Hist. 146
King Philip 's War
King Philip 's War, it was one of the first and bloodiest conflicts between the colonist of New England and the Native Americans, primarily the Wampanoag Indian tribe. There were massive casualties on each side, all of which were caused by fighting and disease. King Philip 's War, had began out of almost forty years of tension between local native tribes of Massachusetts and puritan colonists of Massachusetts. Each side felt as if they had no choice but to remove the other or certain annihilation of their people would inevitably happen. Political leaders on both the Indian and Colonist side reinforce this stance of “It 's them, or us”. This massive fear, and group mentality, lead to unanimous call to action with little or no actual evidence, mainly speculation, assumptions, and …show more content…
stereotypes. King Philip’s War of 1675 was one of the bloodiest conflicts between early colonists and local native tribes; it was the product of racial tension, land disputes, and it contributed nothing but death, devastated lands, and debt to the inhabitants of New England.
To understand the King Phillips war we must first understand the causes of the conflict. It is common knowledge that relations between the natives and colonist have always been tense, more often than not these relations have in one way or another turned hostel at some point. At the root of these hostile relations and conflicts, ethnocentrism, and the lack of understanding of one anothers’ cultures have led to these hostile relations. The increasing growth of the puritan settlers leads to an expanding colonial society within the New England territory that was constantly encroaching on native land. The subhuman treatment of the natives by colonials increased tension between the two sides. In Massachusetts the colonist began to come to conclude that this problem was going to erupt into war. In 1675, after the mysterious murder of the liaison for the Wampanoag and the colonist, John Sassamon, peaceful relations between natives and colonists became strained. Relations completely broke down after the conviction, and hanging of three Wampanoag members for the murder of Sassamon in early June of 1675. Soon after the hanging, the first native attacks began on colonial settlements which began King Philip’s War.(About the Pilgrims Par.3)
In retaliation to the Wampanoags attacks on settlements and temporary imprisonment of some of the local colonists, on June 28, 1675, officials from Boston and Plymouth sent a punitive military expedition to destroy a Wampanoag town at Mount Hope( The Beginner 's American History, by D. H. Montgomery). In the wake of the retaliation, the colonists also destroyed a large number of Podunk and Nipmuck villages. Throughout July and August of 75’, the Wampanoag, along with many other tribes, raided and pillaged many towns in southern New England such as Middleborough, Dartmouth,Mendon and Brookfield. During the course of these attacks a large number of natives and colonists were killed. After the conflict began though, all diplomatic attempts at peace would never succeed or happen for that matter.
In Chapter 4, page 114 of The American Promise: A History of the United States,
The war in southern New England largely ended with Metacomet’s death on August 12, 1676. Many natives, including Metacomet’s son, that were not killed during the war were enslaved later on and sold out of the country, mostly to Bermuda and other locations in the Caribbean (History of King Philip, sovereign chief of the Wampanoags, John Abbott). A multitude of deaths from the war were made up of natives, many historians have estimated it to be around 3,000 . The colonists however, only lost 600 which were primarily male. But, it was not the war that killed a large portion of the New England populace; disease was running rampant throughout New England and killing natives and colonists alike. Natives that were displaced from their once existent tribes fled west or to the north as refugees seeking homes among a new people. Even though the war was over, many northern tribes still seeked to purge the land of the white settlers in Maine and even Northern Massachusetts.
For a time, King Philip 's War had devastating results on the 2nd and 3rd generation colonists that had to clean up the aftermath of the war.
Their economy was disrupted immensely and many outlying towns that brought many trade goods from the natives woodlands were destroyed. Luckily for the Puritans their organized government and productivity and relatively low death rate, they soon replaced many of their losses. But their success brought them unwanted attention from the British royal government. For the colonists of New England, this is a bittersweet situation, before the war they never received any attention from the motherland at all, it was considered just to be an English outpost ; Now the British seek to exploit the material goods and profit for their authorities own gains after their victory against the natives. An example of their intrusion into New England would be the establishment of the Anglican church in Boston, Massachusetts in 1684. This would formally end the Puritans religious monopoly they had in New England and allow more loyal English men to have connections and power to Britain through the Anglican
church.
King Philip’s War had many traumatic effects on both sides. Most if not all native tribes were completely wiped out by the war in southern New England. A considerable amount of the New England suffered from the disruption of their economies and everyday lives. Even post war the effects still lingered; war debts stretched across several generations of colonists. But this conflict benefited the colonists by allowing more land for development of their culture, but heightened the already tense relations between natives and colonists all over Colonial America. Which in turn would eventually lead to the utter downfall and destruction of most Native American cultures in the next two centuries throughout North America.
Works Cited:
-Montgomery, David Henry, “King Philip’s War Timeline”. The Beginner 's American History,
Web. 2/28/2014.
-Abbott, John Stevens Cabot, History of King Philip, sovereign chief of the Wampanoags. Web, 3/10/2014.