ORCID ID
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9475-2067
Date Awarded
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Department
History
Advisor
Joshua Piker
Committee Member
Nicholas Popper
Committee Member
Fabricio Prado
Abstract
These two papers discuss some of the continuities in the history of Native societies of New England in the mid-seventeenth century. During this time, the presence of English traders and colonists changed Native practices tremendously, with radical political shifts as colonists arrived and fought against powerful Native groups like the Pequots with new weapons and tactics. However, in discussing these changes, one can also see the continuities in this history. Adoption, Adaption: The Indigenous Military Revolution in New England, 1636-1675 In the first paper, the author discusses warfare, and how, in the wake of the Pequot War, where colonists slaughtered hundreds of Pequots in the Mystic Massacre, Native warfare changed as they began to use firearms, and changed the designs of their forts to better repulse attacks from gun-wielding enemies. However, as these changes were made, crucial aspects of Native warfare survived, creating a new style of warfare that was far more effective than either earlier Native or colonial tactics. Continuities in Pequot History: Local and Trans-Atlantic Captivities In the second paper, the author focuses on captivity of Native people by both other Native groups and by European traders and English colonists, using the concept of captivity as a continuity throughout the history of the Pequots of the seventeenth century. Over the course of these tumultuous years the Pequots fell victim to slaving Europeans, became a regional power, and, after the Pequot War, were enslaved by both English and Native rivals, before returning to a state of protected independence under the English. Throughout this, despite radical changes in Pequot status, captivity was a constant threat for the Pequots, and thus forms a vital continuity in understanding this history.
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-dtzh-va80
Rights
© The Author
Recommended Citation
Mansoor, Yusuf, "Continuities In Native New England: Knowledge In And Of The Atlantic World, 1634-1675" (2020). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. William & Mary. Paper 1616444464.
http://dx.doi.org/10.21220/s2-dtzh-va80
