Download Kendall Brewer King Phillip`s War In the late 17th century tensions

Kendall Brewer
King Phillip’s War
In the late 17th century tensions increased between Native Americans and the British
colonists in New England. One war in particular, King Phillip’s War, led to a change in
American identity and caused a shift in the relationships that existed between the colonists and
the Native Americans. Before the war, relations with the British colonists and Native Americans
were collaborative but also competitive. Tensions increased as Puritan settlers increasingly
dominated native land. War broke out as a result of colonist’s dominance over native land and
the murder of an important Wampanoag leader. King Phillip’s war led to an increased sense of
unity and the beginnings of a sense of American identity, as well as a much more dominant
relationship with the Native Americans and the British.
Individual identity is shaped by a person’s political beliefs, religious choice, ancestry,
and economic status. Similarly a national identity can be described in terms of culture, religion,
politics, and economics. A community’s economic status is shaped by their trade, tax, and
opportunity for individual success while cultural identity is defined by history and also by beliefs
and goals. A political identity is created through the identification of leaders, laws, and a
governance structure. A group’s shared passion creates a culture that enables collaboration.
Because Americans come from other cultures and countries, their dentity starts with our
ancestors and adapts based on the culture and environment that are unique to this land. The
United States of America was created because the British colonists demanded and fought for
freedom and for their economic rights. As a result America is identified as a free country and
has a global reputation of a country full of opportunity.
The English settlers came to the new land in search of a sense of independence from their
mother country. They objected to King Charles I move toward Catholicism and supported his
execution for treason. They wanted the freedom to practice their religion. The English king,
Charles II, supported their leaving because of their alignment against him and his father’s
religions views.i However the Puritans were tied to England both economically and politically,
while establishing their own trade and governing structures. Politically, the Puritans were
governed by “royal charter but had a distinctly Puritan government.”ii English economic policies
made developing independence a challenge because they wanted to leverage commerce for the
benefit of the monarchy. The Navigation Acts of 1650, 1651, 1660, and 1663 established that
shipping goods to and from the colonies was restricted to English ships and crews, and had to be
shipped only to England or English colonies and friendly countries , excluding the Dutch and the
French. The Puritans benefitted from having their ships protected by Navy and access to British
Markets but trade was controlled by England and shaped to its benefit, making the establishment
of a new nation, apart from England, very challenging economically. Politically, the Puritans
were governed by “royal charter but had a distinctly Puritan government.”iii
Before the King Phillip’s War, relations between some of the Native American tribes and
the European settlers were strong. The Wampanoag tribes had lived in America 10,000 years
before the pilgrims settled Plymouth and had knowledge that the colonists needed. The colonists
and Native Americans traded with each other because it was necessary for survival of the
colonists.iv The Native Americans traded fur for British manufactured goods. Some famous
relationships provide evidence of this collaboration, such as the Pilgrims’ friendship with
Tisquantum, more commonly known as Squanto. As one of the few Native American English
speakers, he provided great value to the pilgrims, teaching them how to plant corn and other
crops. In addition to introducing the very important corn crop, Squanto also showed them where
to fish and hunt beaver.v Pocahontas is another Native American from a different area of the
colonies, with whom the British settlers of Jamestown had good relations. She saved John
Smith’s life after he had been taken captive by her people and almost beaten to death. This
caused Powhatan, Pocahontas’s father to claim that they were then friends and eventually
adopted Smith as his son. Relations strengthened between the natives and Jamestown inhabitants
because of this visit, as Pocahontas became a frequent visitor, bearing messages from her father.
This also began a trade relationship as the Natives would bring fur and foods to trade for small
items that the settlers brought from England.vi Massasoit, a leader in the Wampanoag tribe
created very good relations with the natives and helped the pilgrims in their early travels.vii The
political and economic alliances between their communities allowed for them to live on the same
land in harmony.viii The settlers taught their Indian allies how to use guns and other weapons,
and converted many to Christianity, gaining their acceptance and support in growing their
community. This Christian and Native alliance disrupted Native American relations in the
region,ix as the other tribes saw the blended group’s power growing. The Pequot tribe decided to
fight the Puritans in order to prevent them taking over the region, and attacked the settlers in
1637. After the end of the Pequot War in 1637, the New England settlers and the Wampanog,
Narragansett, and Mohegan tribes coexisted without challenges.
