Document 2.5 William Nahaton, Petition to Free an Indian Slave, 1675
Document 2.6 Benjamin Church, A Visit with Awashonks, Sachem of the Sakonnet, 1716
Document 2.7 John Easton, A Relation of the Indian War, 1675
Document 2.8 Edward Randolph, Report on the War, 1676
Document 2.9 Mary Rowlandson, Narrative of Captivity, 1682
Interpret the Evidence
What does William Nahaton’s petition (Document 2.5) reveal about English leaders’ main goal when dealing with the Indians, Christian and non-Christian?
What types of complaints did the Wampanoag have against the English, and which seem the most grievous (Documents 2.6, 2.7, and 2.8)? What do these complaints reveal about how the colonists viewed the Wampanoag?
What does Benjamin Church’s meeting with Awashonks (Document 2.6) suggest about the difficult choices faced by some Indians and some colonists as war approached?
What does Edward Randolph’s description of the causes of the war (Document 2.8) reveal about how the conflict might be viewed by Englishmen who were not colonists? How do his perceptions compare with those of Benjamin Church and John Easton (Documents 2.6 and 2.7)?
How does Mary Rowlandson employ religion to explain the events that happen to her during her captivity (Document 2.9)? What does the enormous popularity of her book indicate about the place of religion and of Indians in New England in the 1680s?
Put It in Context
King Philip’s War was one of the bloodiest in American history. From these documents, what do you think accounts for its ferociousness?
What does the war and its outcome suggest about the trajectory of Indian-English relations from 1620 to 1680?
Exploring American HistoriesPrinted Page 68
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