WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.219 Imagine standing in the freezing mud of a New 00:00:04.219 --> 00:00:07.179 England settlement. Right. It's March of 1676. 00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:10.099 The air is just thick with wood smoke. Yeah, 00:00:10.099 --> 00:00:13.199 you can practically smell it. Exactly. You are 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:15.599 a colonist in the town of Providence and you 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:17.980 are watching hundreds of indigenous warriors 00:00:17.980 --> 00:00:20.519 emerge from the treeline. Hundreds of them. Yeah, 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:23.039 these are the Narragansetts and they are armed. 00:00:23.300 --> 00:00:25.760 They're angry and they're actively fighting this. 00:00:25.879 --> 00:00:28.879 brutal regional conflict. The one we now call 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:31.559 King Philip's War. Right. So given everything 00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:33.340 that has happened in the surrounding colonies 00:00:33.340 --> 00:00:35.780 by this point. Which was just total warfare, 00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:39.719 massacres, ambushes. Exactly. You were likely 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:42.359 bracing for absolute devastation. I mean, you'd 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:45.119 think this is the end. But then something astonishing 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:48.039 happens. The Narcansett warriors, they don't 00:00:48.039 --> 00:00:50.759 attack you. No. Instead, they give the colonists 00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:53.939 an order to just leave. Wait, really? Just leave? 00:00:54.060 --> 00:00:56.670 Yes. Evacuate the town. They literally wait for 00:00:56.670 --> 00:00:59.030 the men, the women, and the children to safely 00:00:59.030 --> 00:01:02.250 depart. Wow. And only then do they walk through 00:01:02.250 --> 00:01:04.769 the settlement and burn Providence to the absolute 00:01:04.769 --> 00:01:07.829 ground. That is just, I mean, it completely defies 00:01:07.829 --> 00:01:10.950 the conventional logic of warfare. You have this 00:01:10.950 --> 00:01:14.129 invading force systematically dismantling a settlement, 00:01:14.750 --> 00:01:17.129 literally erasing its physical footprint from 00:01:17.129 --> 00:01:19.549 the earth, while simultaneously demonstrating 00:01:19.549 --> 00:01:23.829 this profound, almost surgical restraint toward 00:01:23.829 --> 00:01:26.989 human life. Right. Destroying the colony, but 00:01:26.989 --> 00:01:29.689 purposely sparing the people. Exactly. So why 00:01:29.689 --> 00:01:33.129 would a warring indigenous nation spare the very 00:01:33.129 --> 00:01:36.170 people occupying their land? It's a huge question. 00:01:36.310 --> 00:01:38.349 To answer that, you have to rewind exactly 40 00:01:38.349 --> 00:01:41.829 years. Welcome to the deep dive. Glad to be here. 00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:44.239 Today, we're opening up a stack of historical 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:46.400 notes, specifically drawing from the foundational 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:48.840 history of Rhode Island. Yes. And our mission 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:51.540 today is to explore one of the most complex, 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:54.040 fragile, and ultimately tragic relationships 00:01:54.040 --> 00:01:57.180 in early American history. The incredibly nuanced 00:01:57.180 --> 00:01:59.760 dynamic between the early European settlers and 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:02.079 the indigenous Narragansett people. Exactly. 00:02:02.519 --> 00:02:04.260 And just as a quick reminder to you listening, 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:07.519 our goal here isn't to assign modern moral judgments 00:02:07.519 --> 00:02:10.680 to these historical figures. Right, we are just... 00:02:10.490 --> 00:02:13.789 impartially rigorously examining the facts presented 00:02:13.789 --> 00:02:16.349 in our source text to understand how these events 00:02:16.349 --> 00:02:20.069 actually unfolded. Exactly. So to really grasp 00:02:20.069 --> 00:02:24.229 the gravity of that burning town in 1676, where 00:02:24.229 --> 00:02:26.990 do we start? Well, we have to completely erase 00:02:26.990 --> 00:02:29.610 the modern map of New England from our minds. 