King Philip's War Cause And Effect

King Philip’s War, also known as the Great Narragansett War, has been named “America’s most devastating conflict,” and “was a violent and bloody battle between the Wampanoag and English colonists” (Messina). “King Philp’s War settled who controlled Southern New England, and cleared the way for colonial expansion. It also set the tone for future relations between the Native American people and the United States” (“Metacom’s (King Philip’s) War). On January 29, 1695, John Sassamon, a Christian “praying” Indian who had been acting as an informer to the British, died at Assawampsett Lake. Although Sassamon’s exact cause of death is unknown, most likely, Sassamon was murdered by three members of King Philip’s tribe, under the orders of King Philip

In January 1675, John Sassamon visited Governor John Winslow at his home in Marshfield, Massachusetts. Sassamon had come with the dismal warning that the Wampanoag had been planning to begin a war against the English colonists. He returned home, but was later found dead under the ice at Assawompsett Pond. At first, Sassamon’s death was deemed accidental, but by June a Christian Indian named Patuckson came forward and testified that he had seen three Wampanoag; Tobias (one of Philip’s counselors), Tobias’ son Wapapaquan, and Mattachunnamo, murder Sassamon. Although Patuckson owed a gambling debt to Tobias, the three were accused, according to Plymouth Colony records, of “laying violent hands on [John Sassamon] … and striking him, or twisting his necke, until hee was dead … [and] did cast his dead body through the hole of thee iyce” (Schultz, 26-27). Schultz states that, “the accusations against these three men soon led to one of colonial America’s most infamous courtroom dramas” (27). Both Indians and English colonists sat upon the jury for the duration of this trial, with there being a jury of twelve Englishmen, supplemented by an auxiliary jury of perhaps four Indians. To this day, it is unknown how the deliberations worked but, is it clear the verdict was unanimous among white and Indian