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109-666: Northern New England: King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War , Metacom's War , Metacomet's War , Pometacomet's Rebellion , or Metacom's Rebellion ) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands against the English New England Colonies and their indigenous allies. The war is named for Metacom , the Pokanoket chief and sachem of

218-579: A Mattabesic village near present-day Fairfield, Connecticut . The colonists memorialized this event as the Fairfield Swamp Fight (not to be confused with the Great Swamp Fight during King Philip's War ). The English surrounded the swamp and allowed several hundred to surrender, mostly women and children, but Sassacus slipped out before dawn with perhaps 80 warriors, and continued west. Sassacus and his followers had hoped to gain refuge among

327-596: A Mare of Edward Pomroye's killed by his Men. The Pequots were then bound by Covenant, That none should inhabit their native Country, nor should any of them be called PEQUOTS any more, but Moheags and Narragansatts for ever. Other Pequots were enslaved and shipped to Bermuda or the West Indies, or were forced to become household slaves in English households in Connecticut and Massachusetts Bay. The Colonies essentially declared

436-588: A desire to enlist Mohawk aid in the conflict. New York was a non-belligerent, but Governor Edmund Andros was nonetheless concerned at the arrival of the Wampanoag sachem. Either with Andros' sanction, or of their own accord, the Mohawk—traditional rivals of the Algonquian people—launched a surprise assault against a 500-warrior band under Metacomet's command the following February. The coup de main resulted in

545-400: A few hundred people, living close to their crops. Generally men did the planting and harvesting, while women processed the crops. However, some settlements could be much bigger, such as Hochelaga (modern-day Montreal), which had a population of several thousand people, and Cahokia , which may have housed 20,000 residents between 1050 and 1150 CE. For many tribes, the fundamental social group

654-600: A few small towns in the interior between Boston and the Connecticut River settlements. Meanwhile, with the death of Ousamequin, Native diplomacy with the settlers fell apart, as colonists tried negotiating with Wamsutta in the same role they did with Ousamequin, but slighted female Native rulers ( saunkswkas ) of the land and erroneously claimed Sakonnet and Pocasset land as freely given. This created further tension between colonists and Natives, as colonial Puritan beliefs did not recognize female leaders as legitimate, despite

763-598: A fiery Oven", and "thus did the Lord judge among the Heathen." Of the estimated 500 Pequots in the fort, seven were taken prisoner and another seven escaped to the woods. The Narragansetts and Mohegans with Mason and Underhill's colonial militia were horrified by the actions and "manner of the Englishmen's fight… because it is too furious, and slays too many men." The Narragansetts attempted to leave and return home, but were cut off by

872-559: A force of 400, composed of 300 Connecticut colonial militia and about 100 Mohegan and Pequot warriors, and Quaiapen was killed along with the leaders as they sought refuge in Mattekonnit (Mattity) Swamp in North Smithfield , while the remainder of the survivors were sold into slavery. Metacomet's allies began to desert him, and more than 400 had surrendered to the colonists by early July. Metacomet took refuge back at Assawompset Pond ,

981-578: A full eclipse of the moon occurred in the New England area, and various tribes in New England thought it a good omen for attacking the colonists. Officials from the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies responded quickly to the attacks on Swansea; on June 28, they sent a punitive military expedition that destroyed the Wampanoag town at Mount Hope in Bristol, Rhode Island . The war quickly spread and soon involved

1090-474: A great fear that any of their people "should be called or forced to be Christian Indians". Metacom began negotiating with the other Algonquian tribes against the Plymouth Colony in the winter of 1674–1675, soon after the death of his father and, within a year, of his brother Wamsutta. However, conflict abounded, even amidst tribes and families. Two months before the outbreak of the war, Awashonk's, leader of

1199-573: A massive fort in a frozen swamp. The cold weather in December froze the swamp so that it was relatively easy to traverse. The colonial force found the Narragansett fort on December 19, 1675 near South Kingstown, Rhode Island . About 1,000 troops attacked, including about 150 Pequot and Mohegan allies. It is believed that the militia killed about 600 Narragansetts. They burned the fort (occupying over 5 acres (20,000 m) of land) and destroyed most of

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1308-527: A multitude of animals such as deer, bear, and birds. The Hopewell culture is also noted for its impressive ceremonial sites, which typically contain a burial mound and geometric earthworks. The most notable of these sites is in the Scioto River Valley (from Columbus to Portsmouth, Ohio ) and adjacent Paint Creek, centered on Chillicothe, Ohio. The Hopewell culture began to decline from around 400 A.D. for reasons which remain unclear. By around 1100,

1417-522: A number of cattle and horses, and took two young girls captive. (They were daughters of William Swaine and were later ransomed by Dutch traders.) In all, the towns lost about 30 settlers. In May, leaders of Connecticut River towns met in Hartford, raised a militia, and placed Captain John Mason in command. Mason set out with 90 militia and 70 Mohegan warriors under Uncas; their orders were to directly attack

1526-585: A reputation as a troublemaker and had been exiled from Plymouth Colony shortly before the incident on Block Island. In the weeks that followed, officials from Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island , and Connecticut assumed that the Narragansetts were the likely culprits. They knew that the Indians of Block Island were allies of the Eastern Niantics, who were allied with the Narragansetts, and they became suspicious of

