Mystic Massacre Research Paper

By the mid-eighteenth century, tensions between the Native American tribes and English settlers had mounted to an all time high. Mistrust was frequent, as was betrayal. Fighting could break out in a minute, and then be finished the next. Political relationships were broken because of a war and massacre; the economy boomed because of barbaric markets & fur trade. Yet, a lasting effect took place after a war and fruit picking that shattered relations with the tribes for years to come. King Philip’s War began as a result of political tension, for the leader, Metacom, suspected the English of murder. He, however, managed peace for a number of years, until the English began making accusations against him. The Native Americans began to launch raids and attacks on the settlers, but nothing of substantial size. They were defeated in 1676, around the time of Metacom’s death. 40 years earlier, during the Pequot War, English settlers set fire to a Pequot village, killing the entire village, known as the Mystic

As the tribes began to become enemies with their once friends, wars began to break out. The Indians were angry at the settlers for taking their land & the settlers to the Indians for their raids and “jealousy of superiority.” The First Esopus War was a result of misunderstanding between the Dutch and the Indians. A drunk native fired a musket, harming no one, yet the Dutch attacked. Peace was made quickly later, but tensions still remained as a second war followed soon after. Another short lived incident took place between the Dutch and the Indians in the Peach Tree War, the last violent act in New Netherlands. A Indian girl climbed a peach tree to grab some fruit and was shot by one of the settlers, which led to the death of over 100 Dutch settlers. As the 1750s approached, the Native Americans and Europeans rapidly became unfriendly towards one