His 110 - Clash of Cultures - Pequot War

Pequot War

Delois Roseboro

HIS/110

October 13, 2014

Hadley Ajana

Pequot War

The Pequot war was a war in 1637 between the Pequot Indians, the Mohegans, other native American tribes, the settlers of the Pilgrim Colony, and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Dutch had bought more land from the Pequots when their fur trade was booming. But soon they were competing for control over the territory along with the Western Niantics (The Pequot War, 2002). After the Dutch had bought the land, the Plymouth colony produced a deed of their own claiming rights to the river location above the House of Hope. There was so much dishonesty that the suffering of the Native Americans reached the breaking point. This war was the effect of a variety conflicts between the colonists and the Indians. There were disputes over property, livestock damaging Indian crops, hunting, people selling alcohol to Indians, and dishonest traders (Kutler & Dutcher, 2003). The Pequot war was caused mainly by the murder of a dishonest trader, John Oldham on July 20, 1636 by the Manisses of Block Island (1637 The Pequot War, 2011). Because of this action, Massachusetts raised a military force of 90 men led by John Endicott. This troop landed on Block Island and killed 14 Native Americans; they burned down the village and their crops. After the burning of the crops Endicott sailed to Saybrook, this was an effort for the man to get tribute from the Pequot Native Americans, but they ran because they knew they were in the fight. Endicott left the Massachusetts troops to fight for themselves, but the Pequots had them surrounded and they killed anyone who left the fort. The Mohegans and the Narragansett refused to join forces with the Pequots when they sent war belts to the surrounding tribes to try to get people to side with them. Instead, the Mohegans sided with the English while the Narragansett and other small tribes stayed neutral. May 26, 1637, John Underhill and John Mason joined military forces and attacked the Pequot Indians near New Haven, Connecticut. 500 Native Americans were killed, and the village was destroyed. Sassacus, the Pequot leader, was captured on July 28, 1637 along with many of his tribesmen. They were sold as slaves in the West Indies, and the Mohawks killed Sassacus, There were seven who got away, and they fled to and became part of the surrounding Native Americans tribes. After that, English forces attacked another Pequot stronghold about 2 miles away. Instead of fighting hundreds of the Pequot Indians fled, but they were pursued and about 180 were captured in Sasqua Swamp, which today is called Southport Connecticut (Kutler & Dutcher, 2003). The war ended in the September of 1638, when the remaining survivors of the Pequot tribe were forced to sign the Treaty of Hartford , which is also called the Tripartite Treaty, which declared that the Pequot tribe had disbanded (The Pequot War, 2002). This war had many consequences, the powerful Pequot tribe that had once occupied and controlled the Connecticut Valley was "blotted out from under heaven", in the words of one Puritan (The Pequot War, 2002). When the Davenport and Whitfield congregations settled in New Haven and Guilford, there was no more threat of Indian resistance. Success of the planters, like all of the settlers of The Great Migration, depended on them cooperating and agreeing them with one another (The Pequot War, 2002).