King Philip's War
Section 1(Intro to Chapter 3)
Who was King Philip and why was he important?
Colonists gave the youngest son of Massasoit, the Indian leader Metacom, the name King Philip (Fitzgerald, 1998), who during their early years in Plymouth had helped save the Pilgrims from starvation. However, the deterioration in relations between the colonists and the native tribes led to King Philip's war (Fitzgerald, 1998).
Thus, Philip became the Grand Sachem of the Wampanoags. In Kawashima's book, he opined that King Philip could have been a great leader, but situations occurred at that time prevented him from leading a united Indian front (Fitzgerald, 1998). However, he was an important leader, as he was the one who foresighted that the English would not halt their spreading out and if left unchecked it would be the end of the Wampanoags (Fitzgerald, 1998).
Thus, Philip in an attempt to stop the English expansion started to join the aid of other tribes and thus, owing to the frequent trading contacts and the Praying Indians, the English authorities finally came to know about it (Fitzgerald, 1998). According to Kawashima, the relationship between the English and the Indians became more tensed then before due to the frequent trading of like land for planting, hunting and fishing and collapse in the fur trade (Fitzgerald, 1998).
The author detailed in the book that the English summoned Philip to Taunton in 1671 where he was accused of plotting against them. Thus, he made an agreement in order to give up all of the Wampanoag firearms and had even his escort turn over their guns (Fitzgerald, 1998).
Furthermore, the author proved that Philips's era has been...
Further, he made an agreement to follow the colonies guidance in affairs of war as well as in the removal of Indian land. However, this agreement, as a result, exposed the Wampanoag's of all power and they became dependant subjects of the Plymouth Colony (Fitzgerald, 1998).
However, based on following events, Kawashima opined that Philip most likely signed this agreement, under pressure, in order to gain some time (Fitzgerald, 1998). Most probably, his plans were already in progress to rise and throw the English off his people's lands.
Section 2: (Ch. 4-6)
Question # 3: Who was John Sassamon and why was he important?
John Sassamon was a Christian Indian who for a while served as Philip's secretary and due to his proficiency in English and his contacts in the Plymouth Colony he was a valuable member of Philip's staff. However, later lived with the Christian Indians and left Philip and became a preacher at the Indian town of Nemasket.
As depict by Kawashima, Sassamon was between cultures, as neither he was totally English nor was part of the Indian worlds as the author said he came to warn colonial about the attack by Indians (Ranlet, 2002). However, Kawashima believed that Sassamon aimed to capture King Philip's land by changing the sachem's will in his favor, as Kawashima said that the inquest was "inconclusive" (Kawashima, p. 100).
Kawashima correctly points out in the book, the possible cause of Sassamon's death; which…
