King Philip's War

Zubaidah Farhan

Metacomet

What was King Philip's War ?

The most devastating,excruciating  and bloodiest war in America, King Philip's War was a conflict between the Native Americans and The English Colonists. As Francis Bylis states,"Philip was the most powerful enemy that was ever encountered ... and came near exterminating the whole English race in New England,"  Metacomet, or Philip, was one of the most influential and powerful tribe leader of all times.

How Philip'sWar begun

Even though the war started in 1675, conflicts between the Natives and Settlers started to degenerate in 1609. Furthermore, these conflicts appeared as the colonists cut two heads of the Indian (1609, colonists were trying to force a commerce with Indians), as they failed to keep their animals such as horses and cattle from spoiling the Natives good, and as they drunk and cheated them until they had no chance of keeping their ancestors' territories, according to John Easton," the English made them drunk and then  cheated them; that now, they had no hope left to keep any land."  The colonists were rapidly taking more and more of the Indian lands, which lead to King Philip retaliating with a war.

The colonists feeding the natives, getting

getting them drunk, during thanksgiving

How the War Perpetuated and How it eventually Ceased

It perpetuated by more people killed and towns burned from both sides, Indians and Colonists . It terminated when Benjamin Church on a quest , using friendly Indians as scouts, tracked Metacomit thorough out the summer of August 12, 1967.An Indian who was guiding Church fired his musket and sent a musket ball through Philip's heart.

Colonel Benjamin Church

What could have been done or What Should have been Done.

 The English should have considered the fact that colonizing America earnestly was discriminatory. One must not invade the others' territories or land. The colonists were taking the Native Americans' lands and taking advantage of the native American in trade by getting them drunk so they could get more lands.The English humiliated the Indians . I believe  that this situation was unprofessional and very thoughtless. The colonists, In my opinion, should have firmly departed. As Edward Randolf states in his report, "Some blame the people of Boston for trying to Christianize the Indians and for forcing the Indians to observe their laws. They think the Indians are too rude and uncivilized." Colonists considered the natives as punished human beings from god. Therefore, the British Parliament, trying to avoid conflicts between the Native and colonists, should have drawn Segregation Lines, forbidding the colonists to settle in  Indian territory.  

Lack of Understanding and Persuasion Lead to the Conflict

Native Americans fought among themselves over hunting rights to their land. To me, the colonists have no warrant to lay the hold of their homes or enclaves. As Jhon Easten says, "The Indians agreed that fighting was the worst way; then they asked how we might avoid war. We said, by negotiation. They said that they lost many square miles of land through negotiation,"  although the Indians tried to compromise but the English, instead, cheated them.  Lack of comprehension and encouragement lead to ignorant but serious actions. About 3000 out of 20,000 ( 15% ) Indians were killed and 800 out of 52,000 (1.5 %) were killed in 1675 . All in all , the results of the Natives to the English were unjust.

Metcomet, King Philip

The death of Philip effectively ended Native American resistance in New England. All told , between 1600-1675, Native American population fell from 140,000 to 10,000. But true to his clarion​ monologue, Philip had gone down fighting "Determined not to live until I have no country."