King Philip's War

King Philip's War was a general Indian uprising in 1675–1676 to resist continued expansion of the English colonies throughout the New England region.

Background

Tensions between the European settlers and American natives ebbed and rose, but were constantly present.

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All the Indians in the area were trapped in a decreasing area between the expanding colonies along the coasts and the even more hostile Iroquois and Mohican tribes to the west.

Related Topics:
Iroquois - Mohican

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The smallpox epidemics and Pequot War of the 1630s had reduced native population and brought 40 years of relative peace.

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Philip had become chief in 1662 and he increased the contact between the Wampanoag and the colonists.

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By 1670 the entire area from the Atlantic west to the Connecticut River Valley was still partially wilderness, but had 40 or 50 colonial towns and villages scattered through it.

Related Topics:
1670 - Connecticut River

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These were matched by a similar number of interspersed Indian settlements, sometimes side by side.

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After several incidents, the court in Plymouth forced Philip's band to turn over many of their firearms to the colony in 1671.

Related Topics:
Plymouth - 1671

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But this only increased tensions.

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Also, as this involved the Puritan colony of Massachusetts, attempted conversion of the natives was a source of tension. Many settlers were attempting, and sometimes succeeding, to convert the Indians to Puritanism. Those who were converted were called "praying Indians". Some natives were killed when they attempted to resist the conversion.

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The spark that started the war was a report from a "praying Indian" named John Sassamon of an Indian conspiracy to attack the European settlements. Before the charges could be investigated, John Sassamon was found murdered in a pond, allegedly by Wampanoag angry at his betrayal.

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The settlers arrested three Indians from the area, convicted them of his murder, and hanged them on June 8, 1675 at Plymouth. The Wampanoag believed the trial and sentencing was an insult, and the incident inflamed tempers further.

Related Topics:
June 8 - 1675

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In response to the previous incident, a band of Pokanoket, probably without Philip's approval, looted several homes at Swansea on June 20.

Related Topics:
Pokanoket - Swansea - June 20

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After a siege of 5 days, the town was destroyed.

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The colonists from Plymouth and Boston were quick to respond, and on June 28 they sent an expedition that destroyed the Wampanoag town at Mount Hope (modern Bristol, Rhode Island).

Related Topics:
Boston - June 28 - Bristol, Rhode Island

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