King Philip’s War, Research Paper Example

King Philip’s War was a battle fought between the colonists and the Native Americans over territory in New England.  The battle lasted from June 1675 to August 1676.  Though it spanned only a little over one year, it was one of the bloodiest wars in American history.  An estimated 9,000 individuals were killed out of New England’s population of 80,000.  Native Americans comprised two-thirds of the dead, many dying due to starvation.  In this war, Native Americans attacked 52 of New England’s towns, pillaging 25, and burning 17 to the ground.  The colonists executed hundreds and sold thousands of captured Native Americans into slavery. The loss suffered from this war was one from which New England’s tribes never completely recovered (Brandt, “Blood and Betrayal: King Philip’s War).  The peace that had existed between the colonists and natives for 50 years had been destroyed.  The purpose of this paper is to better understand the events of King Philip’s War and how it inspired the conduct of both the colonists and the Native Americans.

King Philip’s war began with the murder of John Sassamon, a respected elder Wampanoag.  Because he had converted to Christianity, he was a considered a peacemaker between the two cultures.  Since Sassamon was able to read and speak English, he functioned as both an interpreter to the colonists and as a secretary to Chief Metacom, the Wampanoag “sachem.”  The English knew Metacom as “King Philip,” a nickname given to him in reference to Philip of Macedon.

Sassamon’s body was found in January of 1675, beneath Assawompset Pond.  A Native American, who was friendly with the colonists, reported that he had watched from a distance as three Wampanoags brutally murdered Sassamon (Brandt, “Blood and Betrayal: King Philip’s War”).  Brandt mentions as an aside that the witness had owed gambling debts to one of the three murderers.  These men were tried and executed on June 8, 1675.  They were close associates with Philip, who ordered the Wampanoags to attack and burn several colonists’ homesteads in retaliation.  On June 23, 1675, the Wampanoags raided homes in the Plymouth village of Swansea, while residents attended a prayer meeting.  A boy shot one of the raiders, fatally wounding him.  The Wampanoags killed nine Swansea settlers in retribution the following day (Brandt, “Blood and Betrayal”).

After the tragedy at Swansea, the Wampanoags attacked the towns of Middleborough and Dartmouth.  In Dartmouth, Wampanoags torched homes and killed civilian colonists.  The Wampanoags surrendered when they were promised that no harm would come, but were sold into slavery (Brandt, “Blood and Betrayal: King Philip’s War).

The colonists did not see the Native American tribes as exempt from colonial law and viewed those supporting Philip and the Wampanoags as separatists (Drake 37).  The English penalty for treason and murder was death; for treason specifically to be beheaded and quartered (37).  The colonists were more lenient in the beginning with these punishments, but as the war progressed, these executions became more enforced (Drake 38).  Because the colonists suffered repeated setbacks the first half of the war, they treated their captives well, as to discourage vengeful actions (Drake 48).  Many Puritans spoke out for the plight on behalf of the Native Americans.  Drake quotes William Hubbard, an Ipswich minister, in saying that the Native Americans treated their captives well, and respected the female captives.  Witnessing this behavior forced the some colonists to reexamine some of their stereotypes (Drake 50).

At the beginning of the war, Drake reports that the Puritan colonies decided the fate of the “separatists” by first trying to measure their guilt and then punish them according to the law and their morality (44).  Drake states that the colonists categorized separatist Native Americans, and thereby exacted punishments.  Most leaders, such as prominent sachems were executed.  Ordinary separatists who killed colonists in an “unsoldierly faction,” were put on trial for murder.  Separatists who were captured or surrendered were sold into slavery or held as indentured servants.  Some separatists did receive immunity, but only if they proved their loyalty to the colonists (38, 39).  The poverty the colonists faced was a major reason that the colonists sold Native Americans into slavery.  They used the Scripture and international law to justify this practice (38).

Philip recruited the aid of the Nipmucks, with Muttawmp and Matoonas proving to be fierce military leaders.  Matoonas attacked the town of Mendon in July, leaving six colonists dead, and Muttawmp attacked Brookfield.  The colonist realized that the Native Americans were targeting every southern New England town (Brandt, “Blood and Betrayal: King Philip’s War). In September 1675, Muttawmp and his army killed 71 colonial soldiers in the Battle of Bloody Brook in Deerfield (Brandt, “Blood and Betrayal: King Philip’s War”).

