First Native American Treaty
The First Native American Treaty was established on March 22, 1621, between Governor John Carver of the Plymouth colony and Massasoit, the sachem of the Wampanoags. This treaty marked the first formal agreement between a Native American tribe and European settlers in the 13 colonies, fostering a relationship of friendship and alliance that lasted for 54 years. The Wampanoags, who had experienced a significant population decline due to a mysterious epidemic prior to the colonists' arrival, sought this alliance as a strategic move amidst shifting power dynamics among local tribes.
Key figures in the treaty's formation included English-speaking natives Squanto and Samoset, who facilitated communication. The treaty outlined mutual protections, responsibilities regarding peace, and provisions for assistance during conflicts. Initially, the agreement was successful, leading to a period of relative peace between the Wampanoags and the colonists. However, tensions increased after Massasoit's death in 1661 and escalated into King Philip's War in 1675, a devastating conflict that resulted in significant losses for both sides and marked the decline of Native American resistance in southern New England. This historical treaty underscores the complexities of early Native American and settler relations, influenced by both cooperation and conflict.
First Native American Treaty
The First Native American Treaty
On March 22, 1621, Governor John Carver of the Plymouth colony made a treaty with Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoags, pledging friendship and alliance between the Wampanoags and the colonists. This was the first treaty between a native tribe and the European settlers made within the 13 colonies. It remained in effect for 54 years, during which time it was respected by both parties.
The territory over which Massasoit ruled embraced nearly all of southeastern Massachusetts. By the time the Plymouth colonists arrived in 1620, however, the Wampanoags, though still powerful, had been reduced in number by a mysterious pestilence, variously described as smallpox, yellow fever, and plague, which had struck them down several years earlier. The epidemic had a devastating effect, killing off perhaps a third of all Indians in southern New England, upsetting the balance of power between the various tribes, and perhaps contributing to the willingness of the Wampanoags to make friends with the colonists. Those involved in the preliminary conversations that led to the treaty included Edward Winslow (who later became governor of Plymouth colony) and two English-speaking natives living in the area. The two natives were Squanto, a Pawtuxet, and Samoset, a Pemaquid.
The treaty of peace and alliance signed by Massasoit and Governor Carver appears in slightly differing forms in William Bradford's The History of Plymouth Plantation, in Nathaniel Morton's New-Englands Memorial, and in Mourt's Relation, named for the author of its preface. Mourt's Relation, which appeared in London in 1622, was the earliest account of the Plymouth Pilgrims. As edited by Dwight B. Heath under the title A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth (New York, 1963), Mourt's Relation contained this version of the treaty:
Lastly, that doing thus, King James would esteem of him as his friend and ally.
The treaty worked well. A contributor to Mourt's Relation wrote: “We have found the Indians very faithful in their covenant of peace with us, very loving and ready to pleasure us. So that there is now great peace amongst the Indians…and we, for our part, walk as peaceably and safely in the wood as in the highways in England.”
Peace between the colonists and natives lasted throughout the life of the Wampanoag chief. After Massasoit's death in 1661, his son Wamsutta (Alexander) succeeded him. In 1662 Wamsutta died (murdered by the English, the Wampanoags suspected), and his brother Metacomet (whom the colonists called King Philip) became chief. Encroachment by the colonists on tribal territory and the settlers' execution in 1675 of three native warriors accused of murdering a pro-settler informer led directly to what is known as King Philip's War. Directed against colonists throughout New England, the war involved not only the Wampanoags but all the tribes with which Metacomet in the previous decade had been making treaties in anticipation of a stand against the growing colonial tide.
In the course of the devastating war, 52 of the region's 90 towns were attacked by natives. Roughly a dozen of them were completely destroyed; others were deserted; and all suffered damage. Perhaps 1,000 colonists, including 600 men of military age, and eventually 3,000 natives lost their lives.
Eleven days after his wife and son were captured on August 1, 1676, Metacomet was himself killed, and his head was cut off to be exhibited on top of a pole at Plymouth for the next quarter century. The war, which resulted in the virtual destruction of the Wampanoags and an end to native resistance throughout southern New England, did not terminate with the death of Metacomet. On frontiers as far north as the Penobscot River in Maine, it dragged on until 1678, involving numerous tribes.