The Origins of War
King Philip's War, 1675-76
Historians seem to agree that the coming of the first English settlers
to New England and the establishment of white civilization, made King
Philip's War virtually inevitable. The origins of King Philip's War between
the Colonists and Indians were complex. The biggest issue was land, with
the growing white population always needing more of it. The region's
Algonquian tribes saw their homeland begin to shrink. To the west lived
the enemy, the powerful Iroquois. As the whites began to obtain land,
they often managed to defraud the Indians. When transactions were honorable,
problems resulted from the Indians failure to grasp the concept of individual
ownership of land. An idea that was alien to them. They believed that
you could use the land, but not own it. The Indians believed when they
put their mark on deeds they were only granting permission for the whites
to use their land. They did not believe that they were ceding their own
hunting and fishing rights. There were other issues as well and other
areas of conflict. The expanding English presence also meant the weakening
of the Indian culture and the erosion of the Indians' economic base. Colonial
missionaries zealously sought to convert the "pagans" to Christianity,
creating "Praying Indians" and "Towns", and along
with them a stressful cultural rift within Indian society.
Here were two different
ways of life confronting each other in a great undeveloped country. By
the 1660's the Indians in southern New England were no longer needed for
their wilderness skills. Fishing, and other commerce had largely replaced
the fur and wampum trade which had been the mainstays of the colonial
economy. So when in 1662, a proud, visionary, and dynamic Indian leader,
Metacom also known as King Philip, was added to this powder keg war became
inevitable. This bloody war became known as King Philip's War (1675-76).
It involved the Nipmuc, the Narragansett, the Wampanoag and raged
up and down the Connecticut River Valley as well as in the Plymouth and
the Rhode Island colonies.