Pequot War

The Pequot War was an armed conflict in 1634-1638 between an alliance of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies, with Native American allies (the Narragansett and Mohegan tribes), against the Pequot tribe. This war saw the elimination of the Pequot as a viable polity in what is present-day Southern New England. Most of the Pequot people, warriors or otherwise, were killed by the colonists and their allies or captured and sold into slavery in Ber... more

The Pequot War was an armed conflict in 1634-1638 between an alliance of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies, with Native American allies (the Narragansett and Mohegan tribes), against the Pequot tribe. This war saw the elimination of the Pequot as a viable polity in what is present-day Southern New England. Most of the Pequot people, warriors or otherwise, were killed by the colonists and their allies or captured and sold into slavery in Bermuda; the rest dispersed. It would take the Pequot more than three and a half centuries to regain their former political and economic power in their traditional homeland region along the Pequot (present-day Thames) and Mystic Rivers in what is now southeastern Connecticut. The name Pequot is an Algonquian term, the meaning of which is in dispute among Algonquian specialists. Most recent sources claim that "Pequot" comes from "Paquatauoq," "the destroyers," thereby relying on the speculations of an early twentieth century authority on... less