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American revolution details introduction
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America's Most Devastating Conflict
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.
The war is named for King Philip, the son of Massasoit and chief of the Wampanoag nation. In his language, his name was Metacom, Metacomet, or Pometacom. In 1662, the court at Plymouth Colony arrogantly summoned the Wampanoag leader Wamsutta to Plymouth. Major Josiah Winslow (later Colonel) and a small force took Wamsutta, Philip’s brother, at gunpoint. Soon after questioning, Wamsutta sickened and died and his death infuriated the Wampanoag nation.
Upon the death of his brother, whom the Indians suspected the English of murdering, Philip became sachem and maintained a shaky peace with the colonists for a number of years. Friendship continued to erode over the steady succession of land sales forced on the Indians by their growing dependence on English goods, and Plymouth’s continued unyielding policy toward Native leaders, it is reported by the Connecticut Society of Colonial Wars (www.colonialwarsct.org) and other sources.
Suspicions of the Indians remained, and in 1671, the colonists questioned Philip, fined him and demanded that the Wampanoag surrender their arms, which they did.
War Flames Are Ignited
In January 1675, the Indian John Sassamon died at Assawampsett Pond, about 15 miles north of present-day New Bedford. Sassamon was literate and a Christian convert. He may have been acting as an informer to the English and was murdered, probably at Philip’s instigation. Increase Mather, writing after the war, suggested he was killed “out of hatred for him for his Religion, for he was Christianized, and baptiz’d, and was a Preacher amongst the Indians...and was wont to curb those Indians that knew not God on the account of their debauchereyes” (1)
Events moved quickly, and on June 8 Sassamon's alleged murderers were tried and executed at Plymouth. Three days later, ...
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...in the Cumberland Massacre. His career was in corporate communications before returning to creative writing. He currently is working on an anthology of short stories that are stylistically reminiscent of O. Henry and a novel set in Taiwan during the Vietnam war. He lives in Connecticut and can be reached at w.giersbach@att.net.
References
1. Increase Mather, Brief History, 49-50, b. 1639-d. 1723, Mather was pastor of North Church in Boston and father of Cotton Mather.
2. Benjamin Thompson, New-England’s Crisis, p. 220
3. Jill Lepore, The Name of War, p. 85, First Vintage Books, 1999.
4 George Ingersoll to Leif Augur, Sept. 10, 1675.
5 Narratives of the Indian Wars 1675-1699, edited by Charles H. Lincoln, Ph.D: A World Wide Web Site Containing Information About the Biology, History, and Geology of New England's Largest River (http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/), University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
6 The battle in which Captain Michael Pierce lost his life is detailed in Drakes Indian Chronicles (pp. 220-222) (http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/conn.river/massacre.html)
7 http://www.pilgrimhall.org/philipwar.htm, Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, MA.
In 1675, tensions between Native Americans and colonists residing in New England erupted into the brutal conflict that has come to be known as King Philip's War, the bloodiest battle in America history, in proportion to population it was also the deadliest war in American history. The English colonists wished to rid the country of the Indians in order to seize their land. They believed the Indians were savages and therefore were not worthy of equal rights.
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 ...
1675-76, the most devastating war between the colonists and the Native Americans in New England. The war is named for King Philip, the son of Massasoit and chief of the Wampanoag. His Wampanoag name was Metacom, Metacomet, or Pometacom. Upon the death (1662) of his brother, Alexander (Wamsutta), whom the Native Americans suspected the English of murdering, Philip became sachem and maintained peace with the colonists for a number of years. Hostility eventually developed over the steady succession of land sales forced on the Native Americans by their growing dependence on English goods. Suspicious of Philip, the English colonists in 1671 questioned and fined him and demanded that the Wampanoag surrender their arms, which they did. In 1675 a Christian Native American who had been acting as an informer to the English was murdered, probably at Philip's instigation. Three Wampanoags were tried for the murder and executed. Incensed by this act, the Native Americans in June, 1675, made a sudden raid on the border settlement of Swansea. Other raids followed; towns were burned and many whites-men, women, and children-were slain. Unable to draw the Native Americans into a major battle, the colonists resorted to similar methods of warfare in retaliation and antagonized other tribes. The Wampanoag were joined by the Nipmuck and by the Narragansett (after the latter were attacked by the colonists), and soon all the New England colonies were involved in the war. Philip's cause began to decline after he made a long journey west in an unsuccessful attempt to secure aid from the Mohawk. In 1676 the Narragansett were completely defeated and their chief, Canonchet, was killed in April of that year; the Wampanoag and Nipmuck were gradually subdued. Philip's wife and son were captured, and he was killed (Aug., 1676) by a Native American in the service of Capt.
Tensions between Americans and Indians rose due to the passive stance America courts took when dealing with hate crimes against Indians. Rumors centered around the idea of Indians encroaching on colonists’ land were widespread. Although fabricated, the gossip quickly escalated the already high tensions between the two cultures. Pennsylvania colonists discovered their precious tax dollars went towards providing aid to the many Indians who lived amongst them. Paxton, a village located in Pennsylvania, became the hotspot for disgruntled, committed radicals wanting to attack neighboring Indian tribes. The village of Paxton was primarily occupied by pacifist Quakers, so it was easy for the radicals to overpower the town. (Who Were the Paxton Boys?... 1). This city provided an organized meeting spot where radicals could conjugate and discuss plans. In December of 1763, men from the village of Paxton took up arms and raided a small tribe of Conestoga Indians (John H.
