Literature Reading
Who was Mary Rowlandson? (mini-bio)
Mary was born in England in the early 1600's and was brought to the colonies by her parents while still a toddler. Her father became one of the founders of the town of Lancaster, in Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the richest man in the town. In 1656 Mary married Joseph Rowlandson who was a recent graduate of Harvard College and he was ordained as the Puritan minister for Lancaster. Because of their isolated location far from the nearest town and because of the rising prominence of Rev. Rowlandson, their garrison house became the focus of an Indian attack during the King Philip war.
While her husband was away in Boston trying to convince the Colonies leaders to provide military protection for the town the Indians attacked on February 10, 1676. Mary was captured along with her three children, one of whom (her six year old daughter Sarah) was mortally wounded during the surrender. The captives were then taken west and north to what is now south western New Hampshire and Vermont.
Later Mary was brought back to the Mt. Wachusetts area of Massachusetts where she was redeemed by the brave John Hoar, a resident of Concord. Six years later in 1682 she published a narrative of her captivity which became America's first best seller. At that time it was highly unusual for a woman to be a published author. Hers is a story of the triumph of faith over adversity. It provides a first hand description of Indian life during this conflict. The King Philip War, to this day, was proportionately the bloodiest and most destructive war in American history in terms of people killed and property damaged. Mary gives an inside account of how the Indians were doing and how her captivity and her redemption were indirectly instrumental in bringing the war to a close.
The English colonists faced difficulties establishing farms, homesteads, and settlements when they first arrived in North America. They were also under the threat of attack from hostile American Indian tribes because the colonists had settled on American Indian land. On June 20, 1675, Metacomet-whom the colonists called Phillip-began a series of attacks on colonial settlements that was called King Phillip’s War. At the end of the war, hundreds of English houses had been burned, about 600 colonists were dead, and thousands of American Indians had lost their lives. One of the most famous victims of these attacks is Mary Rowlandson. She was taken prisoner and held in captivity for 11 weeks. She was then ransomed and reunited with her husband and surviving children. Rowlandson published a record of her life in captivity in 1682, which became popular text in both England and the American colonies. As you read the following selection, consider the choices made by Rowlandson.
But to return: the Indians laid hold of us, pulling me one way, and the children another, and said, “Come along with us”; I told them they would kill me: they answered, if I were willing to go along with them, they would not hurt me.
Oh the doleful [sad] sight that now was to behold…this house!...Of thirty-seven persons who were in this one house, none escaped either present death, or a bitter captivity, save only one…There were twelve killed, some shot, some stabbed with their spears, some knocked down with their hatchets. …It is a solemn sight to see so many Christians lying in their blood…yet the Lord almighty power preserved [saved] a number of us from death, for there were twenty-four of us taken alive and carried captive.
I often had before this said that if the Indians should come, I should choose rather to be killed by them than taken alive, but when it came to the trial my mind changed; their glittering weapons so daunted my spirit, that I choose rather to go along with those (as I may say it) ravenous [hungry] beasts, than that moment to end my days; and that I may the better declare what happened to me during the grievous [unfortunate] captivity, I shall particularly speak of the several removes [departures] we had up and down the wilderness.
Now away we must go with those barbarous creatures, with our bodies wounded and bleeding, and our hearts no less than our bodies. About a mile we went that night, up upon a hill within sight of the town, where they intended to lodge…Oh the roaring, and the singing and dancing, and yelling of those black creatures in the night…And as miserable was the waste that was there made of horses, cattle, sheep, swine, calves, lambs, roasting pigs, and foul (which they had plundered [stolen] in the town), some roasting, some lying burning, and some boiling to feed our merciless enemies; who were joyful enough, though we were disconsolate [depressed]. All was gone, my husband gone, (at least separated from me, he being in the bay; and to add to my grief, the Indians told me they would kill him as he came homeward); my children gone, my relations and friends gone, our house and home and all our comforts-within door and without-all was gone (except my life), and I knew not but the next moment that might go too…
But now, the next morning, I must turn my back upon the town, and travel with them into the vast and desolate [empty] wilderness, I knew not whither [where]. It is not my tongue, or pen, can express the sorrows of my heart, and bitterness of my spirit that I had at this departure: but God was with me in a wonderful manner, carrying me along, and bearing u p my spirit, that it did not quite fall.
Directions: Answers the following questions for understanding.
- How many colonists were killed in the attack? How many were captured?
- Why does Rowlandson allow herself to be captured?
- What do Rowlandson’s captors do the night after the attack?
- Why, according to Rowlandson, was she able to survive her captivity?
- How might this account have differed from the perspective of one of the Native American captors? Explain and support your answer
Short Response/Critical Thinking
- Imagine that you are an English colonist who has been captured during a raid in King Phillip’s War and put to work in an American Indian village. After doing some research write a brief account of your captivity, including the work you have to do, the structures and activities of the village, and the daily lives of the villagers. Remember to try and see the capture from both perspectives, that of the colonists and captor. Try to give a fair account of your captivity. Here are some addition websites to assist you.