Mystic Massacre Research Paper

The rapid industrialization of the United States brought many changes to its people. New technologies, inventions, and the railroad brought better fuels, stronger steels, changed the way people lit their homes, and even changed the way people did their shopping. The integrated railroad was especially exciting, because it would allow people to move from the west coast to the east coast as they pleased. Economic development was also on the rise, especially in the west. Americans were excited to discover and tame the “wild west”, eager to claim a piece of land that they could call their own. Greediness often took over, and what was best for the white people was not always best for all people, like the Indians. Westward expansion was full of riches for the whites, but full of tragedies for the Indians. The western frontier was anti-democratic, and a prime example of how Anglo-American expansion could be brutal.

(b. In what ways did the encounter between European settlers and Native Americans have devastating consequences for the Natives?)

In “Of Plymouth Plantation” by William Bradford, Bradford stated, “. . . that in two or three months time half of their company died, especially in January and February.” This had impacted the colonists because half of the colonists died by diseases brought with them, being infected by scurvy, and from having no type of shelter or other comforts. The colonists barely made it through winter as they had assistance with all necessary aid by the six or seven people who were immune of diseases. Only fifty out of one hundred colonists have survived the time of suffering. In the article, “Colonial America Depended on the Enslavement of Indigenous People”, Marissa Fessenden states, “In 1637, they burned a village on the banks of the Mystic River in southeastern Connecticut, killing 400 to 700 Pequots.” The colonists had murdered natives by destroying their homes and territory. During the Pequot war, many of their tribe members were lost. This weakened the natives in war as they had very little men to send to resist the colonists. Those who were captured were enslaved and after the war the word “Pequot” was outlawed. Along with disease and weak immune systems the natives were plagued by death for the next few centuries.

The Native Americans had no choice but to play the French and British against each other. By the time of the French and Indian War, they were not just playing the French against the British for goods and guns. (1) It became necessary for the survival of their culture, and the natives were concerned with the vast amounts of land being claimed and settled by the British.

Merrell’s article proves the point that the lives of the Native Americans drastically changed just as the Europeans had. In order to survive, the Native Americans and Europeans had to work for the greater good. Throughout the article, these ideas are explained in more detail and uncover that the Indians were put into a new world just as the Europeans were, whether they wanted change or

The colonists of Early Jamestown did not know what they were going to experience in the New World, and they were not prepared. This took place from 1607-1611. The colonists arrived in Chesapeake Bay in 1607. They had hopes to find new land. Sadly, out of the 500 colonists that arrived in Jamestown, 80% died.Just between 1609 and 1610, 110 settlers died from famine and disease. In 1607, there was only one surgeon for hundreds of men. Colonists died in early Jamestown because of three main problems. These problems were Starvation, Native American Relations, and Disease. Listen to how almost 350 settlers died in these five years full of hardships.

The Pequot War, although it has received little recognition in our understanding of American history, was the first war between English colonists in the New World and an indigenous group. It is often considered the first war in the United States. The Pequot tribe was the dominant Native American in southern New England during the early seventeenth century, controlling trade with the Dutch along the Hudson River Valley and Long Island Sound. The arrival of European settlers affected the relationships between tribes. The Pequots initially benefitted from these circumstances, expanding their territory over thousands of square miles from Long Island Sound to the Thames, Mystic, and Pawcatuck Rivers (Urbanus 2015:34), as well as the southern area of the Connecticut River. The earliest surviving account of this tribe comes from Dutch explorer Adrian Block in 1614. They were valued by the Dutch for trade in beaver pelts, belts, and wampum in the 1610s-1620s. However, in the late 1630s, the English had begun to covet the tribe’s land and resources. They soon sought to break up the Dutch-Pequot trade complex (Silberman

Pontiac’s Rebellion, also known as the Pontiac War, broke out in the Ohio River Valley from 1763 to 1766. The British were fighting in this war along with the Native Indian tribes that lived within an area controlled by New France before their defeat in the French Indian War, which is known as the Pays d’en haut meaning the upper country. In 1763, Chief Pontiac led a rebellion of multiple tribes of the upper country against the British. In the Summer of 1763, Chief Pontiac launched attacks on the British in which left only Fort Pitt and Detroit in British hands. In 1766, Chief Pontiac agreed to peace terms sealing the end of Pontiac’s Rebellion. The Shawnee and other Native Indian tribes went to war with the British because distrust and hostilities grew within the populations between the indigenous of the region and the British. Colonialism also became a major cause in the war that was created.

Jamestown was repeating cycle of death, it started May 14th, 1607 when colonists set sail from England to Anchor in Chesapeake Bay. The Colonists came to Jamestown in search of possible riches and to convert natives to Christianity. however, within the first 6 months 70 of the 110 original colonists had died, due to water supply/drought, bad planning, and relations with the natives.

The First Nations, the Virginians, and the New England Puritans all had a different respect or attitude towards the physical environment in North America. While the First Nations had inhabited the land for already some time, it was a new land for the European colonist. There are many different factors that contributed the three groups’ differing attitudes towards the environment, but it comes down to their purposes or goals in the “New World.” In the long run, these differing attitudes had multiple consequences.

The late 19th century, a period including Reconstruction, the Industrial Era, and “manifest destiny,” was marked by the freeing of slaves, imperialism, immense economic growth, and the rise of big businesses. (pg. 579, pg. 619, pg. 625, pg. 630) This was an age of “prolonged peace,” where many Americans sought to change their lives and their country for the better. (pg. 579) Industrial growth resulting from the North’s need to “supply the massive Union armies” presented various opportunities to make enormous fortunes. (pg. 619-620) However, this period also involved a considerable amount of violence, ranging from racial and labor conflicts to brutal wars overseas. (pg. 646-654)

The Dutch gave an influential tide to both the Natives and the French colonists because they created Fort Orange along the Hudson River, the Dutch saw the French as enemy`s, because they had better supplies like weapons and tools to gain better alliances and trading partners. The French and Iroquois who knew that they would lose their Dutch suppliers to the northern tribes who had better fur pelts. Hoping that with war the Dutch and northern tribes would remain separated, the French and Iroquois decided not to make

During this time period, Native Americans were being treated so poorly. They were very misunderstood, and white men didn 't even try to understand them. All they cared about was forcing the Indians off of "their" land. This is unfair in so many ways. One being that the Natives were actually there first. An example of their mistreatment would be the "Ghost Dance". This was a dancing ritual that promised the Indians a new world "free from whites", where they could truly be free. However, this innoccent dance was very wronly interpreted. The white men thought that it was a war threat. So, they hunted down the Indian man who created it, and killed him. This sparked up something deep inside the Native Americans, and a battle was started at Wounded

Before Europeans even knew of the Americas there were Indians. The Indians had diverse cultures and conflicts with each other. There were hundreds of different groups of Indians. Most hated each other and killed each other. Some sought to get beyond murder and cannibalism. Deganawida was one such man. He sought for peace among Indians. He helped found the Iroquois confederacy through his desire for peace. He did this with the help of a Onandaga who was living among Mohawk Indians named Hiawatha. The Iroquois were also known as the Five Nations. It became known as the six nations after the Tuscarora joined in 1722. The Iroquois Confederacy was in New York closer to the Great Lakes. Deganawida and the Iroquois had an significant impact on tribal relations in

The first contact between the Natives and puritans was for trade and diplomacy only. The puritans though that they needed to teach the native their religion, but they where still too outnumbered by the natives to try that until after the war. The puritans were very hostile and they did not let the natives into their colonies. They were racist and they even robbed some of the natives graves. The natives were relatively chill, but they did have their faults, considering people just came and invaded their land.