00:02:29.750 --> 00:02:33.000 Okay, map erased. We need to establish the baseline 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:36.659 reality of pre -colonization. This was not some 00:02:36.659 --> 00:02:39.860 vast, empty wilderness waiting for European discovery. 00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:41.840 Right. That's a common misconception. A huge 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:44.400 one. It was a fully realized, densely populated, 00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:47.000 and politically intricate geopolitical landscape. 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:49.099 With defined borders and everything. Oh, absolutely. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:52.180 The region was controlled by powerful, established, 00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:55.060 indigenous nations, primarily the Wampanoag, 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:57.560 the Narragansett, and the Niantic. And these 00:02:57.560 --> 00:02:59.860 nations had their own deep histories long before 00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:02.539 anyone in Europe even figured out how to cross 00:03:02.539 --> 00:03:04.560 the Atlantic. Exactly. I mean, they had complex 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:07.139 economies based on seasonal agriculture, hunting 00:03:07.139 --> 00:03:09.819 and massive maritime trade network. They had 00:03:09.819 --> 00:03:13.479 multigenerational diplomatic alliances and really 00:03:13.479 --> 00:03:16.780 intense regional rivalries. The Narragansett's 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:19.219 in particular were a dominant force here. So 00:03:19.219 --> 00:03:21.039 they were kind of running the show in that specific 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:23.319 area. They really were. They controlled the western 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:25.870 shore of Narragansett Bay and had managed to 00:03:25.870 --> 00:03:28.330 build a very formidable political structure. 00:03:29.129 --> 00:03:31.310 You know, history is so often painted in these 00:03:31.310 --> 00:03:34.349 incredibly broad, simplistic strokes. Always. 00:03:34.849 --> 00:03:37.370 The narrative you usually get is like, colonizers 00:03:37.370 --> 00:03:40.469 arrive, there's a clash, the colonizers win, 00:03:40.729 --> 00:03:44.069 and the story moves on. A swift, inevitable steamroller 00:03:44.069 --> 00:03:47.669 of conquest. Exactly. But what the source text 00:03:47.669 --> 00:03:50.909 reveals about this specific region is a story 00:03:50.909 --> 00:03:54.310 of a genuine, localized, attempted peace. It 00:03:54.310 --> 00:03:57.210 really is. We're talking intense linguistic curiosity, 00:03:57.990 --> 00:04:00.789 desperate geopolitical alliances, and honestly 00:04:00.789 --> 00:04:03.949 a master class in how fragile diplomacy can be. 00:04:04.250 --> 00:04:06.250 Especially when the entire world around you is 00:04:06.250 --> 00:04:08.550 slowly catching fire. Right. Because the piece 00:04:08.550 --> 00:04:10.969 that was built here wasn't a sudden magical understanding 00:04:10.969 --> 00:04:13.030 between cultures, was it? Not at all. It was 00:04:13.030 --> 00:04:15.330 highly mechanical. It required constant exhausting 00:04:15.330 --> 00:04:17.269 maintenance. Like keeping an old car running. 00:04:17.470 --> 00:04:20.569 Exactly. And understanding how it was built and 00:04:20.569 --> 00:04:23.730 exactly why it fell apart, it forces us to look 00:04:23.730 --> 00:04:26.490 at the mechanisms of how human societies try 00:04:26.490 --> 00:04:29.269 to coexist. Especially when their fundamental 00:04:29.269 --> 00:04:31.189 understandings of the world are just completely 00:04:31.189 --> 00:04:33.709 at odds. Right. Things like how to own land, 00:04:33.790 --> 00:04:36.329 how to wage war, how to govern. Totally different 00:04:36.329 --> 00:04:39.170 paradigms. Okay, let's start building that narrative. 00:04:39.509 --> 00:04:42.269 To understand the catastrophic war that leads 00:04:42.269 --> 00:04:45.029 to Providence burning, we have to look at the 00:04:45.029 --> 00:04:48.810 unprecedented way this specific settlement began. 