intends to obtain the land and rules over it. Socially, the relationship changes to present the majority of the English settlers; the dominating population is mostly the English settlers. Economically, the relationship changes to obtain the benefit of the English settlers; they gain profit from the massive resource in America. Therefore, the relationship does, in fact, change to foreshadow the discordance of the two groups of people.

Although white European settlers and the native Indians had existed moderately peaceful for around 40 years pressures rose in the mid-seventh century. Conflict arose due to decline in Indian territories, population, and their cultural integrity. These differences ultimately lead to conflicts in which collectively became known as King Philip’s War. What types of complaints did the Indians have against the settlers? How were the Indians expected to survive if the settlers kept taking their land? The primary sources in this collection of source documents touch upon on what each group (Indian or white settlers) did to survive: an excerpt from a narrative written by John Easton, a second hand account written by Thomas Church, a report written to the English leaders by Edward Randolph, a petition written by an Indian named William Nahton, and an excerpt of an account from a book written by Mary Rowlandson. These documents illustrate the main causes that sparked the war between the Native Indians and the white English settlers, narratives written by both sides to find peaceful solutions, and actual accounts of people who survived the conflict. The second hand account written about Benjamin Church’s meeting with the Indian group known as the Sakonnet Indians displays that the Indians knew their only chance of survival was to fight while the report written to English leaders by Randolph suggest that the settlers who viewed the Indians as uncivilized had ultimately forced the Indians

The Pequot War is a classic example of the tension that existed between the Indians and the colonists in early America. Zinn chooses to illustrate the Indians as completely innocent and harmless, placing the blame on the Europeans, while Foner illustrates the Pequots as Indians capable of holding their own. According to Howard Zinn, the Pequot War was caused by the “murder of a white trader, Indian-kidnapper, and troublemaker became an excuse to make war” (Zinn 14). Zinn’s bias is clear when he claims that this murder was an excuse, which makes it seem as though the Puritans couldn’t wait to murder a bunch of Pequots. This contributes towards making the Puritans look greedy and selfish. Foner, on the other hand, claims that “the turning point came in 1637 when a fur trader was killed by Pequots- a powerful tribe who controlled southern New England’s fur trade and exacted tribute from other Indians” (Foner 78).

In 1675, the Algonquian Indians rose up in fury against the Puritan Colonists, sparking a violent conflict that engulfed all of Southern New England. From this conflict ensued the most merciless and blood stricken war in American history, tearing flesh from the Puritan doctrine, revealing deep down the bright and incisive fact that anger and violence brings man to a Godless level when faced with the threat of pain and total destruction. In the summer of 1676, as the violence dispersed and a clearing between the hatred and torment was visible, thousands were dead.(Lepore xxi) Indian and English men, women, and children, along with many of the young villages of New England were no more; casualties of a conflict that