Pilgrim Myths P4

The Pilgrims lived in harmony with the Wampanoag Indians from the time of their treaty through both the 1623 and 1637 conflicts. In fact, no other historic treaty with the Native Americans lasted longer than the 54 years of the Pilgrim-Wampanoag treaty. When that treaty was finally broken in King Philip’s War in 1675, it was not the Pilgrims who did so but the Wampanoag.

One of the modern allegations is that King Philip’s War was the result of Indians pushing back against the greedy land-grabbing colonists — that the Indians were simply trying to regain territory that was rightfully theirs. But at the start of this war, Pilgrim Governor Josiah Winslow openly avowed: I think I can clearly say that before these present troubles broke out the English did not possess one foot of land in this colony but what was fairly obtained by honest purchases of the Indian proprietors.

Many today reject this statement, accusing these colonists of taking unfair advantage of the Indians — that they gave natives much less than what the land was actually worth. This claim is very misleading. Whenever the Pilgrims and Indians negotiated and made a treaty, each side voluntarily agreed to the terms. If they had not, they would not have signed it.

Content Sourced from The American Story, The Beginnings.  By: David Barton and Tim Barton