Native Americans & European Settlement CLASH & COMPACT During the colonial period, some Native American groups made allies of the Europeans for economic reasons, while others clashed with settlers and resisted encroachment.

4 Conflicts Pequot War King Philip’s War Bacon’s Rebellion French & Indian War

Pequot War (1636 – 1638) New England Native groups devastated by smallpox left a power vacuum in the area . Different groups sought to fill the vacuum and control the fur trade. The Pequot were most aggressive and anti-settler Colonists who also wanted a hand in the fur trade teamed up with Narragansett and Mohegans to destroy an entire Pequot village Around 600 Pequots were murdered by the Colonists, leading the Narragansett to distrust the English greatly.

King Phillips War or “The First Indian War” (1675 – 1678) Also called “Metacom’s War” Conflict between the Wampanoag (with Naraggansett allies) and the New England colonists (with their Pequot and Mohegan allies) Ignited over issues of Native sovereignty (colonists executed 3 Wampanoags for murder and confiscated the tribe’s guns) Metacom’s forces had tremendous success the first year; used hit and run tactics to destroy more than half the towns in New England; economic disaster and literal decimation Colonial alliance finally defeated the Wampanoag/Naraggansett forces This was the last real Native American threat in the New England; many historical scholars see it as the beginning of an exclusive European-American identity – a sharp departure from previous colonial partnership and friendship with Native Americans Enemies & Allies

Bacon’s Rebellion Over time, Virginians continued to push westward, encroaching on the Doeg and Susquehannock Native Americans; tensions escalated and violence erupted Throughout 1675, frontier settlers fought a series of battles against the Native Americans

Bacons Rebellion The western farmers became upset at the governor of Virginia over lack of help fighting these battles They were further enflamed by new taxes that same year Nathaniel Bacon Part of a coalition of wealthy planters in favor of forcibly removing Native American groups from Virginia frontier Angry at tax increases and Governor Berkeley’s reported corruption and refusal to allow Virginian landowners a stake in the fur trade Bacon and his followers went to Jamestown to protest. This assembly turned violent, Jamestown virtually destroyed

Bacons Rebellion While the rebels did not succeed in driving the Native Americans from Virginia’s frontier, and Berkeley managed to put down the rebellion, it did result in his recall to England and the loss of his position set the precedent that rebellion was a way to get things done in the colonies.

Bacons Rebellion Virginians of all classes and races rose up against Governor Berkeley, including a huge united force of European indentured servants and African slaves A similar trend in a Maryland uprising one year later ignited fear among the Southern ruling class that united their bond-servitude, a multi-racial social class could launch further and more successful uprisings Virginia Slave Codes of 1705 Embedded white supremacy into law

The French and Indian War (1764 – 1763) French and British forces had struggled against each other for decades in three other wars prior to this one for control of the fur trade and of colonial North America; each enlisting their Native allies French: Algonquin, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Shawnee, Huron British: Iroquois Confederacy, Mohawk

The Spark Controversy developed when both the British and French claimed the same area of land: the French built Fort Duquesne on the same area of land that the VA gov’t had given to a group of planters.

The Battle of the Plains of Abraham The British troops held a sneak attack on the city of Quebec and caught the French off guard. The British captured Quebec and forced the French to surrender. England gained all the French territories Reached an agreement with Spain to cede Florida

The British gov’t forbid colonists from moving into the Ohio Valley in order to avoid further conflict with the natives: Proclamation of 1763. They also stationed 10,000 troops in the area to keep the peace.

The Native Americans experienced the greatest losses at the end of the war. They now had to deal with the British (who were far less compromising than the French had been) and the colonists, who continued to move into the area despite the Proclamation of 1763. The British also deliberately spread small pox amongst the natives, causing them to decrease in number. Most native groups, too weak to defend their traditional land claims in the colonial frontier, agreed to sign peace treaties with England by 1766.

“ When I go to see the English commander and say to him that some of our comrades are dead, instead of bewailing their death, as our French brothers do, he laughs at me and at you. If I ask for anything for our sick, he refuses with the reply that he has no use for us. For all this you can well see that they are seeking our ruin. Therefore, my brothers, we must all swear their destruction and wait no longer.” Pontiac, Leader of the Ottawa People

After the war, the British gov’t was heavily in debt and needed a way to pay off these debts. So, England imposed new taxes on the colonies: Sugar Act, Stamp Act…..