1635-469: A sign of goodwill. The Wabanakis began raiding trading posts and attacking settlers. The Wabanakis decimate the colonial settlements east of the Saco River under the leadership of Androscoggin sagamore Mogg Hegon and Penobscot sagamore Madockawando . The Indians made three major attacks in 1675 , 1676 , and 1677 , most of which led to a massive colonial response. Richard Waldron and Charles Frost led

1744-507: A time of increased English immigration. The colonists progressively expanded throughout the territories of the several Algonquian -speaking tribes in the region. Prior to King Philip's War, tensions fluctuated between Native tribes and the colonists. The Narragansetts fought alongside the English colonists in the Pequot War and participated in the Mystic massacre but were horrified afterwards. With

1853-405: A train of wagons carrying the harvest from Deerfield to Hadley . They killed at least 40 militia men and 17 teamsters out of a company that included 79 militia. The Natives next attacked Springfield, Massachusetts on October 5, 1675, the Connecticut River's largest settlement at the time. They burned to the ground nearly all of Springfield's buildings, including the town's grist mill. Most of

1962-562: The Algonquian family . John Sassamon was a Native convert to Christianity, commonly referred to as a " praying Indian ". He played a key role as a cultural mediator, negotiating with both colonists and Natives while belonging to neither party. He was an early graduate of Harvard College and served as a translator and adviser to Metacomet. He reported to the governor of Plymouth Colony that Metacomet planned to gather allies for Native attacks on widely dispersed colonial settlements. Metacomet

2071-681: The Great Lakes . The Iroquois confederacy or Haudenosaunee became the most powerful political grouping in the Northeastern woodlands, and still exists today. The confederacy consists of the Mohawk , Cayuga , Oneida , Onondaga , Seneca and Tuscarora tribes. The area that is now the states of New Jersey and Delaware was inhabited by the Lenni-Lenape or Delaware, who were also an Algonquian people. Most Lenape were pushed out of their homeland in

2180-865: The Great Plains to the west, and the Southeastern Woodlands to the south. Around 200 B.C the Hopewell culture began to develop across the Midwest of what is now the United States, with its epicenter in Ohio . The Hopewell culture was defined by its extensive trading system that connected communities throughout the Eastern region, from the Great Lakes to Florida. A sophisticated artwork style developed for its goods, depicting

2289-508: The Great Spirit or Gitche Manitou , who is the creator and giver of all life. The Haudenosaunee equivalent of Manitou is orenda . Pequot War The result was the elimination of the Pequot tribe as a viable polity in southern New England , and the colonial authorities classified them as extinct. Survivors who remained in the area were absorbed into other local tribes. The Pequot and

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2398-734: The Great Swamp Fight . An estimated 600 Narragansetts were killed, and their coalition was taken over by Narragansett sachem Canonchet . They pushed back the borders of the Massachusetts Bay , Plymouth, and Rhode Island colonies, burning towns as they went, including Providence in March 1676. However, the colonial militia overwhelmed the Native coalition. By the end of the war, the Wampanoags and their Narragansett allies were almost completely destroyed. On August 12, 1676, Metacom fled to Mount Hope where he

2507-589: The Mohegan people were at one time a single sociopolitical entity. Anthropologists and historians contend that they split into the two competing groups sometime before contact with the Puritan English colonists. The earliest historians of the Pequot War speculated that the Pequot people migrated from the upper Hudson River Valley toward central and eastern Connecticut sometime around 1500. These claims are disputed by

2616-622: The Podunk and Nipmuc tribes. During the summer of 1675, the Natives attacked at Middleborough and Dartmouth, Massachusetts (July 8), Mendon, Massachusetts (July 14), Brookfield, Massachusetts (August 2), and Lancaster, Massachusetts (August 9). In early September, they attacked Deerfield , Hadley , and Northfield, Massachusetts . Wheeler's Surprise and the ensuing Siege of Brookfield were fought in August 1675, between Nipmucs under Muttawmp and

2725-518: The Saint Lawrence River area, and Susquehanna Valley . The Great Lakes-Riverine area includes the remaining inland areas of the northeast, home to Central Algonquian and Siouan speakers. The Great Lakes region is sometimes considered a distinct cultural region, due to the large concentration of tribes in the area. The Northeastern Woodlands region is bound by the Subarctic to the north,

2834-576: The Sakonnet , son Mammanuah signed a deed granting English colonizers the right to all the land from Pocasset Neck south to the sea. At the start of planting season, conflict erupted while new settlers began to plant on lands tenured under the rule of Awashonks, who did not approve her son's selling of the land. Mammanuah was confronted by his mother and other members of his tribe. He was stripped of his title by his relatives but allowed to leave with his life. Mammanuah sought restitution at Plymouth, where his title

2943-469: The Wampanoag Confederacy in 1662 after the death of his older brother Grand Sachem Wamsutta (called "Alexander" by the colonists), who had succeeded their father Massasoit (d. 1661) as chief. Metacom was well known to the colonists before his ascension as paramount chief to the Wampanoags. But, he ultimately distrusted the colonists. Conflict increased between the Wampanoags and settlers due to

3052-562: The Wampanoag who adopted the English name Philip because of the friendly relations between his father Massasoit and the Plymouth Colony . The war continued in the most northern reaches of New England until the signing of the Treaty of Casco Bay on April 12, 1678. Massasoit had maintained a long-standing alliance with the colonists and Metacom ( c.  1638–1676 ), his younger son, became