00:04:48.910 --> 00:04:51.089 Because it did not start with a conquering army 00:04:51.089 --> 00:04:53.529 marching in with flags and muskets. No, it started 00:04:53.529 --> 00:04:57.149 in 1636 with an exile. A single guy. A man named 00:04:57.149 --> 00:04:59.730 Roger Williams. And he was banished from the 00:04:59.730 --> 00:05:01.970 Massachusetts Bay Colony. Now the context of 00:05:01.970 --> 00:05:04.670 that banishment is critical to understand. Why 00:05:04.670 --> 00:05:06.519 did they kick him out? Well, the Massachusetts 00:05:06.519 --> 00:05:10.300 Bay Colony was a strict, highly regulated, Puritan 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:13.079 society. Like, very strict. Incredibly strict. 00:05:13.259 --> 00:05:16.180 The foundational idea there was a unified religious 00:05:16.180 --> 00:05:19.759 and civil community. Deviance wasn't just a theological 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.019 issue. It wasn't just, oh, we disagree on a Bible 00:05:22.019 --> 00:05:24.980 verse. Right. It was viewed as a direct threat 00:05:24.980 --> 00:05:27.720 to the survival of the colony itself. And Williams 00:05:27.720 --> 00:05:30.660 was dissenting. Yes. He held these dissenting 00:05:30.660 --> 00:05:33.420 religious views. He was specifically arguing 00:05:33.420 --> 00:05:36.139 for a separation between the church and the state. 00:05:36.339 --> 00:05:40.339 Which was highly controversial. Extremely. And 00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:42.939 maybe more importantly, he was questioning the 00:05:42.939 --> 00:05:45.800 validity of the colonial charters that claimed 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:48.120 indigenous land without actually purchasing it. 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:50.800 Oh, wow. So he's actively challenging the king's 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:53.959 right to just hand out the land. Exactly. So 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:56.639 the leaders of Massachusetts Bay decide he is 00:05:56.639 --> 00:05:58.920 just too dangerous to keep around. But let's 00:05:58.920 --> 00:06:01.060 be clear about what banishment actually meant 00:06:01.060 --> 00:06:04.120 in 1636. It's not pretty. Right. It's not a polite 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:06.480 request to pack your bags and move to a different 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:09.300 zip code. No. Being cast out into the New England 00:06:09.300 --> 00:06:11.259 winter, away from the fortified settlements and 00:06:11.259 --> 00:06:14.120 the food source. It is essentially a death sentence. 00:06:14.459 --> 00:06:17.819 A brutal, calculated expulsion. He has no army, 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:20.660 no provisions, and literally nowhere to go. He 00:06:20.660 --> 00:06:23.160 is entirely stripped of his societal protection. 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:26.120 So what does he do? Well, he hits south, toward 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:28.920 the tip of Narragansett Bay, entering the sovereign 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:31.220 territory of the Narragansett people. OK, so 00:06:31.220 --> 00:06:33.819 Williams arrives basically as a refugee. Yes. 00:06:33.980 --> 00:06:36.579 He's a guy who just got kicked out of an incredibly 00:06:36.579 --> 00:06:40.279 exclusive, highly punitive club. That's a great 00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:42.949 way to put it. He's out in the cold. So he is 00:06:42.949 --> 00:06:45.670 forced to approach complete strangers. And this 00:06:45.670 --> 00:06:47.649 is where it gets interesting. Because instead 00:06:47.649 --> 00:06:50.290 of just sneaking into the woods, you know, pitching 00:06:50.290 --> 00:06:52.750 a tent and hoping he goes unnoticed... Which 00:06:52.750 --> 00:06:54.509 would have probably gotten killed anyway. Right. 00:06:54.730 --> 00:06:57.509 He actively engages the leadership of the territory. 00:06:57.819 --> 00:06:59.800 He essentially goes up and knocks on the door 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:02.319 and asks for permission to stay. And he actually 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:05.459 gets a formal agreement. Yeah, in 1636 he is 00:07:05.459 --> 00:07:07.680 granted land by the Narragansett tribe. There 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:11.100 is an actual deed to what becomes Providence. 