Winthrop’s Boston: A Portrait of a Puritan Town, 1630 - 1649 by Darret B. Rutman seemed to be a long and excruciating read. The book had a great deal of information that the reader could learn from it, but most was lost when trying to stay awake to read it. On the other hand, Rutman had the concept down. The importance should be put on the idea behind the book because if you are interested in the idea you will gain knowledge. Nonetheless this book shows you the circumstances that Winthrop faced, what the founder of Boston fought through to create “The City on the Water”.
...s to the English. This war was called the Pequot War and it was as deadly as the Powhatan-Indian war.
During the years of 1675 and 1676 the North American colonies experienced conflicts that shaped the dynamics of their colonial life. King Phillip's War would effectively end relations between the New England colonists and the Indians. Also, the rebellion in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon stressed the growing discontent of poor frontier farmers for British rule. The consequences of these two events clearly had an impact on different levels that would extend well beyond their time. Therefore, the years 1675 and 1676 played a very significant role in the Northern American colonies.
Philbrick makes it apparent he disagrees with the treatment of the Natives and the outcome and handling of the trial for Sassamon using phrases with sarcastic and negative connotations (Philbrick 231). Philbrick calls the Pilgrims’ perseverance to maintain/regulate the Natives as “stubborn insistence on rectitude was to dehumanize the Indians so they seemed wanton and senseless instruments of God’s will,” (Philbrick 231). Philbrick calls out the Pilgrims for not making proper use of the Natives’ supplies and fort simply because the idea is “abhorrent,” (Philbrick 277). It’s truly bigoted to not take advantage of the enemy’s supplies. Philbrick scrutinizes the Pilgrims for their hypocritical lack of morality as compared to the Natives. The English would rape female captives and literally and “enthusiastically butcher” captives and torture them by “cut[ting] the young warrior apart, finger by finger and toe by toe...before clubbing them to death,”(Philbrick 319-320). The Natives are much more humane in this aspect, never raping a female captive or abusing captives like the English (Philbrick 320). Philbrick denounces the Pilgrims and Puritans for never admitting the necessity of Native tribes, Andros and Mohawks, to win the war (Philbrick
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, ...
When the English landed in Jamestown in 1607, the dominant tribe of the area was the Powhatan (which the English settlers named after the leader of the tribe, Powhatan). At first meeting, the Powhatan considered the settlers as allies, who may be able to aid them in their struggle for land and power over the other tribes in the area. These relations strained when starving settlers started to take food from the Native Americans. In 1610, any notion of alliance between the Powhatan and the Virginia settlers was immediately crushed when Lord De La Warr arrived with a declaration of war against all Indians in the Jamestown area. De La Warr used his "Irish Tactics" of burning houses and crops and taking prisoners to destroy the Native Americans in what was known as the First Anglo-Powhatan war. A peace treaty was signed, but lasted only eight years. The Powhatan killed 347 settlers, which lead to the Virginia Company to give orders for "a perpetual war without peace or truce." Although the Powhatan made one more attempt at destroying the Virginians, they were defeated again in the Second Anglo-Powhatan war. The peace treaty of 1646 eliminated all chance of the Powhatan coexisting with the Virginia settlers. The treaty also banished the Indians from their native lands, which lay the president for what was later known as a reservation. After this the number of Native Americans in Virginia dwindled to a low 10% of the population.
On the morning of November 4, 1791, Major General Arthur St. Clair, along with an estimated 1400 soldiers, came under a coordinated attack by Chief Little Turtle and over 1000 Native American warriors. By the end of the day, the casualties on the American side were well above nine hundred. The Native Americans casualties were fewer than one hundred and fifty. St. Clair’s defeat, or the Battle of the Wabash, resulted in America’s largest defeat in any one battle against Native Americans. President George Washington demanded and received St. Clair’s resignation from the army. St. Clair faced the first Congressional Special Committee investigation and the course of the United States military changed.
Not many know about Dragging Canoe and the battle he fought during the American Revolutionary War. The Native American’s role in the Revolutionary War was very important, but not well known. As a result, the Revolutionary War can come across as one-sided. Dragging Canoe fought for the Native American’s existence in the colonies. First, he was strongly opposed to Henderson’s Purchase or also called the Transylvania Purchase. Secondly, Dragging Canoe’s raid at “Battle of the Bluffs” became an issue for the colonists. And lastly, there was negotiating done between the British and Colonists would somehow effect Dragging Canoe, his warriors, and the future for the Native Americans.
In spring 1676, Phillip attacked Massachusetts and lower Rhode Island. All of the Indians from Phillip’s tribe were helping him, except for the praying Indians who were on the English side. Phillip relocated all of the praying Indians to Dear Island, while he continued his conquest.
In “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson,” Mary Rowlandson, a Puritan mother from Lancaster, Massachusetts, recounts the invasion of her town by Indians in 1676 during “King Philip’s War,” when the Indians attempted to regain their tribal lands. She describes the period of time where she is held under captivity by the Indians, and the dire circumstances under which she lives. During these terrible weeks, Mary Rowlandson deals with the death of her youngest child, the absence of her Christian family and friends, the terrible conditions that she must survive, and her struggle to maintain her faith in God. She also learns how to cope with the Indians amongst whom she lives, which causes her attitude towards them to undergo several changes. At first, she is utterly appalled by their lifestyle and actions, but as time passes she grows dependent upon them, and by the end of her captivity, she almost admires their ability to survive the harshest times with a very minimal amount of possessions and resources. Despite her growing awe of the Indian lifestyle, her attitude towards them always maintains a view that they are the “enemy.”
Okonkwo was deeply grieved. And it was not just a personal grief. He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umofia, Who had so unaccountably become soft like women.