3161-589: The Wampanoags , Nipmucs , Narragansetts , Mohegans , Pequots , and other tribes of New England, whose territories historically had differing boundaries. Many of the neighboring tribes had been traditional competitors and enemies. As the colonial population increased, the New Englanders expanded their settlements along the region's coastal plain and up the Connecticut River valley. By 1675, they had established

3270-837: The 18th century by expanding European colonies, and now the majority of them live in Oklahoma . The characteristics of the Northeastern woodlands cultural area include the use of wigwams and longhouses for shelter and of wampum as a means of exchange. Wampum consisted of small beads made from quahog shells. The birchbark canoe was first used by the Algonquin Indians and its use later spread to other tribes and to early French explorers , missionaries and fur traders. The canoes were used for carrying goods, and for hunting, fishing, and warfare, and varied in length from about 4.5 metres (15 feet) to about 30 metres (100 feet) in length for some large war canoes. The main agricultural crops of

3379-562: The Dutch abducted him and demanded a substantial amount of ransom for his safe return. The Pequots quickly sent bushels of wampum to the Dutch, but received only Tatobem's dead body in return. But the colonial officials in Boston did not accept the Pequots' excuses that they had been unaware of Stone's nationality. Pequot sachem Sassacus sent the colonists some wampum to atone for the killing, but he refused

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3488-616: The European fur trade . A series of epidemics over the course of the previous three decades had severely reduced the Indian populations, and there was a power vacuum in the area as a result. The Dutch and the English from Western Europe were also striving to extend the reach of their trade into the North American interior to achieve dominance in the lush, fertile region. The colonies were new at

3597-595: The Massachusett and Pawtucket tribes living around Massachusetts Bay and extending northwest to Maine. The Wampanoags and Pokanokets of Plymouth and eastern Rhode Island are thought to have numbered fewer than 1,000. About one in four were considered to be warriors. By then, the Natives had almost universally adopted steel knives, tomahawks, and flintlock muskets as their weapons. The various tribes had no common government. They had distinct cultures and often warred among themselves, although they all spoke related languages from

3706-491: The Massachusetts Bay colony, which then included the southwestern portion of Maine and southern New Hampshire until 1679. The towns had about 16,000 men of military age who were almost all part of the militia, as universal training was prevalent in all colonial New England towns. Many towns had built strong garrison houses for defense, and others had stockades enclosing most of the houses. All of these were strengthened as

3815-478: The Mohawk in present-day New York. However, the Mohawk instead murdered his bodyguard and him, afterwards sending his head and hands to Hartford (for reasons which were never made clear). This essentially ended the Pequot War; colonial officials continued to call for hunting down what remained of the Pequots after war's end, but they granted asylum to any who went to live with the Narragansetts or Mohegans. In September,

3924-643: The Mohegans and Narragansetts met at the General Court of Connecticut and agreed on the disposition of the Pequot survivors. The agreement, known as the first Treaty of Hartford , was signed on September 21, 1638. About 200 Pequots survived the war; they finally gave up and submitted themselves under the authority of the sachem of the Mohegans or Narragansetts. There were then given to Onkos, Sachem of Monheag , Eighty; to Myan Tonimo, Sachem of Narragansett , Eighty; and to Nynigrett, Twenty, when he should satisfy for

4033-536: The Mohegans with the English colonists and the Pequots with the Dutch colonists. The peace ended between the Dutch and Pequots when the Pequots assaulted a tribe of Indians who had tried to trade in the area of Hartford. Tensions grew as the Massachusetts Bay Colony became a stronghold for wampum production, which the Narragansetts and Pequots had controlled until the mid-1630s. Adding to the tensions, John Stone and seven of his crew were murdered in 1634 by

4142-544: The Narragansett, openly sided with the English. The Narragansetts had warred with and lost territory to the Pequots in 1622. Now, their friend Roger Williams urged the Narragansetts to side with the English against the Pequots. Through the autumn and winter, Fort Saybrook was effectively besieged. People who ventured outside were killed. As spring arrived in 1637, the Pequots stepped up their raids on Connecticut towns. On April 23, Wangunk chief Sequin attacked Wethersfield with Pequot help. They killed six men and three women and

4251-575: The Narragansetts counterattacked under Canonchet, assembling an army of 2,000 men. They burned Providence, including Roger William's house. The Narragansetts were finally defeated when Canonchet was captured and executed in April 1676; then female sachem Queen Quaiapen and approximately 138 supporters were killed in an ambush. In December 1675, Metacomet established a winter camp in Schaghticoke , New York. His reason for moving into New York has been attributed to

4360-405: The Narragansetts. The murderers, meanwhile, escaped and were given sanctuary with the Pequots. News of Oldham's death became the subject of sermons in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In August, Governor Vane sent John Endecott to exact revenge on the Indians of Block Island . Endecott's party of roughly 90 men sailed to Block Island and attacked two apparently abandoned Niantic villages. Most of

4469-500: The Natives. The next colonial expedition was to recover crops from abandoned fields along the Connecticut River for the coming winter and included almost 100 farmers and militia, plus teamsters to drive the wagons. The Battle of Bloody Brook was fought on September 12, 1675, between militia from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and a band of Natives led by Nipmuc sachem Muttawmp . The Natives ambushed colonists escorting