As British settlers became more acquainted with the land, they began to expand into more
Native American territory, and increased the rate of expansion after the collapse of the fur trade.
Because the natives could no longer use fur for trade, they began to sell many native traditional
hunting lands to the Britishx to pay for their increasing dependence on English manufactured
goods.xi The British population grew, and outnumbered the Native Americans three to one.xii As
As British cattle overran the terrain and destroyed cornfields, the Native Americans became
increasingly stressed and angry. Land under native control was reduced from all of Southern
Massachusetts to the area of the Mount Hope peninsula.xiii As the level of tension increased
between the settlers and the Native Americans, the settlers became concerned about potential
war. In 1657 Plymouth Governor, William Bradford expressed anxiety of New England being
torn apart by violencexiv As time went on an important new Wampanog leader named Metacom
(called King Phillip), son of the earlier chief, Massasoit, took over the tribe.xv He became
concerned about the way they were being treated and tried to negotiate with the settlers.xvi
King Phillip’s war began with the death of King Phillip’s brother Wamsutta. Although he
did die of sickness it was only soon after being questioned at gunpoint. This angered the
Wampanoag people and began the war. It began with a sudden raid on June 26, 1675 victimizing
the settlement of Swansea on the Taunton River, and lasted until 1676. Many more Wampanog
raids followed, and by the summer Brookfield, Deerfield, and Northfield were all destroyed.xvii
The war spread north to New Hampshire and southwest to Connecticut. Although many newly
Christian Indians fought for the Puritans or remained neutral, their close ties with the enemy
Natives created a sense of concern among the British. Many were exiled to camps on outlying
islands.xviii The government of Massachusetts contributed to this sense of insecurity by teaching
the Indians how to use arms, and including them their musters and trainings. With government
permission, the militia showed the Indians everything they needed to know about their muskets
and gave them various weapons.xix The Puritans were led by Captain Benjamin Church, who
became an important figure in the war. Captain Church led them in learning how to fight like
Indians from their Indian allies.xx They called this new fighting “ranging”. This was the start of
a new type of fighter called Rangers. The Puritan Rangers use Indian tactics like stealth raids
and camouflage instead of the British standard of uniforms and regiments in formation.
Benjamin Church later described his tactics in the first American military manual which is called
“Entertaining passages relating to Phillip’s war” published in 1716.xxi
The Puritans use their new skills to retaliate on the Indian tribes. They destroyed their
villages and killed the inhabitants. The war expanded when other tribes, including the Nipmuck
and Narragansett, joined the Wampanoag.xxii By mid year the war had turned and the Naragansett
were completely defeated because their chief Canonchet had been killed. The Wampanoag and
Nipmuck power gradually diminished .xxiii The land of the natives was conquered and their
people enslaved by the European colonists.xxiv The war ended in 1676 when King Phillip was
killed by a converted Wampanoag who was fighting for Benjamin Church.xxv
King Phillip’s war destroyed the traditional way of life for the Native American people,
and ended their political freedom. They were forced out of their land and moved under the
control of the Puritansxxvi It was one of the bloodiest battles in recorded American history, where
one in ten soldiers on either side were killed. Members of the losing tribes were sold into slavery,
or kept as servants.xxvii Although the death ratio was one colonist to three or more Indians, the
colonists also suffered. People died not only from bullets but also from starvation and
disease.xxviii Thirteen New England towns were burnt down and lay in ashes. The Plymouth
colony alone had a debt of 15,000 pounds.xxix While it destroyed both sides, the war caused the
Native Americans to gain respect from the New England settlers.
The Colonists’ identity began as English subjects who were outside of the religious and
political establishment. They didn’t have the level of resources that they did in England. Because
of circumstances in the new land and lack of British support, they became self sufficient and
interdependent, shifting away from a dependency on a highly developed civilization . The
colonists having been attacked, then working together to defend themselves created a sense of
unity. The lack of support from their native country created a sense of independence.
