This paper reviews Yasuhide Kawashima's historical account of King Philip's War, the seventeenth-century conflict between English colonists and Native American tribes in New England. The paper examines who King Philip (Metacom) was and why he matters historically, explores the role of John Sassamon as a cultural intermediary whose murder triggered the war, and analyzes the underlying causes of the conflict — including land disputes, economic competition, and the aggressive expansion of Plymouth Colony's legal authority. The paper concludes by describing how the war permanently altered the relationship between colonists and Native peoples, resulting in mass enslavement, displacement, and the end of bicultural coexistence in New England.
The paper demonstrates source-based historical analysis by consistently grounding claims in Kawashima's interpretations while also citing corroborating reviews. Direct quotations (e.g., "inconclusive," "predetermined") are used sparingly but effectively to support key analytical points about bias in the murder investigation and its role in triggering war.
The paper is divided into four thematic sections, each organized around a guiding historical question. Section one introduces King Philip and his political situation. Section two examines John Sassamon's role as a cultural intermediary. Section three addresses the war's causes from legal and economic perspectives. Section four describes Philip's death and the war's devastating aftermath for Native peoples. The conclusion ties legal imperialism to cultural destruction.
Colonists gave the name King Philip to Metacom, the youngest son of Massasoit — the Indian leader who during the early years of Plymouth Colony had helped save the Pilgrims from starvation. The deterioration in relations between the colonists and the Native tribes ultimately led to King Philip's War (Fitzgerald, 1998).
Philip eventually became the Grand Sachem of the Wampanoags. In his book, Kawashima opines that King Philip could have been a great leader, but that circumstances of the time prevented him from leading a unified Indian front (Fitzgerald, 1998). Nevertheless, Philip was an important figure: he foresaw that the English would not halt their expansion, and that if left unchecked, it would mean the end of the Wampanoag people (Fitzgerald, 1998).
In an attempt to stop English expansion, Philip began forging alliances with other tribes. Due to frequent trading contacts and the presence of the Praying Indians, the English authorities eventually learned of his efforts (Fitzgerald, 1998). According to Kawashima, relations between the English and the Indians grew more tense than before because of ongoing disputes over land use — including land for planting, hunting, and fishing — and the collapse of the fur trade (Fitzgerald, 1998).
Kawashima recounts that the English summoned Philip to Taunton in 1671 and accused him of plotting against them. Philip agreed to surrender all Wampanoag firearms, and even his escort turned over their guns (Fitzgerald, 1998).
Kawashima also highlights the legal significance of Philip's era: on September 29, 1671, Philip signed an agreement with Plymouth Colony declaring that he and his people were subjects of the royal government and bound by colony laws (Fitzgerald, 1998). He further agreed to follow the colony's guidance in matters of war and in the disposition of Indian land. This agreement effectively stripped the Wampanoags of all political power, reducing them to dependent subjects of Plymouth Colony (Fitzgerald, 1998).
Based on subsequent events, Kawashima argues that Philip most likely signed this agreement under duress, in order to buy time. His plans to rise against English rule and reclaim his people's lands were in all probability already underway (Fitzgerald, 1998).
John Sassamon was a Christian Indian who for a time served as Philip's secretary. His proficiency in English and his connections within Plymouth Colony made him a valuable member of Philip's staff. He later departed Philip's service, went to live among the Christian Indians, and became a preacher at the Indian town of Nemasket.
As Kawashima depicts, Sassamon existed between two cultures — he was neither fully English nor fully part of the Indian world. He reportedly came to warn colonial authorities of a planned Indian attack (Ranlet, 2002). However, Kawashima also believed that Sassamon may have sought to appropriate King Philip's land by altering the sachem's will in his own favor; Kawashima describes the subsequent inquest as "inconclusive" (Kawashima, p. 100).
Kawashima also identifies the possible cause of Sassamon's death. He argues on religious grounds that Sassamon, as a devout Christian, would never have taken his own life no matter how desperate his circumstances (Ranlet, 2002). Kawashima further notes that the method of killing was unnecessarily complex — the Wampanoags would have used a far simpler means — "unless the killer was extremely strong" (Kawashima, p. 97). Kawashima additionally contends that the investigation jury had "predetermined" (Kawashima, p. 99) that Indians were responsible for Sassamon's murder (Ranlet, 2002).
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