Written by Madeleine Jones
Introduction
You all must be familiar with the National holiday: Thanksgiving. In American pop culture, It’s known for its warmth and spirit of thankfulness, birthed from a shared feast between Pilgirms and Native Americans. Ironically, this peaceful event bloomed amidst a bloody battlefied. The events that led up to and followed Thanksgiving ranged from the dropping corpses of those in Plymouth, to the first seedlings of Independence in the forming colonies. There was even friction in the developing New Netherlands and their newly won independence, and problems that errupted with England’s Swedish neighbors. Let me tell you about the crazy that surrounded the well known holiday of Thanksgiving.
Puritans v. Pequot Indians
First of all, the relationship between the two parties was more like Puritain versus Pequot Indians. The spread of the colonists caused conflicts between the colonists and the Indians.
Three fourths of the Indians in New England had been wiped out by an epidemic brought on by the contact with English fishermen. Less Indians meant the settlers had more land to claim.
The local Wampanoag settlers were weak, and were in no position to oppose the expanding settlers, so they initially befriended them. In 1621, Wampanoag chieftain, Massasoit, signed a treaty to ensure peace with the Plymouth Pilgrims. Thanksgiving was celebrated after the autumn harvest in 1621, after this treaty was signed. Afterward, more English settlers arrived, crossing into the Connecticut River Valley. This agitated the Indians, and confrontation between English settlers and the Pequot tribe ultimately led to violence in 1637. The Pequot War followed. The English militia had Narragansett Indian allies.With these allies, they burned the Indian huts (called wigwams) and shot the survivors that attempted to escape. The Pequot tribe was practically wiped out with their crushing defeat. Four years of wavering peace existed between the Indians and the English Puritans.
The Catholic Spanish and French were converting the Indians to their religion with greater passion than the Christian Puritans. Their pitiful attempts included the “praying towns”, where a small number of were gathered to learn of English culture and associate themselves with the English God. They were criticized for this small effort by critics in England.
Finally, there was the last organized attack of the Indians. The Indian tribes unified in hopes of running the English settlers off the land. King Philip’s War: In 1675, a series of carefully planned assaults were led by Metacom, Wampanoag chieftain Massasoit’s son. Frontier settlements were hit hard; refugees were forced into Boston. In total, the Indians attacked 52 Puritan towns and annihilated 12 towns. Casualties lay on both sides, with hundreds dead and Metacom’s capture resulting in his family’s forced slavery (his wife and his son), and his own death. Metacomb was beheaded and drawn and quartered. Upon the Puritan’s victory, Metacom's head was stuck on a pike for display in Plymouth for years. Effects? It delayed the English’s westward march of several decades. As for the Indians, they were incredibly defeated; low in numbers and spirit, the united tribes broke up and only ever attacked in the occasional random, uncorrelated manner.
Seeds of Colonial Unity and Independence
The English Civil War distracted England and allowed the colonies to depend on themselves. The colonies flousished in the benign neglect. The New England Confederation was for defense against (both potential and current) threats, which included the French, Dutch, and the Indians. It existed for criminal cases such as runaway criminals and servants. The Massachusetts Bay colony, Plymouth, New Haven, and the scattered valley settlements of the Connecticut colonies banded together in 1643. This was the first step toward colonial unification.
The number of representatives per colony was equal despite size (angered the Massachusetts Bay colony). And, for Puritans only, people from Rhode Island and Maine had too many ‘undesirable’ characters. Charles II became English King in 1660. Puritans lost hope of (at some point) purifying the Old English church. Charles wished to establish a firm grip on the colonies, contrasting the independent nature of the colonies (a product of the neglect). Royal orders were largely ignored in Massachusetts. In 1662, to teach Massachusetts a lesson, he gave Connecticut (Massachusetts’s rival) a sea to sea charter grant. This legalized the squatter settlements. In 1663 Rhode Island (Massachusetts’s other rival) was given religious tolerance by a kingly sanction. In 1684 Massachusetts precious charter was revoked.
