The death of
Philip marked the end of the war of 1675-1676.
Proportionality, the damage to people and property was
severe. Quote number of villages destroyed, some never to
recover, Lives lost on either side.
But the most lasting damage was the stereotypes each side
built against the other and the breakdown in communications
between the two groups. The English thought the Native
Americans were shiftless; the Native Americans considered
the English to be arrogant and underhanded.
The losses on the English side were horrendous ; to quote
Samuel Eliot Morison (The "Old Colony").
"King Philip's War was a terrible scourge to New England.
About twelve settlements were totally destroyed, and forty
others damaged. The frontier was flung back almost to the
coast; much of the territory lost n Massachusetts and
Connecticut was not resettled for forty years. Between five
and six hundred of military age were killed-a loss of eight
to ten percent, far greater the United States suffered in
either World War I or II. Hundreds of families who had lost
their homes were living as refuges with families who had
been more fortunate; and there was no insurance or
government aid to help them rebuild."
Losses for the Native Americans were even more horrendous.
They were driven from their villages. Many died from
starvation and privation. Numbers were sold into slavery.
Some were able to flee to either to Northern New England or
to the West. The Native Americans were essentially wiped
out as a force in Southern New England. As mentioned
previously, reservations were established for many of the
Native Americans including one in Freetown on land that
later become Fall River. The reservation gradually fell
apart and finally no one was left on the reservation land
in the early 1900s. All that remains today are a few place
names and web sites devoted to the Wampanoag Native
Americans.
Many Native American tribes are undergoing a renaissance.
Perhaps other Southern New England tribes will be able to
repeat the success of the Pequod and Mohegan tribes in
Connecticut.
Sic transit gloria mundi. (Thus pass the glories of the
world.)