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4578-728: The Natives; Captain Samuel Wadsworth lost his life and half of a 70-man militia in such an ambush. It was the last major victory by the indigenous coalition of the war. On May 19, 1676, Captain William Turner of the Massachusetts Militia and about 150 militia volunteers (mostly minimally trained farmers) attacked a Native fishing camp at Peskeopscut on the Connecticut River now called Turners Falls, Massachusetts . The colonists killed approximately 200 Natives. The warriors were camped upstream at Smeads Island. Turner and nearly 40 of

4687-592: The New World. In fact, Rowlandson’s captivity narrative is largely the basis of many understanding’s about Weetamoo’s role in the war. The Lancaster raid in February 1676 was a Native attack on the community of Lancaster, Massachusetts . Philip led a force of 1,500 Wampanoag , Nipmuc , and Narragansett men in a dawn attack on the isolated village, which then included the neighboring communities of Bolton and Clinton . They attacked five fortified houses. They set fire to

4796-488: The Niantic escaped, while two of Endecott's men were injured. The English claimed to have killed 14, but later Narragansett reports claimed that only one Indian was killed on the island. The Massachusetts Bay militia burned the villages to the ground. They carried away crops that the Niantic had stored for winter and destroyed what they could not carry. Endecott went on to Fort Saybrook. The English at Saybrook were not happy about

4905-580: The Niantics, western tributary clients of the Pequots. Stone was from the West Indies and had been banished from Boston for malfeasance, including drunkenness, adultery, and piracy. He had abducted two Western Niantic men, forcing them to show him the way up the Connecticut River. Soon after, his crew and he were attacked and killed by a larger group of Western Niantics. The initial reactions in Boston varied from indifference to outright joy at Stone's death, but

5014-429: The Pequot War were written within one year of the war. Later histories recounted events from a similar perspective, restating arguments first used by military leaders such as John Underhill and John Mason, as well as Puritans Increase Mather and his son Cotton Mather . Recent historians and others have reviewed these accounts. In 2004, an artist and archaeologist (Jack Dempsey and David R. Wagner) teamed up to evaluate

5123-463: The Pequot War, no significant battles occurred between Indians and southern New England colonists for about 38 years. This long period of peace came to an end in 1675 with King Philip's War . According to historian Andrew Lipman, the Pequot War introduced the practice of colonists and Indians taking body parts as trophies of battle. Honor and monetary reimbursement was given to those who brought back heads and scalps of Pequots. The earliest accounts of

5232-574: The Pequot at their fort. At Fort Saybrook, Captain Mason was joined by John Underhill with another 20 men. Underhill and Mason then sailed from Fort Saybrook to Narragansett Bay, a tactic intended to mislead Pequot spies along the shoreline into thinking that the English were not intending an attack. After gaining the support of 200 Narragansetts, Mason and Underhill marched their forces with Uncas and Wequash Cooke about 20 miles towards Mistick Fort (present-day Mystic ). They briefly camped at Porter's Rocks near

5341-421: The Pequot spirit, and they decided to abandon their villages and flee westward to seek refuge with the Mohawk tribe. Sassacus led roughly 400 warriors along the coast; when they crossed the Connecticut River, the Pequots killed three men whom they encountered near Fort Saybrook. In mid-June, John Mason set out from Saybrook with 160 men and 40 Mohegan scouts led by Uncas. They caught up with the refugees at Sasqua,

5450-415: The Pequots and English colonists, who were ill-prepared to face periods of famine. A more proximate cause of the war was the killing of a trader named John Oldham , who was attacked on a voyage to Block Island on July 20, 1636. Several of his crew and he were killed and his ship was looted by Narragansett -allied Indians, who sought to discourage settlers from trading with their Pequot rivals. Oldham had

5559-447: The Pequots extinct by prohibiting them from using the name any longer. The colonists attributed their victory over the hostile Pequot tribe to an act of God: Let the whole Earth be filled with his glory! Thus the lord was pleased to smite our Enemies in the hinder Parts, and to give us their Land for an Inheritance. This was the first instance wherein Algonquian peoples of southern New England encountered European-style warfare. After

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5668-412: The Pequots from the other village of Weinshauks and had to be rescued by Underhill's men—after which they reluctantly rejoined the colonists for protection and were used to carry the wounded, thereby freeing up more soldiers to fend off the numerous attacks along the withdrawal route. The destruction of people and the village at Mistick Fort and losing even more warriors during the withdrawal pursuit broke

5777-733: The United States, and New Brunswick , mainland Nova Scotia , Cape Breton Island , Prince Edward Island and some of Quebec south of the St. Lawrence River in Canada. The Western Abenaki live on lands in New Hampshire , Vermont , and Massachusetts of the United States. The five nations of the Iroquois League developed a powerful confederacy about the 15th century that controlled territory throughout present-day New York, into Pennsylvania and around

5886-409: The Wampanoag settlement near which John Sassamon had been found dead before the outset of the war, but the colonists formed raiding parties with indigenous allies, and he retreated southwest towards Rhode Island . Metacomet was killed by one of these teams when Captain Benjamin Church and Captain Josiah Standish of the Plymouth Colony militia tracked him to Mount Hope in Bristol, Rhode Island . He

