What Sparked King Philip's War?

As I was reading A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration by Mary Rowlandson, I asked myself, "What sparked all of the hostility between the Indians and the white men?" When we think of Thanksgiving, we think of the Indians and the Pilgrims living together peacefully and sharing meals. John Smith seemed to have made a good relationship with the Indians despite being captive for a small period of time. I wanted to know more about the war outside of Mary Rowlandson's perspective and how it started.

Early on in the colonial times, the white men had a strong relationship with the Indians. They traded with each other and the white men brought the Indians goods and food. The colonists taught the Natives about Christianity and preached to them from the Bible. They didn't do this to take away the Natives' way of life, but they strongly believed it was the right thing to do to help the Indian people achieve salvation. Reverend John Eliot even spent many years of his life working to translate the Bible into their language. The whites depended on the Indians for survival and the Indians depended on the whites for trade. They seemed to live together happily for a period of time (http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/horsemusket/kingphilip/default.aspx).

Massasoit was the leader of the Wampanoags and he signed a treaty with the Pilgrims at Plymouth. The peace endured for fifty years but with the death of Massasoit came hostility. Massasoit's son, Philip, despised the white men. The Indians were losing trust because the whites were treating them unfairly in trades. Livestock were trampling the farming lands of the Indians and they felt threatened. One of the first major events that sparked King Philip's War was the death of his brother. Wamsutta, King Philip's brother, was taken at gunpoint into Plymouth for questioning but had fallen sick and died before he could return to his village. This infuriated Philip, but the peace was still kept. The colonists knew the Indians were no longer as satisfied with the white men as they had been in the past before the death of Wamsutta. The colonists feared an attack. In 1671, Philip was ordered to surrender all of his weapons and he did (http://www.usahistory.info/NewEngland/King-Philips-War.html). 

In 1675, a Christian Indian was murdered by other Indians. His name was John Sassamon. Sassamon was a preacher for the other Indians and an informer for the colonists. He was most likely killed because of his religion and because Philip's tribe feared the loss of its culture. The suspects of the murder were taken to Plymouth and executed. As soon as the Wampanoags heard the news, they were preparing for war and the attack on Swansea took place soon after (http://www.pilgrimhall.org/philipwar.htm).

The conflicted lasted two years and was one of the worst wars seen in America. One in ten soldiers on both sides were either wounded or killed and entire families were destroyed. It took decades for both sides to rebuild the progress that had been made in earlier years. Despite all of the destruction, there is one positive effect the war had on America. Because England did not give much military support to the colonists, the war was the beginning of America's independent militia. Towns organized their own militias to fight the Indians which could be thought of as the beginning of the Colonial militias that helped fight for independence from England in the Revolutionary War (http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/horsemusket/kingphilip/default.aspx).

How Did Tobacco Help With the Independence of the Colonies?

Thomas Paine began his involvement in civic matters when he started attending the meetings of The Society of Twelve. This group met twice a year to discuss the issues of the town of Lewes in East Sussex. He was introduced to this group by a man named Samuel Ollive. Samuel Ollive was the owner of the snuff and tobacco shop where Thomas Paine lived (http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/paine_notes.html). I did not think Europe was known for it's tobacco which led me to believe the colonies had something to do with this. I then became interested with the tobacco trade between the colonies and England. I found out that tobacco was a huge export from America that was instrumental with the foundation of the colonies and later became a very important supplement for the American independence from England.

Due to the high demand of tobacco in Europe, the early Americans were able to ship massive amounts of tobacco to England. By the end of the eighteenth century, England had imported over 20,000,000 pounds of American tobacco. However the colonies were only allowed to trade with England because they were bound by the mercantile system. America had an endless supply of natural resources, especially tobacco, that were exported to England and then refined into finished goods. In return for the exportation of tobacco, England sent back the necessary supplies needed to survive in the new frontier and to colonize (http://www.tobacco.org/History/colonialtobacco.html).

Because tobacco was such an important cash crop for the colonies, it became a form of currency because it was something of value that everyone produced. When farmers had their crop inspected, they were given a paper that stated their quality of tobacco, how much, and where it was to stored. The farmers would then take that inspection paper to a merchant. Once the merchant had the slip, the tobacco was his property and would give credit to the farmer to purchase goods. The colonies even used tobacco for fines. People who let slaves have meetings were fined 1000 pounds of tobacco. Anyone who let a slave had a horse was fined 500 pounds. Virginia and Maryland had small taxes on every hogshead (1000 pounds of tobacco) that was exported which gave the government of each colony over nine thousand dollars a year.   Farmers even paid the parish in tobacco if they wanted to get married (http://www.tobacco.org/History/colonialtobacco.html).