Andros Promotes the First American Revolution
The Dominion of New England (1686) was imposed from London by London officials. This embraced New England, (then two years later) New York and East and West Jersey. This was designed for colonial defense (unity). This was designed to promote the English Navigation Laws. The Navigation Laws were an attempt to secure the relationship between Britain and the colonies. It “throttled” the trade between the colonists and foreign countries.
Colonists felt that these laws were outrageous; smuggling was common and seen as honorable.
Sir Edmund Andros was at the head of this new dominion. He was despised for his open affiliation with the Church of England and for his terrible soldiers. He got rid of the precious town meetings and placed irritable restrictions on the press, courts, and schools.
He revoked all land titles, was guilty of taxation without representation, and enforced the Navigation Laws and aimed to cease smuggling. Remember: the colonists were used to salutary neglect.
Now, this is when the Glorious (Bloodless) Revolution comes into view. Catholic James II was taken off the throne and replaced by Protestant rulers, William III and Mary II. News of the Glorious Revolution reached America and inspired the colonists to revolt against the regime. Sir Edmund Andros attempted to escape wearing women’s clothing, but he was caught and sent back to England. Results of the Bloodless Revolution? From 1689 to 1691, New York and Maryland revolted. Even after, many corrupt English officials (judges, clerks, etc.) existed in English America.They were biased and heavy influenced by the authorities in London. In 1691 Massachusetts became a royal colony (new charter and royal governor). The loss of their charter was a huge loss for them. Voting then became available to any white man who owned property (no longer had anything to do with religion, much the the Puritan’s hatred).
Old Netherlanders at New Netherland
Netherlands won their independence from Catholic Spain with the help of Protestant England. In the seventeenth century, Netherlands emerged as a major power (powerful commercially and in the navy). Netherlands turned on their former ally, Protestant England.
The Dutch Republic became a colonial power, top in the game, as it profited majorly, with the Dutch East India company at one point supported 10,000 soldiers and 190 ships (40 of them being men-of-war). Dutch East India Company sought riches, so they employed Henry Hudson, who ventured into Delaware Bay and New York Bay in 1609 instead of sailing northeast. Though The Dutch West India Company was less powerful than the Dutch East India Company, they captured a fleet of Spanish ships worth $15 million in 1624 (they favored raids over trading). The Dutch colony of New Netherlands was established 1623 - 1624 by the Dutch West India Company. This was really a secondary interest. They bought Manhattan Islands (22,000 acres) from the Indians (though they didn’t own the land) in order to produce “worthless trinkets”. New Amsterdam was a company town run for the Dutch Company’s financial interests. The investors did not care for religious toleration, freedom of speech, are any democratic ideas. Quakers faced much abuse. Patroonships were feudal estates on the front of the Hudson River. 50 people were settled on these Patroonships (each) by promoters.
New Amsterdam attracted a variety of people, leading to its diversity (ex. Jews, refugees from Catholic Brazil). 18 different languages were spoken on the streets.
Friction with English and Swedish Neighbors
The company was not doing very well from the start; colony’s welfare was poor. Many incompetent generals were in charge. Connecticut would not include Holanders and many colonies of the New England Confederation wanted to to get rid of New Netherland, but could not because Massachusetts refused to provide its much required troops. New England was hostile toward the growth of the Dutch. Sweden was at its golden peak after the Thirty Years’ War (1618 - 1648) was over. (1638 - 1655) Swedish trespassed and established the colony of New Sweden at the Delaware River. The Dutch dispatched a small military expedition to avoid Swedish attack (1655). The Sweden thus faded away.
Madeleine Jones is a 16 year old writer from Florida. She writes for her school's newspaper, and her favorite class is APUSH (AP US History). She is a Hamilton fanatic and dreams of writing "non-stop!" like he did!
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