5995-423: The Wampanoag since 1621. Beginning in the early 1630s, a series of contributing factors increased the tensions between English colonists and the tribes of southeastern New England. Efforts to control fur trade access resulted in a series of escalating incidents and attacks that increased tensions on both sides. Political divisions widened between the Pequots and Mohegans as they aligned with different trade sources,

6104-518: The Wampanoags and their allied tribes spread word of English locations, encampments, and attacks in order to warn other resisting Native Americans. Weetamoo later formed an alliance at Narragansett with the Nipmuc in order to create a larger Native cause. The account written and published by Mary Rowlandson after the war gives a colonial captive's perspective on the conflict. Rowlandson was captured by Nipmucs and led miles through surrounding wilderness, keeping her captured through her lack of knowledge of

6213-447: The ambush was an attack on Brookfield, Massachusetts , and the consequent besieging of the remains of the colonial force. The Nipmucs harried the settlers for two days, until they were driven off by a newly arrived force of colonial soldiers under the command of Major Simon Willard . The siege took place at Ayers' Garrison in West Brookfield , but the location of the initial ambush was a subject of extensive controversy among historians in

6322-508: The assault, but the Natives had demonstrated their ability to penetrate deep into colonial territory. They attacked three more settlements; Longmeadow (near Springfield), Marlborough, and Simsbury were attacked two weeks later. They killed Captain Pierce and a company of Massachusetts soldiers between Pawtucket and the Blackstone's settlement. They tortured several colonial men to death and buried them at Nine Men's Misery in Cumberland as part of their ritual torture of enemies. They also burned

6431-428: The bread basket of New England, but they had to limit their plantings and work in large armed groups for self-protection. Towns such as Springfield , Hatfield , Hadley , and Northampton, Massachusetts fortified themselves, reinforced their militias, and held their ground, though attacked several times. The small towns of Northfield , Deerfield , and several others were abandoned as the surviving settlers retreated to

6540-417: The coast eastward to the Kennebec River. These communities were scattered and lacked fortifications. The defenseless posture of English settlements reflected the amicable relationship between Wabanakis and colonists up to that time. Upon hearing news of the Wampanoag attack on Swansea, colonists in York marched up the Kennebec River in June 1675 and demanded that Wabanakis turn over their guns and ammunition as

6649-515: The colonial forces in the northern region. Waldron sent forces that attacked the Mi'kmaq in Acadia . Mogg Hegon repeatedly attacked towns such as Black Point ( Scarborough ), Wells, and Damariscove , building a flotilla out of the approximately 40 sloops and a dozen 30-ton ships previously armed by militia. Maine's fishing industry was completely destroyed by the Wabanaki flotilla. Records from Salem record 20 ketches stolen and destroyed in one raid in Maine. The Wabanakis sued for peace in 1677, and

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6758-448: The colonial officials still felt compelled to protest the killing. According to the Pequots' later explanations, he was killed in reprisal for the Dutch murdering the principal Pequot sachem Tatobem, and they claimed to be unaware that Stone was English and not Dutch. (Contemporaneous accounts claim that the Pequots knew Stone to be English. ) In the earlier incident, Tatobem had boarded a Dutch vessel to trade. Instead of conducting trade,

6867-499: The colonists of Massachusetts Bay under the command of Thomas Wheeler and Captain Edward Hutchinson . The battle consisted of an initial ambush on August 2, 1675 by the Nipmucs against Wheeler's unsuspecting party. Eight men from Wheeler's company died during the ambush: Zechariah Phillips of Boston, Timothy Farlow of Billerica, Edward Coleborn of Chelmsford, Samuel Smedly of Concord, Shadrach Hapgood of Sudbury, Sergeant Eyres, Sergeant Prichard, and Corporal Coy of Brookfield. Following

6976-481: The colonists' demands that the warriors responsible for Stone's death be turned over to them for trial and punishment. The Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635 also placed a great deal of pressure on the harvests of that year, according to historian Katherine Grandjean, increasing competition for winter food supplies for several years afterwards throughout much of coastal Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. This, in turn, precipitated even greater tensions between

7085-422: The colonists' distrust remained. On November 2, Plymouth Colony Governor Josiah Winslow led a combined force of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Connecticut militia against the Narragansett tribe. The colonists distrusted the tribe and their various alliances. As the colonial forces went through Rhode Island, they found and burned several Native towns which had been abandoned by the Narragansetts, who had retreated to

7194-506: The conflict. Captives who had participated in attacks on the many settlements were hanged, enslaved, or put to indentured servitude, depending upon the colony involved. The Second Battle of Nipsachuck occurred on July 2, 1676 and included a rare use of a cavalry charge by the English colonists. In the summer of 1676, a band of over 100 Narragansetts led by female sachem Quaiapen returned to northern Rhode Island, apparently seeking to recover cached seed corn for planting. They were attacked by

7303-463: The conflict. Hundreds of Wampanoags and their allies were publicly executed or enslaved, and the Wampanoags were left effectively landless. King Philip's War began the development of an independent American identity. The New England colonists faced their enemies without support from any European government or military, and this began to give them a group identity separate and distinct from Britain. The early Plymouth Colony claimed preemptive rights to

7412-444: The continual intrusion of settlers' livestock onto Wampanoag farms and food stores, with few colonists taking more than half-hearted steps to prevent this in spite of regular complaints by the Wampanoags. Another grievance held by many Wampanoags was the attempts by colonial missionaries to convert them to Christianity; among those who expressed such grievances was Metacom himself, who declared that he and other Wampanoag leaders possessed