In the beginning of the war, the colonists tried to make sure that the Narragansetts, the most powerful Native American tribe in New England did not join sides with Philip.  But by December, 1675, the colonists made enemies with the Narragansetts when they accused them of harboring hostile Wampanoags.  When the Narragansetts ignored a neutrality treaty, 1,000 colonists and their allies entered Rhode Island and attacked the Narragansett camp, killing 300 and taking 300 as captive.  The Narragansett camp was burned and their winter supplies were destroyed.  However, the Narragansetts were able to escape into the swamps.  After this, the Narragansetts joined with Philip, and to begin to raid the towns of Rhode Island and kill civilian colonists.  Brandt states that the Native Americans continued to be successful in their raids of the colonial towns; however each attack had increasingly cost them more lives than the colonists.

The colonists did made allies in the Mohawks and the Mohegans, who advised them to actively seek out the native tribes. When they began this practice, they began to advance in the war.  In April 1676, the Narragansett leader was caught and executed to by the Mohegans.

On March 12, 1676, a party of separatist Native Americans attacked the garrison of William Clark and killed eleven people.  The colonists felt that this was an “act of senseless cruelty toward defenseless noncombatants” (39).  Four months later, the group surrendered, including three who instigated the attack.  The three instigators were executed for committing a crime against humanity, as they had “demonstrated no restraint and no mercy, they deserved none” (39). Conversely, nine days earlier, the same Plymouth Court had demonstrated mercy toward a group of Saconets under the sachem Awashunkes.  They had admitted to fleeing from the colonists and burning houses.  However, since no violence was committed and the men agreed to fight with the colonists, the women and children were allowed to remain on the Saconets’ land.

In August of 1676, Philip was captured and executed.  He was beheaded and quartered, and his remains were hung from trees.  This act was to deny him burial and was meant to dishonor him.  Philip’s head was placed on a spike on a hill overlooking Plymouth.  Drake states that it was one of Philip’s own men who shot him in while fighting with Benjamin Church (40).

Drake reports that social position of the colonists was largely responsible for the decision of how to treat the separatists. Military leaders and government officials were more restrained and more likely to treat their captives in a civil manner.  Colonists who were civilians without formal training, tended to be the least sympathetic and more prone to prejudicial actions (44) and more motivated by revenge. (45)

By September 1676, colonists were more likely to execute the natives because they now had a “sense of victory” which they lacked earlier before Philip was killed in July (Drake 41).

Even though the colonists won the war, they did not come out victorious.  It took nearly a century for New England’s economy to recover.  In addition, the New England colonists lost a significant amount of independence from England.  Before the war, the colonists were free to govern themselves.  However, when word reached England, King Charles II sent envoys to assess the situation.  Plymouth Colony was given a royal charter and Charles II dissolved the United Colonies of New England, a military alliance formed to resolve disputes among the colonies.  The colonies lost their freedom to manage their own affairs and were governed by royal authorities.  Brandt postulates that the tensions that arose led to the onset of the Revolutionary War.

As with any war, both the Native Americans and the colonists committed horrible acts, but each believed their side to be justified.  The cruelty on both sides escalated as the war progressed, and the battle rampaged throughout New England, eventually spreading to Maine.  While colonists who were more educated or held a higher military office were more likely to treat the Native Americans as human beings, the overwhelming majority of colonists convinced themselves that the tribes were savages and could be dealt with as they pleased.  The consequences of King Philip’s War left both sides devastated; a fate that could have been avoided had each side conducted themselves in a more civil manner.

Works Cited

Brandt, Anthony. “Blood and Betrayal: King Philip’s War.” Historynet., 30 Oct. 2014. Web 19 Oct. 2015. <http://www.historynet.com/blood-and-betrayal-king-philips-war.htm>.

Drake, James. “Retraining Atrocity: The Conduct of King Philip’s War.” The New England Quarterly 70.1 (1997): 33-56. Web. 19 Oct. 2015 <https://www.msu.edu/~ottevaer/interactive/drake.pdf>