The Unknown War: King Philip’s War, 1675-1678
March 11 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
In 1675, war broke out in Rhode Island when Native people fired on a handful of colonists, killing a young English man. Or so goes the story.
If you’re one of the relatively few people in the US who have heard of King Phillip’s War, this is probably all you know. Or perhaps your Massachusetts town has a monument to what it calls heroic colonial captains. But what really took place in those bloody years, 1675-1678, across New England?
This vital presentation by historian Kevin March is the first in our spring lecture series Metacom’s Resistance: Retelling King Philip’s War. It offers the essential foundation you need for the rest of the series. Don’t miss it!
King Philip’s War (1675-1678) has rightly been described as a watershed moment for the Native and Puritan inhabitants of New England. The history of this forgotten conflict is most often told through Mary Rowlandson’s famous captivity narrative and the victors’ monuments scattered in towns throughout New England. However, these settler sources distort our historical memory of the complex tensions that led to war, the political and environmental factors that shaped its course, and its diverse outcomes for Native communities across the Northeast.
In this talk, Kevin March re-examines King Philip’s War, offering a more nuanced picture of the conflict that reshaped New England.
The Partnership of Historic Bostons is an all-volunteer organization. As always, their public history events are free. But to make events such as this one, as well as the Metacom’s Resistance series, PHB could use your help! Please donate now to support real history.