Howard Zinn's Essay on The Pequot War

723 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: In what way was the Pequot war like King Phillips war

When reading Howard Zinn’s essay on the Pequot war, one might not immediately notice the extreme bias in the writing unless he or she has prior knowledge of the Pequot war. It simply seems as though he is listing the facts, and that the Puritans were to blame for the war. In reality, however, history was different. The Pequots also fought in thewar. The extent of Zinn’s portrayal of the Pequots’ vulnerability is severe, and he even ignores important facts to support his opinions. This is completely inaccurate and can lead to misperception of British, Pequot, and Puritan history.

Important facts are missing or edited in Zinn’s paper, which can lead to difficulties in understanding historic events. The war began when the Pequots attacked a group of rival Indians who traded at Hartford. Zinn, however, explains that “[The English] had commission to put to death the men of Block Island…. They were to obtain it by force” (Zinn 1). As he does not mention anything before that attack, Zinn indirectly states that the colonists were the first to attack. This portrayal of the Puritans as me...

Show More
Related

  • The Name Of War, Jill Lepore

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    Our history books continue to present our country's story in conventional patriotic terms. America being settled by courageous, white colonists who tamed a wilderness and the savages in it. With very few exceptions our society depicts these people who actually first discovered America and without whose help the colonists would not have survived, as immoral, despicable savages who needed to be removed by killing and shipping out of the country into slavery. In her book, The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity, Jill Lepore tells us there was another side to the story of King Philip’s War. She goes beyond the actual effects of the war to discuss how language, literacy, and privilege have had lasting effects on the legacy that followed it.

    Read More

  • Causes of the Deterioration of British-Colonial Relations

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    The beginning of 1763 marked one of the major events that would contribute to the end of British colonial relations. On February 3, 1763 the French and Indian War finally ended in British victory, but while the British celebrated the French’s defeat, colonists feared the oncoming reverberations the war would have on them. The main motive behind the war was for possession over the French fur trade territory in North America. To the colonists, the war was being fought by and for Britain not the colonies. The benefits of the victory only pertained to Britain. The after effect of the war for the colonies was the trampling on their need for expansion. During the war, Native Americans had fought with the French because of how well they treated them. Britain was notorious for abusing the Native Americans, therefore once the French were defeated; they began attacking western settlements of colonists. To avoid confrontation, the Proclamation of 1763 was passed by Parliament. The Proclamation established a limit to the greatly needed colonial expansion. Specifically, the Proclamation forbid settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains. The passing of the Proclamation of 1763 infuriated colonists ...

    Read More

  • The Chesapeake Colonies and New England Colonies

    1270 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...s to the English. This war was called the Pequot War and it was as deadly as the Powhatan-Indian war.

    Read More

  • Problems Of 1675

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    The New England colonists were in constant contact with Indians since their arrival. Conflict was unavoidable between the two polar opposite cultures. The colonists sought to convert the Indians into Christians and attempt to civilize the "barbarians." Also, the expansion of colonies into Indian Territory was a major concern among the Indian tribes. King Phillip's War was the result of the ongoing tensions between the two cultures. Both the colonists and the Indians grew increasingly suspicious of each other eventually leading to war.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Edward Waterhouse

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Declaration in 1622 is a piece of history that will forever be debated. It was written by Edward Waterhouse who was a prominent Virginia official. In a Declaration in 1622, he describes his first-hand accounts of English genocide and the relationship between the Powhatan and settlers. The point of this paper is to claim that Waterhouse’s portrayal is realistic due to his factual perspective of the time period on the contrasting aspects of the Powhatan and settlers. Diving into Edwards historical accounts can show the hardships of the settlers, the varying characteristics of both groups, the importance of tobacco, and the demonization of Native Americans. The characteristics will conclude the factually sound delineation of Edward Waterhouse.

    Read More

  • A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

    1226 Words  | 3 Pages

    America is a nation that is often glorified in textbooks as a nation of freedom, yet history shows a different, more radical viewpoint. In Howard Zinn’s A People's History of the United States, we take a look at American history through a different lens, one that is not focused on over glorifying our history, but giving us history through the eyes of the people. “This is a nation of inconsistencies”, as so eloquently put by Mary Elizabeth Lease highlights a nation of people who exploited and sought to keep down those who they saw as inferior, reminding us of more than just one view on a nation’s history, especially from people and a gender who have not had an easy ride.

    Read More

  • King Phillip's Herds Summary

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    There was no definite property line in the early New England colony, causing animals roaming freely to become an issue between the two societies. The Indians were ultimately unprepared for the European’s livestock to wonder into their property without any boundaries. The animals would not only walk into their land but eat their resources and grass along the way. Destruction that the livestock caused to the Native American’s land led to a distinct boundary line between them and the Europeans, creating further tension rather than assimilation. Cattle were trapped into Indian hunting traps, causing both a problem to the Indians hunting rituals as well as the Europeans livestock supply. These issues among land division ultimately led to the acceleration of land expansion by the colonists during the 1660’s and early 1670’s. Before King Phillip’s War, Plymouth officials approached the Indians at least twenty-three times to purchase land. The author argues that previous mutual consideration for both the society’s needs was diminished at this point and the selling of the land would eliminate the Indian’s independence. Whenever livestock was involved, the colonists ignored Indian’s property rights

