Tag Archives: History

The Name of War: King Philip’s War and the Origins of American Identity by Jill Lepore

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The Name of War is a study of King Philip’s War, a bloody conflict in New England that began in 1675. “King Philip” was a name given to Metacom, an Indian who lead the fight against the English colonists. Lepore doesn’t focus on the war’s chronology. She is concerned with the war’s meaning, which she discusses in relatively academic terms (“the consequences of literacy, the power of print, the negotiation of identity, the suppleness of memory”). Her principal conclusion is that the Indians never got a chance to tell their side of the story — they didn’t win and didn’t write books. Many of those who survived the war didn’t even get to stay in America — they were loaded onto ships and sold into slavery in the West Indies. 

King Philip’s War was the subject of popular memoirs, histories and theatrical performances (none written by Indians) for almost 200 years. But it’s not clear how much the war affected American perceptions of the Indians as the years went by. Many residents of New England opposed Andrew Jackson’s policy of removing Indians from their homes in the South during the 1830’s, even though their English ancestors had accomplished pretty much the same thing years before.  (7/11/11)

Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War by Nathaniel Philbrick

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The Pilgrims sailed to America on the Mayflower in 1620. Mayflower tells the story of the voyage but mainly concerns what happened after the Pilgrims landed. The story ends in 1676 with the conclusion of King Philip’s War between the English and the American Indians (also known as Indians and Americans). 

I didn’t know that the Pilgrims were supposed to land near the Hudson River, not in Massachusetts (that famous meal might have been in Hoboken, New Jersey). I also didn’t know that the Pilgrims landed on Cape Cod and spent a month there before settling in Plymouth. Or that most of them died of starvation and disease. Or that there was a second ship (the Fortune), the arrival of which doubled the population of Plymouth. Or that the Puritans considered marriage to be a civil ceremony, not a religious one, since the Bible doesn’t mention ministers conducting weddings. 

I did know that many of the Pilgrims lived in Holland before coming to America and that they came to America seeking religious freedom for themselves, not for other people. They wanted everyone to practice religion as they did. 

I kept wanting to tell the Indians to be careful. It is surprising to read how much the Indians did for the Pilgrims, how many Indians converted to Christianity, and how many of them were willing to fight with the Pilgrims against other Indians. If only they had known that they were going to be overrun by their new neighbors. But that result was probably inevitable, since America was such a tempting target for colonization by the English, French, Spanish and Dutch. 

The book is unnecessarily long and contains too much detail, too many names, and too many comings and goings. The most interesting character in the book is Benjamin Church, who is considered the unofficial founder of the US Army Rangers. He was an Indian fighter who learned from the Indians and treated them with respect and compassion. 

The Pilgrims were lucky to survive. It might have been better if they hadn’t, since the Indians (the Americans) were in some ways more honorable and civilized than they were. (5/23/11)

The Jamestown Project by Karen Ordahl Kupperman

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I thought this was a book about Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America. It is actually about much more than that. 

Kupperman describes the history of European exploration, trade and colonization with the Muslim world, Africa and North and South America. She puts Jamestown in its historical, cultural and political context. She quotes an amazing number of primary sources (with their original, often surprising spelling) to show what the English thought of the American Indians, what the American Indians thought of the English, what the Virginia Company wanted the Jamestown settlers to accomplish, what the Jamestown settlers wanted (and rarely got) from the Virginia Company. She explains that Jamestown was only one of many attempts to start a colony in America, that the Indians were quite familiar with Europeans before the Jamestown settlers arrived, and that Captain John Smith had a very interesting life before he met Pocahontas.

Most of the colonists died from disease and starvation. Some were killed by the Indians and some preferred living with the Indians. Kupperman argues that Jamestown eventually proved to be a success because it showed that colonies would only prosper if the colonists had personal incentives to succeed, for example, the prospect of owning their own land. The powerful people who put money into the colonies wanted to find a quick route to China, or gold and silver, or to convert the Indians to Christianity. The people who made the colonies succeed had simpler goals.  (4/29/11)

Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit by Jonathan Foa Dienstag

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A history of philosophical pessimism, concentrating on Leopardi, Camus, Schopenhauer, Freud, Nietzsche and Cervantes. Philosophical pessimism results from consideration of the human condition, stuck in time, with everything eventually disappearing. The author says philosophical pessimism can be life-affirming, at least for Nietzsche and Cervantes.  (1/14/10)