John Eliot, the "Praying Indians," & the tragic King Philip's War

American Minute ^ | August 5, 2019 | Bill Federer

[Perseverando]

Settlers in New England highlighted the conflict between two powerful human motivations: greed and the gospel.

Gospel-motivated missionaries wanted to bless the native inhabitants, both physically and spiritually.

Unfortunately, greed-motivated settlers viewed natives as an unpredictable danger obstructing safe expansion, as they would sometimes steal from farms or kidnap women and children.

Compared to civilizations of Europe, Asia, India, North Africa, and the Middle East, natives of North America still subsisted rather primitively.

The abundance of wild game and fish meant there was little need to domestic animals and crops, read or write, smelt bronze or iron, or even invent a wheel.

Indians traded animal pelts for manufactured items, such as knives, axes, guns, and unfortunately, alcohol.

The Indians' dilemma was that, on one hand, they wanted to trade with the colonists, but, on the other hand, they grew in their dependency.

As Indians began to resent encroachment on their lands, a conflict erupted, the Pequot War of 1637.

In contrast to greed-motivated settlers were the gospel-motivated settlers who wanted to benefit Indians.

These included:

Thomas Tupper (1578-1676), a founder of Sandwich, Massachusetts, who as a charter member of the church there, being deeply interested in religious work among the Indians.

Richard Bourne (1610-1682), who sought fair treatment for the Indians and worked for 20 years to secure for them protected reservation land at Mashpee.

A historical marker reads:

"Burying Hill, site of the First Meeting House for Indians in Plymouth Colony, established by Richard Bourne and Thomas Tupper, soon after their settlement in Sandwich, 1637.

... By their influence peace was preserved throughout the Cape during the perilous times of Indian warfare."

Another Gospel-motivated settler was Missionary John Eliot.

He was called "Apostle to the Indians."

[Perseverando]

Time for another American history lesson from American Minute.

[Spirochete]

... smelt bronze or iron, or even invent a wheel.

North America had a pre-literate chalcolithic culture (the Mississipians) that did smelt copper. They died out before the Europeans arrived, probably from warfare with their hunter-gatherer cousins.

[blueunicorn6]

It was a hard land which made for a hard life which produced hard people.

[camle]

so if you have a problem with natives kidnapping women and children, you’re greedy???