According to The American Promise by James Roark, the settlers were also left with an
“enduring hatred, a large war debt and devastated frontier”. Sensing their political distance from
the English monarchy, King Charles II moved to consolidate power in 1694 by doing a royal
investigation after the King Phillip’s War.xxx His agent found that they were deviating from the
rules, so he revoked the charter, the basis of the Puritan government, creating the Dominion of
New England consisting of all of the colonies north of Maryland. While the colonists were
offended at the new laws that disregarded religious traditions such as the Sabbath, they were
outraged that the Dominion invalidated land titles. This colony was in the process of recovering
from a horrific war, which they fought without British support. Their sense of independence and
new, shared identity as a separate community, gave them the unity to overthrow the English
representative, Sir Edmund Andros, and reestablish their charter. It also helped that Charles II’s
successor was in the process of being overthrown in a religion-related coup.xxxi
The settlers’ relationships with the Native Americans had transitioned as well.. By the
end of the war, the Europeans had enslaved some native people and forced the rest to live in
much less desirable locations.xxxii The relationship, which had been cooperative with some tribes
and challenging with others, but on a more egalitarian basis, became one of British domination.
The Puritans destroyed the environment and seriously impacted the availability of land, fish, and
game habitats. The existence of their farms and settlements, in addition to the war, resulted in
the elimination of much of the Native American culture and civilization. Those that recovered
took centuries to do so (citation)
The King Phillip’s war highlighted the need for colonists to learn how to survive in a
completely different environment, and those adaptations were the basis for their new identity.
Their relationship with Native Americans gave them a new set of tools that would shape this new
way of living. As a result, they translated army regiments to Indian-style Puritan Rangers. It is
the strength of the unity and shared sense of purpose, as well as their new skills, that enabled the
colonists to push back when England moved against their interests.
i
James L Roark et al., The American Promise. (Boston: Bedford, 2003). 174-185.
ii
Ibid.
iv
Henry William Elson, History of the United States of America (The MacMillan Company, New
York, 1904)
A&E Television Networks. History, “The Pilgrims.” http://www.history.com/topics/pilgrims
(accessed December 6, 2012).
v
Preservation Virginia. Historic Jamestowne, “Pocahontas.”
http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=26 (accessed December 5, 2012)
vi
United States History, “King Philip’s War.” http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h578.html
(accessed December 5, 2012)
vii
Macmillan Reference USA. BookRags, “King Philip’s War, Legacy Of”
http://www.bookrags.com/research/king-philips-war-legacy-of-aaw-01/ (accessed December 6,
2012)
viii
A&E Television Networks. History, “The Pilgrims.” http://www.history.com/topics/pilgrims
(accessed December 6, 2012).
ix
Macmillan Reference USA. BookRags, “King Philip’s War, Legacy Of”
http://www.bookrags.com/research/king-philips-war-legacy-of-aaw-01/ (accessed December 6,
2012)
x
United States History, “King Philip’s War.” http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h578.html
(accessed December 5, 2012)
xi
Macmillan Reference USA. BookRags, “King Philip’s War, Legacy Of”
http://www.bookrags.com/research/king-philips-war-legacy-of-aaw-01/ (accessed December 6,
2012)
xii
MilitaryHistoryOnline.com. MilitaryHistoryOnline.com, “Philip’s War: America’s Most
Devastating Conflict.”
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/horsemusket/kingphilip/default.aspx (accessed December
4, 2012)
xiii
A&E Television Networks. History, “The Pilgrims.” http://www.history.com/topics/pilgrims
(accessed December 6, 2012).
xiv
MilitaryHistoryOnline.com. MilitaryHistoryOnline.com, “Philip’s War: America’s Most
Devastating Conflict.”
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/horsemusket/kingphilip/default.aspx (accessed December
4, 2012)
xv
John Easton, A Narrative of the Causes Which Led to Philip’s Indian War (Albany: J.
Munsell, 1858), 5–15.
xvi
xvii
Henry William Elson, History of the United States of America (The MacMillan Company,
New York, 1904)
Rootsweb. Mason, Bullock & Howland Genealogy, “King Phillip’s War 1675-1676.”
