1. King Philip’s War
A war that broke out between Native Americans and English colonists in New England in 1675

2. Blue circle is the New England area we are discussing.
Map retrieved from the Library of Congress at

3. Indigenous Nations of the Region: Long before English settlers, the Algonquian peoples lived in this region. One of the Algonquian nations was the Wampanoag. Built their society around family relations. Both men and women could be leader, or sachem.
Wampanoag lived in present-day Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.
Map retrieved from

4. Pilgrims arrived in 1620, the Wampanoag taught them to fish and grow crops. Eventually epidemics from disease, land seizures, and fighting against colonists caused death of many Native Americans in New England.
Native population decreased from 140,000 to 10,000. English population in region grew to 50,000.
After the Pequot War , New England was free of major armed conflict for about 40 years Puritans began campaign o convert Natives to Christianity. Nearly 2,000 Native Americans lived in “praying towns” and were pressured to give up their cultures for Christianity.
Map retrieved from the Library of Congress at

5. Illustration of Sachem Metacomet from 1772
Metacomet (English name King Philip) became sachem of the Pokanoket, a tribe of the Wampanoag nation.
1675 he formed a military alliance with about 2/3 of Native tribes in the region.
Image retrieved from the Library of Congress at
Illustration of Sachem Metacomet from 1772

6. Illustration of settlers rallying during King Philip’s War from 1883
June 1675 Metacomet led attack on English settlement in Swansea, Massachusetts. Over the next year Native Americans attacked more than half of New England’s towns and destroyed 12 of the 90. They killed 5% of the New England colonists. Native Americans suffered 40% of casualities at the hands of colonists or were forced to flee the area.
English call this conflict King Philip’s War
1676 Matacomet was killed by colonial forces, his body mutilated and then publicly displayed. Native American defenses collapsed, many men were sold into slavery in West Indies, and women and children enslaved in New England.
Image retrieved from the Library of Congress
Illustration of settlers rallying during King Philip’s War from 1883

7. Central Historical Question
What caused King Philip’s War?
Use the 3 historical documents to determine what caused this war.
Ask yourself:
What happened to New England’s Native American population n the years leading up to 1675?
What were the results of the war between Native Americans and English settlers in 1675?
Based on what you learned, what do you think caused the war? (Before Reading the Documents)
Begin Activity.