7521-418: The counselor and block to the signing of a land grant for the Plymouth Colony, Tobias, and the other arrested men were forced to sign the rights away of all of their land at Nemasket. With Sassamon dead and the land deed signed, the land surrounding the pond became formally acknowledged as part of the town Middlebury and was open for English settlement. With the execution of the men convicted of Sassamon’s murder,

7630-476: The death of between 70 and 460 of the Wampanoags. Metacomet withdrew to New England, pursued by Mohawk forces who attacked Algonquian settlements and ambushed their supply parties. Over the next several months, fear of Mohawk attack led some Wampanoags to surrender to the colonists, and one historian described the decision of the Mohawks to engage Metacomet's forces as "the blow that lost the war for Philip". Natives attacked and destroyed more settlements throughout

7739-411: The defeat of the Pequots, Narragansett leader Miantonomoh gathered groups of Algonquians together in the 1640s in the hope that they could face the colonists together. He was captured by colonists in Connecticut and executed by Mohegan sachem Uncas , shattering the coalition. The Rhode Island , Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut , and New Haven colonies each developed separate relations with

7848-598: The distinct Iroquoian -speaking and Algonquian -speaking cultures had developed in what would become New York State and New England . Prominent Algonquian tribes included the Abenakis , Mi'kmaq , Penobscot , Pequots , Mohegans , Narragansetts , Pocumtucks , and Wampanoag . The Mi'kmaq, Maliseet , Passamaquoddy , Abenaki, and Penobscot tribes formed the Wabanaki Confederacy in the seventeenth century. The Confederacy covered roughly most of present-day Maine in

7957-519: The entirety of Wampanoag country through early alliances with some Native leaders, like Squanto (Tisquantam) and Massasoit (Ousamequin). However, English claim to the land relied entirely on misinterpretations of Native leadership, which viewed Ousamequin as the Native "king" of the land, despite the existence of other territorial claims under local leaders like Namumpum ( Weetamoo ). Subsequent colonists founded Salem , Boston , and many small towns around Massachusetts Bay between 1628 and 1640, during

8066-719: The evidence of modern archaeology and anthropology finds. In the 1630s, the Connecticut River Valley was in turmoil. The Pequot aggressively extended their area of control at the expense of the Wampanoag to the north, the Narragansett to the east, the Connecticut River Valley Algonquian tribes and the Mohegan to the west, and the Lenape Algonquian people of Long Island to the south. The tribes contended for political dominance and control of

8175-533: The fighting ended with the Treaty of Casco (1678) . The treaty allowed settlers to return to Maine if each English family paid the Wabanakis a peck of corn each year. Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands include Native American tribes and First Nation bands residing in or originating from a cultural area encompassing

8284-407: The great power they held within Native societies. On one such occasion of land dispute, saunkswkas Weetamoo and Awashonks appeared in a colonial court to protest illegitimate deeds signed by Wamsutta that gave colonists lands that were not his to give. This conflict strengthened complaints among natives while simultaneously bolstering Plymouth claims to the land and served as an omen for conflict that

8393-536: The head of the Mystic River before mounting a surprise attack just before dawn. The Mystic Massacre started in the predawn hours of May 26, 1637, when colonial forces led by Captains John Mason and John Underhill, along with their allies from the Mohegan and Narragansett tribes, surrounded one of two main fortified Pequot villages at Mistick. Only 20 soldiers breached the palisade's gate and they were quickly overwhelmed, to

8502-434: The house of Rev. Joseph Rowlandson and slaughtered most of its occupants—more than 30 people. Rowlandson's wife Mary was taken prisoner, and afterward wrote a best-selling narrative of her experiences. Many of the community's other houses were destroyed before the Natives retreated northward. The spring of 1676 marked the high point for the combined tribes when they attacked Plymouth Plantation on March 12. The town withstood

8611-484: The land. Rowlandson was 'gifted' to Weetamoo and her husband Quinnapin following their wedding, as a gift for their role in securing Native alliances and allies in the war. Rowlandson’s captivity narrative and the following explosion of the Puritan captivity narrative genre, is largely where historical information regarding the inner workings of Native society comes from, as primary sources from white colonial entrepreneurs in

8720-513: The larger towns. The towns of the Connecticut colony were largely unharmed in the war, although more than 100 Connecticut militia died in their support of the other colonies. The Sudbury Fight took place in Sudbury, Massachusetts on April 21, 1676. The town was surprised by Native raiders at dawn, who besieged a local garrison house and burned several unoccupied homes and farms. Reinforcements that arrived from nearby towns were drawn into ambushes by

8829-415: The late nineteenth century. The New England Confederation consisted of the Massachusetts Bay Colony , Plymouth Colony , New Haven Colony , and Connecticut Colony ; they declared war on the Natives on September 9, 1675. The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations tried to remain neutral, but much of the war was fought on Rhode Island soil; Providence and Warwick suffered extensive damage from

8938-455: The men of Sassamon's murder, and they were executed by hanging on June 8, 1675 (O.S.) at Plymouth. Most importantly, the pond where Sassamon’s body was found in was at the center of a heated land claim, under which Plymouth men were attempting to purchase vast swaths of land at Nemasket . His death became the necessary pretext for Plymouth Colony’s arrest of a counselor tied to suppressing the purchasing of land around Nemasket. Under captivity,

