Name:______Date:______#____
SOURCES OF CONFLICT WITH THE NATIVE AMERICANS:
KING PHILIP’S WAR and BACON’S REBELLION
In 1676, 100 years before America declared its independence from Great Britain, there were two major wars that European settlers fought against the Native Americans. In both of these conflicts, the Native Americans suffered terrible losses and lost control of thousands of miles of land.
KING PHILIP’S WAR
The first war took place in New England, and is now called King Philip’s War. Back when the Pilgrims first arrived in Plymouth in 1621, the Wampanoag King Massasoit welcomed them, hoping to trade with the pilgrims for needed items. The Native Americans in that area had recently suffered from a plague of small pox, and up to 90% of the Wampanoag died before the Pilgrims arrived. Afraid that they would be taken over by their Native American enemies, Massasoit formed an alliance with the European newcomers. There were less than 100 pilgrims at first, so both groups needed protection.
Fifty years later, though, there were tens of thousands of Europeans in New England, and the Native Americans were losing more and more land. Massasoit’s son, Metacom (King Philip) decided to fight back. He made alliances with several tribes, including the Nipmucks and that Narragansetts, and attacked European towns. The alliance successfully destroyed 25 out of the 90 New England towns, and damaged forty others. In response, the Europeans attacked Indian towns. They used Indians that had converted to Christianity as guides, and then made alliances with the Iroquois against Metacom. The Iroquois destroyed Metacom’s villages when the warriors were away, and his followers began to run out of food and ammunition. During a battle, Metacom was killed, and the alliance fell apart.
The Native Americans who surrendered were put into camps on the Boston Harbor. Many died of starvation and disease, while others were sold into slavery in the Caribbean. The colonists suffered, too, losing 1/10th of all men, making it the deadliest war in American history as a percentage of total population. After the war, the Native Americans in New England lived in small clusters, often in European towns, and never again were able to successfully defend themselves against the Europeans. It was the end of the Indian Wars in New England, and the Europeans had won control over all of New England.
BACON’S REBELLION
This war took place in Virginia in the same year, but had nothing to do with King Philip’s War. In Virginia, colonists needed a lot of land to grow tobacco to sell to Europe. This was the most important way to make money for the colonists. In order to be successful, the landowners needed workers to help them grow it. At first, they brought in poor Europeans, promising them that if they worked for seven years, they would get their own land and could start their own farm. The landowners also brought in African slaves, who were slaves for life. Some blacks became free and started their own farms, but it was rare.
By 1676, most of the good land was taken by wealthy farmers. The newly freed poor Europeans were getting land that was not as good for farming in the hilly areas of Virginia. Also, this land was the same land that Native American tribes had been pushed to. The Governor of Virginia, William Berkeley, did not want to start a fight against the natives, so he decided to stop giving more land out west to the poor farmers. The poor farmers hated the Governor because they thought that he was taking the side of the Indians. The poor farmers also hated the Native Americans for killing their pigs and cows, and the Native Americans hated the farmers because their pigs and cows were eating their crops. Poor farmers also thought the Governor gave unfair favors to his wealthy friends. People were so tense, that a small problem easily erupted into a big conflict.
Angry about land and at the Governor’s policies, the poor settlers, led by a wealthy newcomer named Nathaniel Bacon, attacked an Indian tribe. They claimed they were getting revenge at the Doeg tribe for killing an English servant, but they mistakenly attacked the powerful Pamunkey tribe instead. In their view, all Native Americans were the same, so it didn’t matter what tribe they attacked. This led to Native American tribes attacking settlers. Of course, the settlers blamed the Native Americans, and asked the Governor to help him fight them. The Governor refused to start a larger war.
These angry poor farmers then began attacking both the government AND the Native Americans. At one point, they took over the capital of Jamestown, took the government official’s wives hostage, and tied them to their defenses as human shields. They then burned down the capital. Nathaniel Bacon, though, soon died of disease, and the rebellion fell apart without a leader.
In the end, the Governor regained control. The Native American tribes were devastated, and moved out of Virginia, leaving the land to tobacco farmers. Also, landowners stopped bringing in European servants. This could be because of fear that they would rebel, or it could have been because England became wealthier at the same time, and poor people stopped wanting to come to America as servants. Whatever the reason, landowners started buying more and more African slaves, and slavery of Africans became necessary for people to become wealthy in Virginia. 100 years later, when America gained its independence, slavery was too important to the economy to end it.