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~smason/html/kingphillipswar.htm (accessed
December 5, 2012)
xviii
Smithsonian Institution. “Smithsonian Source.” Edward Randolph’s report of King Philip’s
War in New England, 1675.
http://www.smithsoniansource.org/display/primarysource/viewdetails.aspx?TopicId=&PrimaryS
ourceId=1175 (accessed December 6, 2012)
xix
xx
Church, Benjamin. The History of King Philip’s War. Boston; John Kimball Wiggin, 1716.
xxi
James L Roark et al., The American Promise. (Boston: Bedford, 2003)
United States History, “King Philip’s War.” http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h578.html
(accessed December 5, 2012)
xxii
MilitaryHistoryOnline.com. MilitaryHistoryOnline.com, “Philip’s War: America’s Most
Devastating Conflict.”
xxiii
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/horsemusket/kingphilip/default.aspx (accessed December
4, 2012)
Totallyhistory.com. “Totally History.” King Philips War 1675-1676.
http://totallyhistory.com/king-philips-war-1675-1676/ (accessed December 6, 2012)
xxiv
Rootsweb. Mason, Bullock & Howland Genealogy, “King Phillip’s War 1675-1676.”
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~smason/html/kingphillipswar.htm (accessed
December 5, 2012)
xxv
United States History, “King Philip’s War.” http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h578.html
(accessed December 5, 2012)
xxvi
Rootsweb. Mason, Bullock & Howland Genealogy, “King Phillip’s War 1675-1676.”
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~smason/html/kingphillipswar.htm (accessed
December 5, 2012)
xxvii
Mayflowerfamilies.com. “The Colonial Gazette.” King Philip’s War.
http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/enquirer/king_philip.htm (accessed December 6, 2012)
xxviii
xxix
Henry William Elson, History of the United States of America (The MacMillan Company,
New York, 1904)
xxx
James L Roark et al., The American Promise. (Boston: Bedford, 2003)
xxxi
Ibid.
Rootsweb. Mason, Bullock & Howland Genealogy, “King Phillip’s War 1675-1676.”
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~smason/html/kingphillipswar.htm (accessed
December 5, 2012)
xxxii
Bibliography:
Primary Sources:
Church, Benjamin. The History of King Philip’s War. Boston; John Kimball Wiggin, 1716.
Easton, John. A Narrative of the Causes Which Led to Philip’s Indian War. Albany: J. Munsell,
1858.
Smithsonian Institution. “Smithsonian Source.” Edward Randolph’s report of King Philip’s War
in New England, 1675.
http://www.smithsoniansource.org/display/primarysource/viewdetails.aspx?TopicId=
&PrimarySourceId=1175 (accessed December 6, 2012)
Secondary Sources:
A&E Television Networks. “History”, The Pilgrims. ‘http://www.history.com/topics/pilgrims
(accessed December 6, 2012).
Easton, John. A Narrative of the Causes Which Led to Philip’s Indian War. Albany: J. Munsell,
1858.
Elson, Henry William. History of the United States of America. The MacMillan Company, New
York, 1904.
Macmillan Reference USA. “BookRags.” King Philip’s War, Legacy Of
http://www.bookrags.com/research/king-philips-war-legacy-of-aaw-01/ (accessed
December 6, 2012).
Mayflowerfamilies.com. “The Colonial Gazette.” King Philip’s War.
http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/enquirer/king_philip.htm (accessed December 6,
2012).
MilitaryHistoryOnline.com. MilitaryHistoryOnline.com, “Philip’s War: America’s Most
Devastating Conflict.”
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/horsemusket/kingphilip/default.aspx (accessed
December 4, 2012).
Preservation Virginia. “Historic Jamestowne,” Pocahontas.
http://apva.org/rediscovery/page.php?page_id=26 (accessed December 5, 2012).
Roark, James L et al. The American Promise. Boston: Bedford, 2003.
Rootsweb. Mason, Bullock & Howland Genealogy, “King Phillip’s War 1675-1676.”
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~smason/html/kingphillipswar.htm
(accessed December 5, 2012).
Smithsonian Institution. “Smithsonian Source.” Edward Randolph’s report of King Philip’s War
in New England, 1675.
http://www.smithsoniansource.org/display/primarysource/viewdetails.aspx?TopicId=
&PrimarySourceId=1175 (accessed December 6, 2012).
Totallyhistory.com. “Totally History.” King Philips War 1675-1676.
http://totallyhistory.com/king-philips-war-1675-1676/ (accessed December 6, 2012).
United States History, “King Philip’s War.” http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h578.html
(accessed December 5, 2012).