The Puritan Experiment: New England Society from Bradford to Edwards

12 | An Oppressed People: New England's Encounters with Metacom, Governor Andros, and the Witches

Chapter Twelve AN OPPRESSED PEOPLE: NEW ENGLAND'S ENCOUNTERS WITH METACOM, GOVERNOR ANDROS, AND THE WITCHES While struggling with the religious crises of the post-Restoration period, the New Englanders also experienced three major civic conflicts that tested their endurance, altered their government, and at the same time reinforced the anxieties ofthose who believed the society to be in decline:fromthe forests ofNew England came thefirstreal Indian uprising in the region's history; in England, the renewal of consolidation efforts led to the revocation of the colonists' charters; and in the troubled times of the early 1690s the citizens ofEssex County, Massachusetts, became convinced that there were witches in their midst. By the end of the century, direct Puritan control of New England society, weakened at first by the Restoration , was at last toppled. King Philip's War From the time that Plymouth's first governor, John Carver, signed a treaty of peace with Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag tribe, the history of New England's Indian relations was one of remarkable, though not unblemished , amity. The Puritan settlers were not interested in exterminating the Indians. A number of colonists labored hard to bring to the Indians what they viewed as the twin blessings of Puritan faith and English civilization. Colonial officials passed legislation protecting Indian rights and supporting the missionary activities of clergymen such asJohn Eliot and Thomas Mayhew . What conflict there was between 1620 and 1675—most notably the An Oppressed People 169 Pequot War—was not essentially racial in nature and was marked by the active participation of some Indian tribes on the side of the colonists. That the expansion of their settlements caused an erosion of Indian culture and leadership was neither planned by the Puritans nor unwelcome to many Indians. By the 1670s, some four thousand natives were living in the area of English settlement, many of them in "praying towns" thatJohn Eliot had been authorized to found. Some Indian leaders, however, found their own power and influence threatened by Puritan expansion. In the interaction between the two cultures , Indian values and traditions were being slowly eroded. The once independent native tribes of New England were gradually reduced to dependence on the English economy. Many Indians sought assimilation to colonial society, adopting the white man's dwellings, clothing, and religion. All of this must have appeared threatening to many tribal chieftains and religious leaders. They were further alienated by the undoubted offenses inflicted on the tribes by some colonists, not all ofwhom were apprehended and tried by New England authorities. Ifsome Indians suspected and feared the white man, some New Englanders looked down upon the Indians and had little concern for their rights. Regardless of the forbearance of most white and native leaders, malcontents on both sides could find incidents to sustain their racist hostilities. As the century progressed and the English population grew and expanded, such incidents multiplied. Among the discontented chieftains was Metacom—King Philip to the colonists—the son of Massasoit and chief of the Wampanoags. Generally conceded to have been weak, deceitful, vain, and ambitious, Metacom had been suspected in 1667 of conspiring with the French and Dutch against the English. In 1671, observers at the Indian village of Mount Hope noticed warlike preparations among Metacom's braves. The Plymouth authorities summoned the chief to appear before them at Taunton. They demanded that his people surrender their guns, and he was forced to comp !yThough signs of Indian discontent persisted, there was no further scare until 1675, when the Indian Sassamon warned Plymouth's governor, Josiah Winslow, of a new conspiracy being engineered byMetacom. Raised under strong Christian influence, Sassamon had wavered between the two cultures , maintaining contacts in both. Shortly after informing Winslow of Metacom's plans, he was murdered. An Indian eyewitness identified three of Metacom's braves as the guilty parties. They were tried, convicted, and executed. The Wampanoags were incensed by the executions, and on 20June 1675 the Indians attacked the English settlement of Swansea. King Philip's War i7o THE PURITAN EXPERIMENT had begun. The immediate objectives of the colonial authorities were to prevent other tribes from joining Metacom and to keep the Wampanoags bottled up on the Mount Hope peninsula. Emissaries, including Roger Williams, went to neighboring tribes to urge their neutrality. Rhode Island stationed boats to block the tribe's escape by water, while Connecticut sent troops to guard the land route...