US History From a Brasilian's Perspective

As Mayflower shows, the American Indian tribes of New England were not a monolith, either culturally or politically. However, the English were not consistently able to think of them as separate tribes with different loyalties and desires. How did misconceptions of racial identity complicate the politics of King Philip’s War?

It seems that misconceiving the racial identity of the Natives was one of the biggest and stupidest mistakes that the English could have made. Not only did the English prolong the war more then needed by invovling other tribes that most likely would have remained neutral, they made more enemies each time they attacked or put pressure on a new tribe. It's true that some tribes may have come to the defense of Phillip because of past alliances. But many of them, like the Salonnets and Pocassets, tried their best to stay out of the war. However, because Governer Bradford wouldn't grant Church's request, they were almost forced to join Phillip's army. Later, when the English began to utiliz the Native Americans in the war, the Sakonnets and many others who had never wished to join Phillip were able to oppose him.

It's funny. This topic was my biggest pet peeve in the whole book. I couldn't stand how he English saw all Natives as the same, even the Praying Indians. Maybe that's just because it's rarer today (although I'm sure it still happens), but I still get frustrated reading about it.