Metacom's Resistance: Perspectives on King Philip's War with Sarah Stewart
Metacom’s Resistance, Puritan Mythology, and King Philip’s War with Sarah Stewart (Partnership of Historic Bostons)We speak with Sarah Stewart, president of the Partnership of Historic Bostons, a public history organization focused on 17th-century New England, to confront Puritan mythology and widen the lens beyond Salem to Indigenous history, enslaved Africans, and displaced peoples. We dig into why King Philip’s War, which is often skipped in schools and told through colonial monuments, Increase Mather, and captivity narratives, was a turning point that devastated Native sovereignty, reshaped New England, and fed the fear that later influenced the Salem witch trials. Sarah breaks down PHB’s “Metacom’s Resistance” series, the need for reframing the war through Indigenous voices, and the realities of enslavement, land commodification, and legal encroachment on sovereignty. 00:00 Meet Sarah Stewart00:50 Origins of the Partnership01:51 Broadening the 17th Century Lens03:21 Programs and Events04:58 Puritans Beyond the Myths06:51 Building Community Feedback08:06 Why King Philip's War Matters10:53 How the Story Got Distorted13:22 Metacom's Resistance Series17:49 Indigenous Voices Center Stage20:50 Violence and Witch Trial Fear23:59 Captivity and Enslavement25:53 Land Commodification Clash28:50 Land And Equality29:31 Amplifying Indigenous Voices33:08 Powerful Panels And Future Events37:08 Puritans Fear And Ongoing Wars39:11 Courts Sovereignty And Punishment42:23 Thomas Morton And Other Paths45:29 War Choices And Modern Parallels46:55 Audience Reflections And Truth52:01 Keep Learning Stay ConnectedPartnership of Historic Bostons“The Unknown War: King Philip's War, 1675-1678” (video)“The Past is Now: An Inter-Tribal Panel Discussion of King Philp's War” (video)“Surviving Slavery: Indigenous Enslavement in King Philip's War” (video)“Erasure: History, Memory and King Philip's War” (video)“What Really Happened at Turners Falls?” (video)“The Long Legacy: The Cost and Consequences of King Philip's War” (video)“The Slews and Hoars of Beverly: From Witchcraft to Slavery” (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GEspMnY9-o“The Other: Understanding Witch Hunts, Part I, with Emerson Baker, Sarah Jack, and Josh Hutchinson” (video)“Resistance: Stopping Witch Hunts, Part II” (video)Jenny Hale Pulsipher, Subjects unto the Same King: Indians, English, and the Contest for Authority in Colonial New EnglandJill Lepore, The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American IdentityPeter C. Mancall, The Trials of Thomas Morton
