Massacre at Mystic – May 26, 1637



Massacre at Mystic – May 26, 1637

The pleasant town of Mystic, Connecticut, has a well of darkness in its past. It was here, in 1637, that one of the ugliest massacres of Indians by European settlers took place. The Pequot tribe, whose territory lay east of the Fresh River, were makers of sewan, or wampum, which tribes farther north and west valued highly. Recognizing this, the Dutch worked out an arrangement with the Pequots in which they would trade European goods for wampum, and then trade wampum with other Indians, particularly the Mohawks, for furs. This continued for several years, until the English arrived and decided they wanted a piece of the action. As tensions increased, a series of murders ensued: Indians killing Indians, Dutch killing Indians, and Indians killing Englishmen. The horrific climax came on May 26, 1637, when a contingent of Englishmen under Captain John Mason attacked the Pequot village, burning it to the ground, and killing as many as 700 Indians.

Cause Effect

|The Puritan settlers grew in numbers up to 20,000 in the great migration | |

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|Trade Develops between Pequots and settlers | |

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|English did not see Indians as having religion | |

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| |The English saw the Indian men very lazy |

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|Europeans bring a host of diseases the kills 75% - 90% of the Indian | |

|population and wiping out entire villages | |

| |English feel that the new world is a place they do not want to share |

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| |Increase conflict develops |

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|English move into the Connecticut Valley | |

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|Attack on Pequots was predetermined and well calculated | |

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| |Possibilities of trust and cooperation virtually disappears |

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| |Native people saw something that was beyond their comprehension |

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| |Make sure Pequots would not be a threat to the English again |

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|Many Pequots are sold to other English colonies such as Bermuda or the | |

|Caribbean Islands | |

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| |Banned the Pequot language and sold surviving Pequots into slavery |

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| |Narragansett Indians are massacred or sold into slavery |

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|Robin Cassacinamon becomes friends with John Winthrop Jr. | |

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✓ A few weeks after the battle, the English sought to hunt down all surviving Pequots

✓ Both side live in relative peace

✓ Each side (Indians/English) viewed the land very differently

✓ English believe the land belongs to England and the King

✓ Hundreds and hundreds of people lay dead as a result of the attack

✓ Indian men were out hunting for food most of the time and when they were at home they rested

✓ Inter-tribal conflicts among the Indians

✓ John Winthrop Sr. sets up 3000 acres for a “reservation” in Connecticut for the Pequots

✓ King Phillips War

✓ More area for settlement is needed

✓ Nearby Pequot tribe members come tot the fort to see what had happened

✓ Pequots can never pose a threat to the English again

✓ Puritan authorities wanted to make an example of the Pequots through this attack

✓ Puritans settled in the empty villages and saw it as a sign from God

✓ The English found the Indians very shocking

✓ Treaty of Hartford

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