    Read More

  • Laura Ingalls's Influence On The American Indians

    1446 Words  | 3 Pages

    Their disputes were ones of land use. The Puritans drew up treaties to buy the land off the American Indians, but since the belief was that the land was there for everyone to use, the Natives believed the treaties were only an agreement to share the land for a limited period of time. However, this was no the case for the Puritans, who saw the treaties as the American Indians permanently selling off their land. In Connecticut, the Pequot nation attempted to rebel against the Europeans. This war nearly destroyed the Pequot population. The end of the war happened in May of 1637, when English colonists and Native allies of the Narragansett tribe surrounded a fort and set it on fire. They also shot at the Pequot people who tried to escape the burning fort. Only a few out of the 600 people that were in the fort survived. Another rebellion against European expansion into American Indian territory came about with the chiefdom of Metacomet, or King Philip as the English called him. Chief Metacomet was the son of Massasoit of the Wampanoag tribe, who originally aided and interacted with the Puritans. However, as the English settlers gained their footing in New England, they began to seize land from the Wampanoag. The Puritans made the Natives work for them to earn a living, and the Wampanoag were also prohibited to hunt or fish on the Sabbath. Metacomet organized an alliance of

    Read More

  • Tecumseh: Great Leader of the Great Plains Indians

    2705 Words  | 6 Pages

    Throughout the comparatively recent history of the United States, there have been many obstacles that the relatively young nation has had to overcome. Even before the nation had obtained its independence from Britain, there were conflicts with the Natives of the new land. Then wars were fought for other countries benefit, on their own soil. Then, of course, there was the Revolutionary War, fought in the late 1770’s, in which British colonists rose up against their British fathers in order to gain economic, religious and political freedom. After the acquirement of their independence as a nation, there were still many conflicts that the fledgling country had to worry about. The continent of North America was still controlled by other European superpowers, not to mention the multitudes of Native Indians that populated the lands west of the Appalachians. In order to combat other world powers as well as increase their own wealth, trade, and influence, the Americans adopted an attitude of ‘Manifest Destiny’, in which westward expansion was priority and their right. This however, led to more troubles and conflicts with the Natives of the land. The Indians west of the Appalachian m...

    Read More

  • Richter's Facing East

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    Early American History is not necessarily in my comfort zone in regards to the amount of knowledge I can share off the top of my head. Facing East was the best book for me to start with, I feel, because it affected my ideas about the ways in which Historians have written about conflict between Native Americans and European settlers. The only perspective I have ever read has been a westward-facing perspective. I was almost ashamed at how surprised I was that I had not considered the fact that conflict and distrust existed in North America long before non-natives arrived, rather than what I believe is often portrayed as this harmonious network of Native American tribes who slowly succumbed to encroachment by settlers. The rivalries and wars that exi...

    Read More

  • April Morning

    484 Words  | 1 Pages

    The large retaliation attack mounted by the colonists ended the immediate English threat in the region. Adam does not play a major role in the outcome of the battle, however the battle plays a major role in Adam’s development.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Boston Massacre

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    One night, on March 5, 1770, a street fight occurred between a group of American patriots and some British soldiers stationed in Boston. The Americans harassed the troops by yelling and shouting names at them and throwing snowballs and sticks. A crowd formed and in the noise and confusion, weapons were fired. In the end, ...

    Read More

  • America's Most Devastating Conflict

    4488 Words  | 9 Pages

    King Philip’s War (1675-76) is an event that has been largely ignored by the American public and popular historians. However, the almost two-year conflict between the colonists and the Native Americans in New England stands as perhaps the most devastating war in this country’s history. One in ten soldiers on both sides were wounded or killed. At its height, hostilities threatened to push the recently arrived English colonists back to the coast. And, it took years for towns and urban centers to recover from the carnage and property damage.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Thomas King's 'The Inconvenient Indian'

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Thomas King’s novel, The Inconvenient Indian, the story of North America’s history is discussed from his original viewpoint and perspective. In his first chapter, “Forgetting Columbus,” he voices his opinion about how he feel towards the way white people have told America’s history and portraying it as an adventurous tale of triumph, strength and freedom. King hunts down the evidence needed to reveal more facts on the controversial relationship between the whites and natives and how it has affected the culture of Americans. Mainly untangling the confusion between the idea of Native Americans being savages and whites constantly reigning in glory. He exposes the truth about how Native Americans were treated and how their actual stories were

    Read More

  • The Sovereignty and Goodness of God

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Sovereignty and Goodness of God is a primary source document written in the 17th century, by a well-respected, Puritan woman. This book, written in cahoots with Cotton and Increase Mather, puritan ministers, tells the story of her capture by Indians during King Phillip’s War (1675-1676). For three months, Mary Rowlandson, daughter of a rich landowner, mother of three children, wife of a minister, and a pillar of her community lived among “savage” Indians. This document is important for several reasons. First, it gives us insight into the attitudes, extremes, personalities and “norms” of the Puritan people we learn about in terms of their beliefs, and John Calvin’s “house on a hill”. Beyond that, despite the inevitable exaggerations, this book gives us insight into Indian communities, and how they were run and operated during this time.

    Read More

More about Howard Zinn's Essay on The Pequot War

Open Document