Resource Sheet U2-19
The Pequot War
In 1633, the Puritan English settlements at Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies began expanding into the Connecticut RiverValley to have room for the steady stream of new emigrants from England. Other than the hardship of the journey and the difficulty of building homes in what the Puritans considered a wilderness, only one major problem threatened the security of the growing English settlements: the Pequot Indians.
Before the war, there were disputes between the two groups over the ownership of land, livestock damaging Indian crops, hunting, the selling of alcohol to Indians, and dishonest traders. The colonists also thought they had a God given right to settle this New World.
Prior to their war with the English, two events weakened the Pequot. In 1631, after the death of their chief, the Pequot tribe argued over who should become the next chief. The tribe could not agree and divided into two tribes: the Pequot and the Mohegan. The Mohegan became enemies of the Pequot. The second event was a smallpox epidemic that occurred in 1633-34. These two events reduced the Pequot population in half.
On July 20, 1636, the Pequot killed a dishonest English trader, John Oldham. Many colonists demanded that the Pequot be punished for this wrongdoing. The Massachusetts Bay Colony raised a military force under the command of John Endicott. This troop of 90 men landed on Block Island, Rhode Island and killed 14 Indians before they burned the village and crops. Then Endicott’s forces sailed to Saybrook, Connecticut where they demanded money from the Pequot villagers. The Pequot managed to flee their village before Endicott’s forces arrived but their village was burned too.
During the spring of 1637 the siege continued. Massachusetts began to raise money for a possible war against the Pequots. The Pequot attacked settlers working in a field in revenge for the settlers taking their land. Seven to nine settlers were killed and two girls were taken captive. The colonists became increasingly alarmed. The Massachusetts and Connecticut colonies decided to fight the Pequots together.
In July 1637, English Puritan troops, with the help of Mohegan allies, burned the Pequot village and killed an estimated 400 -700 Pequots. The Pequot leader, Sassacus, was captured on July 28. Many of Sassacus’ tribesmen were captured during the war. The captives were sold in the West Indies as slaves. Sassacus was executed. The English, supported by the Mohegan, pursued the remaining Pequot resistors until all were killed, captured or enslaved. After the war, the colonists outlawed the name “Pequot.”
The Pequot, once a powerful Indian nation, was destroyed.
Adapted and Excerpted from:
The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut
2006-07U2 - 1