1675: The murderers of John Sassamon, precipitating King Philip’s War

ExecutedToday.com ^ | June 8, 2011 | Dogboy

[CheshireTheCat]

On this date in 1675, Puritan colonists’ hanging of three Wampanoag Indians helped trigger a brutal bout of ethnic cleansing, King Philip’s War.

The condemned men’s victim, Wassausmon — known by his Christian, Anglicized name of John Sassamon — was a converted Massachuseuk, briefly a Harvard attendee (1653)*, and eventually a translator for several tribes when dealing with the early settlers. Sassamon fought on the colonists’ side during the Pequot War, which has graced these pages before, and was generally seen as very sympathetic to the colonial cause, at one point becoming a schoolmaster at the inception of the towns of Natick and Ponkapoag.

After his work as a translator, Sassamon returned to the Puritan fold to become a minister in the Plymouth Colony.

Because of his high position in both the white and native worlds, though, he drew some resentment from both sides. It was Sassamon’s sense of loyalty to both sides of the growing tension between the natives and colonists that led to his demise...

[TBP]

Blessed are the peacemakers.

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

CheshireTheCat : " It was Sassamon’s sense of loyalty to both sides of the growing tension
between the natives and colonists that led to his demise..."

In this case, strratleing the fence led to his demise.

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.google.com/search?q=King+Philip%27s+War+site:youtube.com

[SamAdams76]

I recently read a good book on King Phillip's war, as well as the entire Mayflower story by Nathaniel Philbrick. Highly recommended as it goes really into depth on the war, which was one of the deadliest wars in North American history in terms of percentage of the population killed.

Pinging our resident historian LS as well.