Many would argue that Native Americans, in the early years of the formation of America as we know it, got the jagged end of the sword as opposed to the settlers who claimed the new found land and they wouldn’t be wrong. For over two centuries Indians and the European settlers of multiple different countries traded, bred, and more importantly fought with one another over land, resources and religion. One of the more notable of these wars was the Pequot War which started in 1636 and ended in 1637.
The reason this war between Massachussett, Plymouth, and Connecticut colonies and the Pequot tribe is so important is because it is one of the first major, and violent, interactions between Europeans and Native Americans. In addition, one of the things that gives it its popularity is the controversy behind what sparked it. The Pequot tribe was blamed for allegedly slaughtering 8 colonists and an attack on the natives ensued. While the expositional textbook, The Historical Atlas of Native Americans, by Dr. Ian Barnes, seemingly shows bias towards the Native Americans, using phrases such as “relentless white pressure”6 and often stating how they were tricked and taken advantage, according to an article written by Lisa Cooper4, the Pequot were not the initiators of the conflict. In fact, it says, “The reason for the attack was earlier Dutch traders had lured a member of the Niantic tribe aboard a Dutch vessel and then held him for ransom. When the Pequot paid the ransom they received a corpse in return”4. After the deaths of those 8 people, attacks on the tribe began. In retaliation, the Pequot murdered John Stone, a Virginia merchant, who had previously done some questionable things to some groups of Indians4.
While these back and forth attacks between the Pequot and the settlers continued, the Pequot were at war with opposing tribes of Narragansett and Monhegan Indians. As a result, this began a positive relationship between the colonists of that area and the two...