Because the colonies could only trade with England, England had total control over the trade. The taxation from Britain was putting farmers in massive debt. They found themselves becoming deeper and deeper in debt with the British merchants. This called for a need for independence. When Benjamin Franklin received a loan from France to help with the war, the collateral was five million pounds of tobacco. George Washington advised the colonists that if they could send money to help the war effort, they should send tobacco. Tobacco ended up becoming the payment America used to pay off its debt (http://www.tobacco.org/resources/history/Tobacco_History18.html).

Was Drinking Alcohol Considered Wicked Behavior During the Time of Jonathan Edwards?

Jonathan Edwards writes about himself going through times of wickedness. When I read this, I pictured him doing many deviant things including going to the bar and drinking whiskey which I assumed would have been unacceptable with the strict religious society in which he lived. In today's American society, if people would look at the culture of Jonathan Edwards' time, they would probably be afraid they couldn't conform to the strict religious ways of life. After reading the writings of Edwards, I would be fearful to do anything that seemed frowned upon and especially the consumption of alcohol due to the pressures of the society and the fear of going to Hell. But after doing some research on the topic, it appears even the religious people of early America had a very different perspective of alcohol than I had previously imagined. They didn't think of alcohol consumption as a horrible sin. When I think about mixing religion and alcohol today, it generally doesn't happen. In many places in America, alcohol sales are banned on Sundays because many people believe that to be the holy day and the consumption of alcohol would be a sin. Our country even went through a time of prohibition in the twentieth century because of reasons including religious pressures throughout the Bible Belt region and the bad reputation given to saloons (http://www.blurtit.com/q858001.html).

When the Pilgrims came over on the Mayflower, I was surprised to learn they had actually brought more beer with them than water and they even landed in a different destination than they had planned because they ran out of beer (http://www.hoboes.com/Politics/Prohibition/Notes/Drinking/). In 1612, the Dutch started the first American brewery in New Amsterdam. By 1770, there were over 140 rum distilleries in the Northeast that produced about 4.8 million gallons a year (http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/holiday07/drink.cfm). One argument for defending the use of alcohol for the early Americans could be they used it for medical purposes. They thought it could heal many illnesses. Another could be perhaps the water was bad to drink and alcohol was their only option. Both reasons are true but I'm more interested in the recreational use the people of that time had in mind.

Many early Americans began their day with a "pick-me-up" drink. They would go to their work with a drink at their side and enjoy another drink in the middle of the day. In the evenings, they would go to the tavern and have several more rounds before going home and pouring a glass before they went to sleep. Weddings, funerals, trials, and basically any social event was accompanied with drinking. Militia training had the drinking of liquor as the central priority rather than the practicing of drills. The Puritans used wine for their communions instead of the grape juice many churches use today (http://www.hoboes.com/Politics/Prohibition/Notes/Drinking/). On election day, candidates would attempt to entice voters with free drinks and in hopes to perhaps skew a voter's distinction of who the better candidate really was. With no surprise, even college students in early America drank malted beverages which brought about Harvard's own brewery. People were not ashamed of drinking nor did they hide it like many people in today's society. Because their society accepted the constant use of alcohol, "problem drinkers" did not exist. One early American wrote, "If I take a settler after my coffee, a cooler at nine, a bracer at ten, a whetter at eleven and two or three stiffners during the forenoon, who has any right to complain?" (http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/holiday07/drink.cfm)

“While precise consumption figures are lacking, informed estimates suggest that by the 1790s an average American over fifteen years old drank just under six gallons of absolute alcohol each year. That represented some thirty-four gallons of beer and cider (about 3.4 gallons of absolute alcohol), slightly over five gallons of distilled liquors (2.3 gallons of absolute alcohol), and under a gallon of wine (possibly .10 gallons absolute). Because this is an average figure…, the level of consumption probably was much higher for actual drinkers. But even six gallons is a formidable amount. The comparable modern average is less than 2.9 gallons per capita." (http://www.hoboes.com/Politics/Prohibition/Notes/Drinking/)