The Pequot War (book)

Last updated
The Pequot War
The Pequot War A. Caves image.jpg
Book jacket
AuthorAlfred A. Cave
CountryUnited States
GenreHistory
Published1996
PublisherUniversity of Massachusetts Press
Media typePrint, E-book, Audio
Pages219
ISBN 9781558490291
OCLC 33405267
Website Official website

The Pequot War is a nonfiction book that reexamines historical sources on the Pequot War that resulted in new interpretations when this work was published in 1996. It was written by Alfred A. Cave and published by the University of Massachusetts Press. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Also, this book is part of this university's series entitled: Native Americans of the Northeast. [3] [6]

Contents

Synopsis

Cave challenges previous historical conclusions that the Euro-American Puritans were only motivated by the desire to advance self-interest through material gains in brutally executing the Pequot War. These were material gains such as "greed for Pequot land, wampum, [animal pelts], and slaves." [2] Rather, Cave argues that Puritans viewed the Pequots as untrustworthy savages and as a dangerous threat. These feelings led to a war with the Native Americans. [1] [2] Also, it did result in the Puritans and two other Native nations taking control of the land and its resources, as well as disenfranchising the Pequots as a recognized sovereign-political-entity.

The author's analysis posits that Pequot aggression was not the primary factor leading to the conflict. To demonstrate this view, Cave emphasizes the Pequots' weakened position due to trade competition, loss of allies like the Mohegans who sided with the English, and the arrival of disease, which had reached the interior of New England. [3] Additionally, Cave argues that Puritan ideology, particularly the view of Indians as agents of evil, played a significant role in setting the stage for war, rather than solely land and trade interests. [3]

Puritan religious beliefs influenced the Puritan's understanding of events, and may have led to misinterpretations that cast the Pequots as the aggressors. Cave attempts to achieve a balanced view. He compares Pequot actions and motives with Puritan belief systems. [3] However, he does not excuse the colonists' responsibility for the violence committed under the guise of religion. The attack on Fort Mystic, a brutal event that resulted in the deaths of many Pequot women, children and the elderly, is described by Cave as "an act of terrorism". [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Williams</span> English Protestant theologian, author, and founder of Rhode Island (1603–1683)

Roger Williams was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and later the State of Rhode Island. He was a staunch advocate for religious freedom, separation of church and state, and fair dealings with the Native Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pequots</span> Indigenous people from Connecticut, US

The Pequot are a Native American people of Connecticut. The modern Pequot are members of the federally recognized Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, four other state-recognized groups in Connecticut including the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, or the Brothertown Indians of Wisconsin. They historically spoke Pequot, a dialect of the Mohegan-Pequot language, which became extinct by the early 20th century. Some tribal members are undertaking revival efforts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mashantucket Pequot Tribe</span> American Indian tribe in the state of Connecticut

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is a federally recognized American Indian tribe in the state of Connecticut. They are descended from the Pequot people, an Algonquian-language tribe that dominated the southern New England coastal areas, and they own and operate Foxwoods Resort Casino within their reservation in Ledyard, Connecticut. As of 2018, Foxwoods Resort Casino is one of the largest casinos in the world in terms of square footage, casino floor size, and number of slot machines, and it was one of the most economically successful in the United States until 2007, but it became deeply in debt by 2012 due to its expansion and changing conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willa Cather</span> American writer (1873–1947)

Willa Sibert Cather was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including O Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, and My Ántonia. In 1923, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours, a novel set during World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pequot War</span> 1630s conflict in New England

The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place in 1636 and ended in 1638 in New England, between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narragansett and Mohegan tribes. The war concluded with the decisive defeat of the Pequot. At the end, about 700 Pequots had been killed or taken into captivity. Hundreds of prisoners were sold into slavery to colonists in Bermuda or the West Indies; other survivors were dispersed as captives to the victorious tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connecticut Colony</span> British colony in North America (1636–1776)

The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settlement for a Puritan congregation, and the English permanently gained control of the region in 1637 after struggles with the Dutch. The colony was later the scene of a bloody war between the colonists and Pequots known as the Pequot War. Connecticut Colony played a significant role in the establishment of self-government in the New World with its refusal to surrender local authority to the Dominion of New England, an event known as the Charter Oak incident which occurred at Jeremy Adams' inn and tavern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niantic people</span> Historic Native American tribe in Connecticut

The Niantic are a tribe of Algonquian-speaking American Indians who lived in the area of Connecticut and Rhode Island during the early colonial period. They were divided into eastern and western groups due to intrusions by the more numerous and powerful Pequots. The Western Niantics were subject to the Pequots and lived just east of the mouth of the Connecticut River, while the Eastern Niantics became very close allies to the Narragansetts. It is likely that the name Nantucket is derived from the tribe's endonym, Nehantucket.