9047-683: The militia were killed during the return from the falls. The colonists defeated an attack at Hadley on June 12, 1676 with the help of their Mohegan allies, scattering most of the survivors into New Hampshire and farther north. Later that month, a force of 250 Natives was routed near Marlborough, Massachusetts . Combined forces of colonial volunteers and their indigenous allies continued to attack, kill, capture, or disperse bands of Narragansetts , Nipmucs , and Wampanoags as they tried to plant crops or return to their traditional locations. The colonists granted amnesty to those who surrendered or who were captured and showed that they had not participated in

9156-501: The most effective. The indigenous allies of the colonists numbered about 1,000 from the Mohegans and Praying Indians , with about 200 warriors. By 1676, the regional indigenous population had decreased to about 10,000 (exact numbers are unavailable) largely because of epidemics. These included about 4,000 Narragansetts of western Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut, 2,400 Nipmucs of central and western Massachusetts, and 2,400 combined in

9265-460: The next six months, and the colonial militia retaliated. The colonies assembled the largest army that New England had yet mustered, consisting of 1,000 militia and 150 Native allies. Governor Josiah Winslow marshaled them to attack the Narragansetts in November 1675. They attacked and burned Native villages throughout Rhode Island territory, culminating with the attack on the Narragansetts' main fort in

9374-786: The northeastern and Midwest United States and southeastern Canada . It is part of a broader grouping known as the Eastern Woodlands . The Northeastern Woodlands is divided into three major areas: the Coastal, Saint Lawrence Lowlands, and Great Lakes-Riverine zones. The Coastal area includes the Atlantic Provinces in Canada, the Atlantic seaboard of the United States , south until North Carolina . The Saint Lawrence Lowlands area includes parts of Southern Ontario , upstate New York , much of

9483-462: The point that they used fire to create chaos and facilitate their escape. The ensuing conflagration trapped the majority of the Pequots; those who managed to escape the fire were slain by the soldiers and warriors who surrounded the fort. Mason later declared that the attack against the Pequots was the act of a God who "laughed his Enemies and the Enemies of his People to scorn", making the Pequot fort "as

9592-460: The proverbial first shots of the war were shot. A band of Pokanokets attacked several isolated homesteads in the small Plymouth colony settlement of Swansea on June 20, 1675, likely against Phillip's approval. They burned several homes. On June 23, a local boy saw a Pokanoket in front of his home and was instructed to fire, killing him. Pokanokets became enraged and on June 24 launched a full-scale attack on Swansea, killing three. On June 27, 1675,

9701-451: The proximity of the others. The tall maize plants provide a structure for the beans to climb, while the beans provide nitrogen to the soil that benefits the other plants. Meanwhile, the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the sunlight to prevent weeds from growing and retaining moisture in the soil . Prior to contact Native groups in the Northeast generally lived in villages of

9810-416: The raid, but agreed that some of them would accompany Endecott as guides. Endecott sailed along the coast to a Pequot village, where he repeated the previous year's demand for those responsible for the death of Stone, and now also for those who murdered Oldham. After some discussion, Endecott concluded that the Pequots were stalling and attacked, but most escaped into the woods. Endecott had his forces burn down

9919-550: The region were the Three Sisters : winter squash , maize (corn), and climbing beans (usually tepary beans or common beans ). Originating in Mesoamerica , these three crops were carried northward over centuries to many parts of North America. The three crops were normally planted together using a technique known as companion planting on flat-topped mounds of soil. The three crops were planted in this way as each benefits from

10028-424: The residents who escaped unharmed took cover at the house of Miles Morgan , a resident who had constructed one of the settlement's few fortified blockhouses . An indigenous servant who worked for Morgan managed to escape and alerted the Massachusetts Bay troops under the command of Major Samuel Appleton , who broke through to Springfield and drove off the attackers. The Narragansetts endeavored to remain neutral in

10137-572: The sequence of events in the Pequot War. Their popular history took issue with events and whether John Mason and John Underhill wrote the accounts that appeared under their names. The authors have been adopted as honorary members of the Lenape Pequots. Most modern historians do not debate questions of the outcome of the battle or its chronology, such as Alfred A. Cave , a specialist in the ethnohistory of colonial America. However, Cave contends that Mason and Underhill's eyewitness accounts, as well as

10246-548: The settlement of Providence to the ground on March 29. At the same time, a small band of Natives infiltrated and burned part of Springfield while the militia was away. The settlements within the Colony of Rhode Island became a literal island colony for a time as the settlements at Providence and Warwick were sacked and burned, and the residents were driven to Newport and Portsmouth on Rhode Island . The Connecticut River towns had thousands of acres of cultivated crop land known as

10355-489: The strategy of tactical retreat. As English colonists marched through Native settlements, many Natives sought safety by hiding in the swamps surrounding Nemasket. Led by Weetamoo, mothers and their children were marched silently away from encapments and sought protection in the thickest part of the swamps. In their wake, settled along the outskirts of emptied Native villages, Wampanoag protectors ambushed English troops as they marched through Rhode Island. Utlizing kinship networks,

