Philbrick argues that many of our notions about this time period fail to capture the complex events and motives. King Philip's War would profoundly impact the region for years to come. The war would be one of the bloodiest in American history. For their part, the Native Americans had grown tired of the humiliation and believed the English had killed the sachem, Alexander. They humiliated Native leaders, collected land, distrusted Indians loyal to them, and forgot many of the lessons that their fathers and mothers had learned when they reached the New World. In many ways, the English pushed too hard on the social and economic boundaries of the region.
Yet, less than sixty years later, the English found themselves in a war with their Native American neighbors. Both groups benefited from the implied protection of the other, although they also manipulated the alliance at times for their own benefit. Without this, the Pilgrims would have perished their first year in America, from starvation, exposure, or attack. They spent their first several months in the New World finding a settlement spot and beginning to build their colony.Īlthough the Native Americans and the Pilgrims distrusted each other in the beginning, with good reason due to past events between the English and Indians, Massasoit and William Bradford brought the two groups to an alliance. Sailing on the Mayflower, they arrived in the fall of 1621, unsure of what awaited them. They secured a patent and funding, but were forced to include individuals not part of their congregation, or Strangers. However, they were afraid that their children were losing their English identity and the group made the decision to form a colony in the New World.
The Pilgrims sought religious freedom, which first led them to Leiden, Holland. Philbrick traces this history from the Pilgrims' departure from England to the death of Philip, the Pokanoket leader, in King Philip's War. Their actions and beliefs would shape the development and structure of the country that would become the United States. The two groups evolve from distrust to a cooperative alliance to a bloody war within this short time frame. Philbrick particularly focuses on the social and economic relationships between the English and their Native American neighbors. Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick explores the first fifty-five years of the Pilgrims' life in the New World.
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