Colonial conflict

1. Colonial conflicts Late 17th to early 18th century

2. Pueblo Revolt • After the conquest of northern New Mexico by Juan de Oñate at the turn of the 17th century, Spanish authorities systematically conquered the inhabitants of the pueblos. Indians who had lived and worshiped independently were forced to abandon their religions, adopt Christianity, and pay tribute to Spanish rulers. Their traditional centers of worship (kivas) were destroyed along with the sacramental objects (kachinas) with which their ceremonies and devotions had always been performed. Resistance to Spanish rule was met with imprisonment, torture, and amputations. • 1680: Pueblo Indians rose up to overthrow the Spanish. A religious leader named Popé secretly organized a widespread one day rebellion to occur throughout the region. Planning took shape silently during the summer of 1680 in more than 70 communities • The only successful expulsion of European settlers in the history of North America • Pueblo Indians believed they reestablished the freedom lost through Spanish conquest, but by 1692, Spanish had reconquered New Mexico as the Pueblo alliance disintegrated • Spain was more tolerant towards traditional religion this time and made fewer labor demands

3. Bacon's Rebellion • Began in 1676, when Nathaniel Bacon was elected by many settlers to lead them against nearby native tribes. Bacon wanted authority to wage war against all indigenous people. Pressured by former indentured servants seeking cheap land on the frontier, Virginia passed a law that stipulated that all tribal members who left their villages were to be considered enemies and their lands could be confiscated. This unleashed a campaign of violence against them. The Governor recalled Bacon and his troops. Bacon then turned against Virginia, offering freedom to slaves and servants, to undermine the economic backbone of the landed elite. Bacon's death of dysentery brought the rebellion to an end. Bacon's Rebellion revealed a society "under deep internal stress"--the inability of the governor and legislative body to control the land-hungry ex-indentured servants as well as the fragile hold of the governor on individuals living within the colony; it also reflected the scramble for Indian lands as more people settled in the region and as freed indentured servants moved to the frontier seeking cheap land.

4. Salem Witch Trials • Plagued New England Puritan communities in the late 17th century (1692) • Several girls in Salem Village began behaving strangely and denouncing saints and were therefore thought to be victims of witchcraft and were immediately imprisoned. Most often the women accused were middle-aged wives and widows. The accused mostly resided in the eastern section of Salem, the richer side, and the accusers resided mostly in the west, the poorer side. Those condemned were executed. • The "witch hunt" was greatly a result of worry about new social changes in the colony. Accusations of witchcraft were simply scapegoating to avoid growing tensions between farmers that were community-minded and merchants that were individually concerned. These tensions heightened realization that "city upon a hill" was no longer relevant to new generations.

5. Anne Hutchinson’s Trials • Presented a challenge to traditional New England ways. • Many of her ideas came from those of John Cotton who stressed that saints be free of religious or political control by anyone who had not undergone 'conversion.' She attacked the clergy, and ultimately claimed that there were only two saints in the colony, John Cotton and her brother in law. • Her followers were known as Antinominans, meaning they opposed the rule of law. She was brought to trial before the Massachusetts Bay Legislature. She was "condemned by her own words" (since she claimed she had directly communicated with Holy Spirit). She was tried twice--once for sedition and then for heresy, and was banished. Thereafter, new restrictions were placed on women. She settled in New Netherlands where she died in Dutch wars against Indians.

6. King Philip's War (aka- Metacom’s War) • Pequot Indians controlled lands between the Hudson and Connecticut river valleys. As more settlers moved into New England, pressure for land led to confrontations. The English waged a ruthless campaign against them, using surprise attacks on their villages and killing under torture all they captured. By late 1630s, Pequot resistance was crushed. Shattering a nearly forty-year peace between colonists and Native Americans in New England, King Philip's War began as Separatist Puritans, eager to expand their lands, demanded that Wampanoag Indians convert to Christianity, congregate in 'praying towns' and relinquish their lands. Metacom, a Native American leader known as King Philip, gathered two-thirds of the Native Americans of New England. Their army was as well armed as the Puritans. Metacom's forces started out strong, devastating the countryside and wiping out twelve of New England's 90 towns. Things changed in 1676 when the Puritan militia destroyed the opposition's food supplies and sold many of the enemies into slavery. The war reduced the Indian population in New England by almost 40% and reduced open Indian resistance to white expansion. It also ended missionary work among the Indians.

7. Stono Rebellion • 1739- a slave uprising in South Carolina. • Slaves stole guns and ammunition from a store on the Stono River Bridge near Charleston and began marching South toward St. Augustine, in Spanish Florida, recruiting more slaves along the way. The Spanish, looking to cause unrest within the English colonies, issued a proclamation stating that any slave who deserted to St. Augustine would be given land and freedom. Some plantations were burned and some planters were killed. Mounted militiamen captured the slaves and killed them, placing their heads along mileposts to Charleston. • The rebellion proved southern planters' fears of imminent slave uprisings and led to the adoption of a slave code that mandated strict supervision of slaves and threatened masters with fines for not disciplining their slaves. The code required that manumission (the freeing of slaves by an individual planter) be subject to legislative approval. The code prohibited slaves from owning food, learning to read, and assembling in groups. The harsh punishment against the runaways postponed the occurrence of large scale slave rebellions in the South.

8. The Beaver Wars • 1640 – 1701: (aka French and Iroquois Wars) • Terrifying and brutal wars fought by tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy against the French and the Indian tribes who were their allies, including the Huron and Algonquins. The Iroquois Confederacy, and in particular the Mohawk tribe, had established trading links with Dutch exchanging beaver pelts for guns. The Iroquois Confederacy wanted to extend their trading activity and gain new territories. A series of bloody battles led to the Iroquois League destroying several large tribes including the Hurons, Eries and Susquehannocks. • The tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy went on to fight in the French and Indian Wars as allies of the British.

9. questions • How were the Spanish more accommodating to Indian culture after the Pueblo Revolt? • What does Bacon’s Rebellion expose about society in colonial Virginia? Explain the significance of King Philip’s War