Spirit of 1676: remembering the Native American cataclysm of King Philip’s war
Summary
The article examines the 350th anniversary of King Philip’s War, a 17th-century conflict in which Indigenous peoples fought English colonial expansion in New England. It says the war caused extensive deaths and enslavement among Indigenous communities, and historians argue that its violence receives less public attention than the American Revolution.Key Facts
- Metacom, also known as King Philip, was a Pokanoket leader who led an alliance of New England tribes against English colonists.
- The article says English encroachment on Indigenous land and efforts to spread Christianity contributed to the conflict.
- An estimated 800 colonists and 3,000 to 5,000 Indigenous people died in the war, according to the article.
- After the Indigenous alliance’s defeat, the English sold many Indigenous people into slavery and executed others on Boston Common.
- Metacom’s father, Ousamequin, helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter at Plymouth and took part in an early Thanksgiving meal, the article says.
- The war’s 350th anniversary falls in 2026, the same year as the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.
- Historian Christine De Lucia says the overlapping anniversaries create an opportunity to consider why some historical events receive more attention than others.
- Mack Scott III, a Narragansett scholar, says national narratives can portray Indigenous removal as natural or inevitable while obscuring the war’s violence.
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