10464-495: The time, as the original settlements had been founded in the 1620s. By 1636, the Dutch had fortified their trading post, and the English had built a trading fort at Saybrook . English Puritans from the Massachusetts Bay , along with the Pilgrims from Plymouth Colony , settled at the recently established river towns of Windsor (1632), Wethersfield (1633), Hartford (1635), and Springfield (1636). The Pilgrims had been allied with

10573-528: The tribal chief in 1662 after his father's death. Metacom, however, forsook his father's alliance between the Wampanoags and the colonists after repeated violations by the latter. The colonists insisted that the 1671 peace agreement should include the surrender of Native guns; then three Wampanoags were hanged in Plymouth Colony in 1675 for the murder of another Wampanoag, which increased tensions. Native raiding parties attacked homesteads and villages throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Maine over

10682-468: The tribe's winter stores. Most of the Narragansett warriors escaped into the frozen swamp. The colonists lost about 70 men killed and nearly 150 more wounded, including many of their officers. The surviving militia returned to their homes, lacking supplies for an extended campaign. The nearby towns in Rhode Island provided care for the wounded until they could return to their homes. In the spring of 1676,

10791-461: The village and crops before sailing home. In the aftermath, the English of Connecticut Colony had to deal with the anger of the Pequots. The Pequots attempted to get their allies to join their cause, some 36 tributary villages, but were only partly effective. The Western Niantic (Nehantic) joined them, but the Eastern Niantic remained neutral. The traditional enemies of the Pequot, the Mohegan and

10900-555: The war progressed. Some poorly populated towns were abandoned if they did not have enough men to defend them. Each town had local militias based on all eligible men who had to supply their own arms. Only those who were too old, too young, disabled, or clergy were excused from military service. The militias were usually only minimally trained and initially did relatively poorly against the warring Natives, until more effective training and tactics could be devised. Joint forces of militia volunteers and volunteer indigenous allies were found to be

11009-400: The war, driven partly by their relationship with Roger Williams. They were not directly involved in the war, but they had sheltered many of the Wampanoag fighters, women, and children, and there were questions about some of their warriors participating in several Native attacks. In October 1675, Narraganset sachem Canonchet signed a "Treaty of Neutrality" with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but

11118-469: The winter of 1675–1676 in their effort to annihilate the colonists. They attacked homes in Andover , Bridgewater , Chelmsford , Groton , Lancaster , Marlborough , Medfield , Medford , Portland , Providence , Rehoboth , Scituate , Seekonk , Simsbury , Sudbury , Suffield , Warwick , Weymouth , and Wrentham , including Norfolk and Plainville . In the first months of the war, Wampanoags employed

11227-475: Was a clan, which was often named after an animal such as turtle, bear, wolf or hawk. The totem animal concerned was considered sacred and had a special relationship with the members of the clan. The spiritual beliefs of the Algonquians center around the concept of Manitou ( / ˈ m æ n ɪ t uː / ), which is the spiritual and fundamental life force that is omnipresent. Manitou also manifest itself as

11336-507: Was an old man at the time, though a chief captain of Metacomet . His capture marked the final event in King Philip's War, as he was also beheaded. Before the outbreak of war, English settlers in Maine and New Hampshire lived peaceably with their Wabanaki neighbors. Colonists engaged in fishing, harvesting timber, and trade with the Natives. By 1657, English towns and trading posts stretched along

11445-520: Was brought before a public court, where court officials admitted that they had no proof but warned that they would confiscate Wampanoag land and guns if they had any further reports that he was conspiring to start a war. Not long after, Sassamon's body was found in the ice-covered Assawompset Pond , and Plymouth Colony officials arrested three Wampanoags on the testimony of a Native witness, including one of Metacomet's counselors. The jury, which consisted of twelve colonists and six indigenous elders, convicted

11554-570: Was killed by the militia. The war was the greatest calamity in seventeenth-century New England and is considered by many to be the deadliest war in Colonial American history. In the space of little more than a year, 12 of the region's towns were destroyed and many more were damaged, the economy of the Plymouth and Rhode Island Colonies was all but ruined and their population was decimated, losing one-tenth of all men available for military service. More than half of New England's towns were involved in

11663-558: Was reinstated by colonial authorities who had noticeably ulterior motives for wanting the land deed to remain valid. Internal conflict between native tribes and their families was motivated by competing concepts of colonial patrilineal rule and the existing matrilineal rule of many native women. As conflict mounted, native tribes turned against other tribes as well as their own people, with families taking sides across different lines. The population of New England colonists totaled about 65,000 people. They lived in 110 towns, of which 64 were in

11772-615: Was shot and killed by an Indian named John Alderman on August 12, 1676. Metacomet's corpse was beheaded then chopped into pieces. His head was displayed in Plymouth for a generation, which was commonly done in Britain to traitors; Wampanaog memory holds that the skull was later taken by tribal members and secretly buried. Captain Church and his soldiers captured Pocasset war chief Anawan on August 28, 1676, at Anawan Rock in Rehoboth, Massachusetts . He

11881-474: Was yet to come. Eventually, the Wampanoag tribe under Metacomet's leadership entered into an agreement with the Plymouth Colony and believed that they could rely on the colony for protection. However, in the decades preceding the war, it became clear to them that the treaty did not mean that the Colonists were not allowed to settle in new territories. Metacom became sachem of the Pokanoket and Grand Sachem of

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