Who was King Philip?
Metacomet (King Philip) was the second son of Massasoit, the Wampanoag sachem (chief) who greeted the Pilgrims with warmth and generosity in 1621. The Pilgrims referred to Massasoit as king because they saw his function as sachem of the Wampanoags as being very similar to that of their own English king. Accordingly, they referred to his wife as queen.
When Massasoit died, Wamsutta, his eldest son, became sachem of the Wampanoags. Since it was the custom of his culture to change names at life-changing events, he petitioned the Plymouth Court to give him and his brother, Metacomet, English names. The Court named them Alexander and Philip after Alexander the Great and his father, Philip. King Alexander died shortly after he became sachem and his brother was next in line. Voila - King Philip. Please note, however, that only the English colonists would have called him Philip; the Wampanoags themselves most likely continued to call him Metacomet.
Metacomet was born c.1638 which would make him about 24 years old when he became sachem in 1662 and 38 when he died in 1676. Wamsutta (Alexander) was much older than Metacomet; it is probable they had different mothers.
It has been difficult to tease out of the primary sources what Philip's real personality was. According to Increase Mather, William Hubbard and other early chroniclers of the War, he was an agent of the Devil. They painted him as cruel, wily, savage - the cause of all their miseries. They never met him nor indicated any interest in learning about the native culture.
In fact, there is only one primary source that tells of a colonist meeting Philip and from that source one can see him in quite another light. It is in Mary Rowlandson's recounting of her almost four months as a captive of the natives, The Captivity and Restauration of Mary Rowlandson, that one reads of her encounters with Phillip. She relates that he was courteous to her, even inviting her to dine (on a pancake fried in bear grease) with his family on one occasion. He helped her across a swamp when the going seemed beyond her and commissioned her to knit and sew garments for his son.
Then there is the business of his warning Hugh Cole to flee with his family because he could not restrain his men any longer from wreaking destruction on Swansea. This incident portrays to me a leader torn between his tribe and his friends outside the tribe.
The Wampanoags escaped from the colonial forces time and again not because of the outstanding leadership of Philip, but rather because the colonists' blunders allowed them to get away. A Wampanoag questioned at the end of the War stated that Philip had been ready to surrender when he was trapped in the Pocasset swamp in July and again in Nipsachuck Swamp after escaping across the Plains of Rehoboth in early August. On both occasions, the colonists failed to follow up on their near capture of Philip.
Recent researchers assess Philip's leadership role as somewhat diminished by the time he and his remaining people reached the safe haven of the Nipmucs in August of 1675. They see the purpose of Philip in going to New York in December of 1675 as an attempt to strengthen his leadership role by convincing the Mohawks and other natives to join in the rebellion. The trip ended in disaster and any leadership role Philip might have played after February, 1676, was completely eclipsed by Canonchet of the Narragansetts and the Nipmucs: Mattaump, Matoonas and Monoco.
We will probably never know for sure who Philip really was. Was he the strong leader who brilliantly organized a pan-native rebellion to drive the colonists from New England and almost succeeded or was he a leader who was caught up in circumstances beyond his control?
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When Massasoit died, Wamsutta, his eldest son, became sachem of the Wampanoags. Since it was the custom of his culture to change names at life-changing events, he petitioned the Plymouth Court to give him and his brother, Metacomet, English names. The Court named them Alexander and Philip after Alexander the Great and his father, Philip. King Alexander died shortly after he became sachem and his brother was next in line. Voila - King Philip. Please note, however, that only the English colonists would have called him Philip; the Wampanoags themselves most likely continued to call him Metacomet.
Metacomet was born c.1638 which would make him about 24 years old when he became sachem in 1662 and 38 when he died in 1676. Wamsutta (Alexander) was much older than Metacomet; it is probable they had different mothers.
It has been difficult to tease out of the primary sources what Philip's real personality was. According to Increase Mather, William Hubbard and other early chroniclers of the War, he was an agent of the Devil. They painted him as cruel, wily, savage - the cause of all their miseries. They never met him nor indicated any interest in learning about the native culture.
In fact, there is only one primary source that tells of a colonist meeting Philip and from that source one can see him in quite another light. It is in Mary Rowlandson's recounting of her almost four months as a captive of the natives, The Captivity and Restauration of Mary Rowlandson, that one reads of her encounters with Phillip. She relates that he was courteous to her, even inviting her to dine (on a pancake fried in bear grease) with his family on one occasion. He helped her across a swamp when the going seemed beyond her and commissioned her to knit and sew garments for his son.
Then there is the business of his warning Hugh Cole to flee with his family because he could not restrain his men any longer from wreaking destruction on Swansea. This incident portrays to me a leader torn between his tribe and his friends outside the tribe.
The Wampanoags escaped from the colonial forces time and again not because of the outstanding leadership of Philip, but rather because the colonists' blunders allowed them to get away. A Wampanoag questioned at the end of the War stated that Philip had been ready to surrender when he was trapped in the Pocasset swamp in July and again in Nipsachuck Swamp after escaping across the Plains of Rehoboth in early August. On both occasions, the colonists failed to follow up on their near capture of Philip.
Recent researchers assess Philip's leadership role as somewhat diminished by the time he and his remaining people reached the safe haven of the Nipmucs in August of 1675. They see the purpose of Philip in going to New York in December of 1675 as an attempt to strengthen his leadership role by convincing the Mohawks and other natives to join in the rebellion. The trip ended in disaster and any leadership role Philip might have played after February, 1676, was completely eclipsed by Canonchet of the Narragansetts and the Nipmucs: Mattaump, Matoonas and Monoco.
We will probably never know for sure who Philip really was. Was he the strong leader who brilliantly organized a pan-native rebellion to drive the colonists from New England and almost succeeded or was he a leader who was caught up in circumstances beyond his control?
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