Interracial Warfare and Population Decline among the New England Indians

Abstract

A study of the documentary sources makes it possible to arrive at an approximate assessment of the demographic damage suffered by the native population during the Indian wars of the seventeenth century in New England. There were three periods of intense military effort, the Pequot War, 1634, the Dutch War, 1643, and King Philip's War, 1675-1676. The number of Indians killed on the field of battle is estimated as 2,950, or close to eight percent of the total population loss suffered by the tribes concerned during the period from 1620 to 1750. If those who died of wounds are added the casualties become 3,745, or eleven percent of the population decline. Indirect losses were incurred through capture and slavery, exposure and starvation during periods of active operations, and the permanent removal of refugees. These factors are calculated to account for 6,000 persons during King Philip's War alone, and bring the total to 9,745. This is roughly one quarter of the 36,000 Indians who, according to Mooney (1928), inhabited New England and southeastern New York, and who were effectively extinct by 1 750. The destruction of the other three quarters must be ascribed to disease and to social causes. The tremendous decline in numbers suffered by the North American Indians in the early days of European colonization may be ascribed to a number of factors. Among these is disease introduced by the whites, which accounted certainly for more than half the population loss. Also of outstanding significance was warfare, which, apart from battle casualties. contributed to profound social and economic disruption. The effect of warfare has usually been discussed in very general terms. and where specific cases are mentioned, there has been little attempt to analyze them in terms of the number of persons involved. It is therefore of interest to examine the role of warfare in the fortunes of the native population in a limited region and during a restricted period. For this purpose ETHNOHISTORY 20/1 (Winter 1973) This content downloaded from 157.55.39.124 on Wed, 20 Jul 2016 06:11:14 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms