Changes To European Victors Go The Spoils Of War

To the victors go the spoils of war and the history books. In America this adage should be changed to ‘to the European victors go the spoils of war’, as by the end of the 19th century people of European descent had won conflicts against the native populations spanning from the time of Cortez to the end of the 19th century devastating native populations and culture. One of the most prominent examples of this one sided history was King Philip’s War, fought in the years 1675-1676 between the Indians of New England, led by the Wampanoag Chief Metacomet, and English colonists, as over 400 English accounts survive today while no Indian accounts are known to exist as history was told orally generation to generation. During this year long conflict

One such consequence of this Indian defeat was that there no longer existed a large population of Indians able to resist European expansion west into Indian land. This inability to resist against European expansion deep into Indian land and the establishment of English and French forts led to the suppression of native culture and the integration of European influence dominating Indian culture. With the expansion of European influence, also came the importance of trade as now many tribes relied upon the Europeans for guns and ammunition to protect themselves and go to war. Another example of this can be observed in the depiction of Indians, where the way they are described transitions from how, “earlier writing about the Indians had emphasized their potential for conversion, the King Philip’s War narratives transformed New England’s natives into irredeemable monsters.” This transformation of Indian people from a people to be saved to beastly savages to be conquered displayed a change in attitude towards native culture. In addition, this depiction as beasts led to the English viewing Indians as less than human and so inferior eventually resulting in Indians becoming part of the slave trade. Furthermore, this change in writing styles displays the power language and words can hold over others and how they can be used as a weapon of suppression and