Edmund Sears Morgan was an American historian and an authority on early American history. He was the Sterling Professor of History at Yale University, where he taught from 1955 to 1986. He specialized in American colonial history, with some attention to English history. Thomas S. Kidd says he was noted for his incisive writing style, "simply one of the best academic prose stylists America has ever produced." He covered many topics, including Puritanism, political ideas, the American Revolution, slavery, historiography, family life, and numerous notables such as Benjamin Franklin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Mason (colonist)</span> English settler, soldier, commander, and Deputy Governor

John Mason was an English-born settler, soldier, commander and Deputy Governor of the Connecticut Colony. Mason was best known for leading a group of Puritan settlers and Indian allies on a combined attack on a Pequot Fort in an event known as the Mystic Massacre. The destruction and loss of life he oversaw effectively ended the hegemony of the Pequot tribe in southeast Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mystic massacre</span> Massacre of American Indians during the Pequot War

The Mystic massacre – also known as the Pequot massacre and the Battle of Mystic Fort – took place on May 26, 1637 during the Pequot War, when a force from the Connecticut Colony under Captain John Mason and their Narragansett and Mohegan allies set fire to the Pequot Fort near the Mystic River. They shot anyone who tried to escape the wooden palisade fortress and killed most of the village. There were between 400 and 700 Pequots killed during the attack; the only Pequot survivors were warriors who were away in a raiding party with their sachem Sassacus.

Robert Seeley, also Seely, Seelye, or Ciely, (1602-1668) was an early Puritan settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who helped establish Watertown, Wethersfield, and New Haven. He also served as second-in-command to John Mason in the Pequot War.

The War of 1812 bibliography is a selective, annotated bibliography using APA style citations of the many books related to the War of 1812. There are thousands of books and articles written about this topic. Only the most useful are presented.

Canonchet was a Narragansett Sachem and leader of Native American troops during the Great Swamp Fight and King Philip's War. He was a son of Miantonomo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England Colonies</span> British American colonies (1620-1776)

The New England Colonies of British America included Connecticut Colony, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and the Province of New Hampshire, as well as a few smaller short-lived colonies. The New England colonies were part of the Thirteen Colonies and eventually became five of the six states in New England, with Plymouth Colony absorbed into Massachusetts and Maine separating from it.

Events from the year 1798 in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pequot Fort</span> United States historic place

The Pequot Fort was a fortified Native American village in what is now the Groton side of Mystic, Connecticut, United States. Located atop a ridge overlooking the Mystic River, it was a palisaded settlement of the Pequot tribe until its destruction by Puritan and Mohegan forces in the 1637 Mystic massacre during the Pequot War. The exact location of its archaeological remains is not certain, but it is commemorated by a small memorial at Pequot Avenue and Clift Street. The site previously included a statue of Major John Mason, who led the forces that destroyed the fort; it was removed in 1995 after protests by Pequot tribal members. The archaeological site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Wequash Cooke was allegedly one of the earliest Native American converts to Protestant Christianity, and as a sagamore he played an important role in the 1637 Pequot War in New England.

Alfred A. Cave was an American professor, historian, and author. He is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Toledo, specializing in the ethnohistory of Colonial America, Native Americans, and the Jacksonian era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Printer</span> 17th–18th century Nipmuc printer and scribe

James Printer, also known as Wowaus, (1640–1709) was a Native American from the Nipmuc tribe who studied and worked as a printer in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was one of the most famous early Nipmuc writers. Printer was the first Native American printer's devil in America as well as one of John Eliot's most accomplished interpreters who assisted in the creation of the Eliot Indian Bible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred F. Young</span> American historian

Alfred Fabian "Al" Young (1925–2012) was an American historian. Young is regarded as a pioneer in the writing of the social history of the American Revolution and was a founding editor of the academic journal Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas.

References

  1. 1 2 Hall, Timothy D. (1997). "Reviewed work: The Pequot War., Alfred A. Cave". The Journal of American History. 84 (3): 1035–1036. doi:10.2307/2953110. JSTOR   2953110.
  2. 1 2 3 Grumet, Robert S. (1997). "Reviewed work: The Pequot War, Alfred A. Cave". The William and Mary Quarterly. 54 (3): 629–630. doi:10.2307/2953850. JSTOR   2953850.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Anderson, Virginia Dejohn (1998). "Reviewed work: The Pequot War, Alfred A. Cave". The American Historical Review. 103 (3): 962–963. doi:10.2307/2650701. JSTOR   2650701.
  4. Johnson, Eric S. (1997). "Reviewed work: The Pequot War, Alfred A. Cave". The New England Quarterly. 70 (1): 139–141. doi:10.2307/366534. JSTOR   366534.
  5. Beaudry, Mary C. (1998). "Reviewed work: The Pequot War, Alfred A. Cave". Ethnohistory. 45 (3): 577–578. doi:10.2307/483325. JSTOR   483325.
  6. "Publisher's Website". University of Massachusetts Press. May 17, 2024.

Further reading