In 1675, the Algonquian Indians rose up in fury against the Puritan Colonists, sparking a violent conflict that engulfed all of Southern New England. From this conflict ensued the most merciless and blood stricken war in American history, tearing flesh from the Puritan doctrine, revealing deep down the bright and incisive fact that anger and violence brings man to a Godless level when faced with the threat of pain and total destruction. In the summer of 1676, as the violence dispersed and a clearing between the hatred and torment was visible, thousands were dead.(Lepore xxi) Indian and English men, women, and children, along with many of the young villages of New England were no more; casualties of a conflict that was both devastating to the lives and the landscape of New England, as well as the ideologies of both the Indians and the English Puritans that inhabited this land.(Lepore 18)

King Philip's war was not the basic Indian war that plagues American history. It was not the first archetypal Settler vs. Savage conflict, and nor would it be the last. King Philip's war was a terribly violent and destructive conflict, which was sparked by the desires of maintaining cultural identity

The Indians had an identity all their own, and were in many ways reluctant to open up to the English settlers, fearing the effects of their highly controversial way of life. Regardless, despite the devastating bouts with foreign disease that accompanied the settlers, and issues regarding the land the colonists claimed in the name of the king, the Indians were still relatively accepting and hospitable to the setting Puritans. (Drake 3) They traded openly, worked together in establishing villages, and notoriously, the Indians aided the Puritans in teaching them the ways of the land, and in guiding them through the difficult New England winters. Over several years, the two cultures began to mesh, and the bits and pieces adapted by the opposing cultures, began to cause trouble among the hierarchies of these two societies. (Lepore 12)

The war ended as the Algonquians lost allies and lost land. They pushed up far enough into New England that their only way out was west and into the territories of their Iroquois enemies. King Philip was captured and killed, and in a very un-puritan like fashion, his head was placed on a poll in Plymouth. (Drake 82) With the closing of the war, both sides realized nothing had been accomplished except for excessive destruction and extensive death, all across New England. Both sides were confused and unaware of what path to follow, on how to pick up the pieces and move forward.

Despite English victory, the Puritans suffered greatly for this conflict from a political standpoint. The fatalities set the colonists back nearly a decade in population, and many of those who survived lost everything in the destruction of nearly half of the villages in New England.(Drake 97) They lost the trading opportunities and the allies they previously shared with the Algonquians.

This loss of confidence in the Puritan New England ventures had grand effects on future projects. Both England, and the Puritans themselves, didn't feel as if future expansion of New England colonies was necessary at such a time. The rebuilding period itself took several years, and because of this, the populations in current New England towns grew rapidly, and powerful cities became great trading areas. (Lepore 281)

As previously stated, the English Puritans placed significant importance on the ideal of maintaining their Englishness, but it was proved very difficult. Historically, this difficulty is very vivid, as the Pilgrims had left Holland, a European developed nation, because they believed it was affecting their culture and customs.(Lepore 17) If such a task proved so challenging in the Netherlands, one could only imagine how difficult the struggle to maintain such an identity would be in the New World. Within time, the Puritans began to lose focus not only on their Englishness, but on their faith as well. Morals became somewhat lax in comparison to what was expected. Increase Mather, a Puritan Minister of the time predicted trouble in his sermons. In a sermon entitled, The Day of Trouble Is Near, written in 1674, a year before the vi

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