An Overview

The first English settlers and Native Americans attempted to create a relationship based on trade and a common interest in spirituality. Disease and other problems soon caused it to fall apart, and eventually, the two sides found themselves at war.

Complex HistoryOne of America's earliest and most enduring legends is the story of Thanksgiving. In 1621, pilgrims sat down with the local Wampanoag Indians in the new Plymouth Colony to celebrate the first successful harvest. It makes for a great story — cultures coming together and sharing the bounty of the land that would eventually become America. However, the history of the colonists and the local Native American tribes is far more complex. It is an interwoven narrative of trade, cooperation, and intense conflict.

Finding Common GroundImage 2. Massasoit forges treaty with pilgrims, 1621. Massasoit Sachem or Ousamequin (1581-1661) was the leader of the Wampanoag Confederacy. According to English sources, Massasoit prevented the failure of Plymouth Colony and the almost certain starvation that the Pilgrims faced during the earliest years of the colony's establishment. Photo from: Science Source / British Library.

When the first English settlers began to arrive in New England in the 1600s, there were already about 60,000 Native Americans living there. At first, the two sides had conflicts over territory. Still, colonists were able to build thriving colonies with their help.

Trade was one of the first bridges between New England colonists and local Native American populations. The colonists needed to build infrastructure and relationships in order to thrive in the New World. The Native Americans were interested in building alliances. After only five years, Plymouth Colony was no longer financially dependent on England due to the economy it had built alongside the native Massachusetts tribes.

Both sides benefited from trade and bartering. The Native Americans provided skins, hides, food, knowledge, and other crucial materials and supplies. The settlers traded beads and other types of currency in exchange.

Image 3. Henry Hudson and his companions trading with Native Americans on the shore, 1609. Hudson was an English sea explorer and navigator who explored the Hudson River. It is named after him. Photo from: Science Source / Library of Congress.

Ideas were traded alongside physical goods. Wampum, a type of currency sometimes carried religious significance as well. The first Bible printed in the New World was actually in Algonquin. The communication between the colonists and Native Americans was not just political or practical, but also spiritual.

Puritan Christianity was the main religion of the New England colonies. As the colonies grew and changed, some of the colonists began to move away from Puritanism. Their attitudes about the Native Americans also evolved. A famous example of this is Roger Williams, who rebelled against Puritanism and founded the colony of Rhode Island. Williams held the unorthodox view that colonists had no right to occupy land without purchasing it from Native American tribes.

Over time, however, relations between the colonies and the local tribes deteriorated. Some of the problems were unintentionally caused by the colonists, like smallpox and other diseases they brought over from England. The local Native American populations had no immunity and epidemics killed many.

Some Colonial leaders believed that the destruction of the tribes was an act of God to support the colonists' right to the land. They used it as a way to convert the natives to Christianity, making them into "praying Indians" and moving them to "praying towns," or reservations.

The First Indian WarColonist-Native American relations worsened over the course of the 17th century, resulting in a bloody conflict known as the First Indian War, or King Philip's War. In 1675, the government of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts executed three members of the Wampanoag tribe. The Wampanoag leader, Philip, also known as Metacom, retaliated by attacking the settlements with a fighting force made up of Wampanoags and other tribes. Some tribes, including the Mohegans and Mohawks, fought against them on the side of the English colonists.

The war lasted 14 months, ending in late 1676, and a treaty was signed in April 1678.

With such heavy casualties on both sides, this war is considered one of the deadliest conflicts in American history. The Native American population lost thousands of people to war, illness and slavery, and many fled the area. More than 600 colonists died, and dozens of settlements were destroyed.

The history of the New England colonies reflects the two-sided history of America as a whole. Native and immigrant cultures came together to create the modern United States, but also clashed in devastating conflict.

Which two of the following sentences from the article include CENTRAL ideas of the article?

Which statement would be MOST important to include in a summary of the article?