00:07:11.379 --> 00:07:13.560 Signed by Chief Canonicus. Now this interaction 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:16.860 with Canonicus is fascinating. It forces us to 00:07:16.860 --> 00:07:19.579 look at the mechanics of 17th century diplomacy. 00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:22.699 Let's analyze that. What does it actually mean 00:07:22.699 --> 00:07:26.350 for a paramount indigenous leader? a sachem like 00:07:26.350 --> 00:07:29.589 Canonicus, to sign a deed granting land to a 00:07:29.589 --> 00:07:32.430 European exile. We'll think about the power dynamic. 00:07:32.970 --> 00:07:35.410 Canonicus is operating from a position of immense 00:07:35.410 --> 00:07:37.970 strength. Right. He commands thousands of people. 00:07:38.290 --> 00:07:40.569 And Williams is just a starving man in the snow. 00:07:40.910 --> 00:07:42.569 Canonicus could have just had him killed on the 00:07:42.569 --> 00:07:46.269 spot. Or just turned him away to freeze. But 00:07:46.269 --> 00:07:49.029 Canonicus makes a strategic decision. Which was? 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:51.620 By accepting Williams and granting him a place 00:07:51.620 --> 00:07:54.420 to settle, Canonicus is pulling this strange 00:07:54.420 --> 00:07:57.699 European into the geopolitical landscape of the 00:07:57.699 --> 00:08:00.540 Bay on Narragansett terms. Oh, I see. He's making 00:08:00.540 --> 00:08:03.500 Williams part of his network. Exactly. However, 00:08:03.699 --> 00:08:06.759 they formalize this through a deed. And here 00:08:06.759 --> 00:08:09.980 is where the mechanical misunderstanding of colonization 00:08:09.980 --> 00:08:12.379 really begins. Because they have two totally 00:08:12.379 --> 00:08:14.300 different definitions of what a deed is, right? 00:08:14.579 --> 00:08:17.980 Exactly. When an English legal mind looks at 00:08:17.980 --> 00:08:20.939 a deed, they see a permanent exclusive transfer 00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:22.959 of property. Like, I give you this land and I 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:25.259 never step foot on it again. Absolute ownership. 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:28.160 You draw a border, you build a fence, and it 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:30.879 belongs to you in perpetuity. But from the perspective 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.679 of an indigenous sachem... Land ownership wasn't 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:36.840 about exclusive permanent alienation. It was 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:40.059 about overlapping rights of usage. What do you 00:08:40.059 --> 00:08:43.230 mean by overlapping? Like, you might grant a 00:08:43.230 --> 00:08:45.590 group the right to hunt in a certain forest during 00:08:45.590 --> 00:08:48.169 the winter, or maybe fish in a specific river 00:08:48.169 --> 00:08:50.929 during the spring. When Canonicus signs that 00:08:50.929 --> 00:08:53.509 deed, he is likely viewing it as a diplomatic 00:08:53.509 --> 00:08:56.370 treaty. So he's granting Williams the right to 00:08:56.370 --> 00:08:59.629 live and sustain himself on that land. Yes, incorporating 00:08:59.629 --> 00:09:02.769 him into a network of mutual obligation. He is 00:09:02.769 --> 00:09:04.950 not erasing his own people's relationship to 00:09:04.950 --> 00:09:07.590 that exact same geography. That distinction right 00:09:07.590 --> 00:09:09.629 there that is the invisible fault line running 00:09:09.629 --> 00:09:11.879 underneath this entire history. It really is. 00:09:12.019 --> 00:09:14.100 They are signing a piece of paper but they are 00:09:14.100 --> 00:09:16.980 shaking hands across a massive conceptual chasm. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:19.539 A chasm that will eventually swallow both sides. 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:22.019 But you know I have to push back a little on 00:09:22.019 --> 00:09:25.080 how we view Roger Williams here. Go ahead. It's 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:27.399 very tempting to look back and crown him as this 00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:30.620 forward -thinking egalitarian visionary of peace. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:34.059 Sure because he declares his new settlement a 00:09:34.059 --> 00:09:36.870 haven for religious freedom. Right, which sounds 00:09:36.870 --> 00:09:40.210 great to modern ears, but was his diplomacy actually 00:09:40.210 --> 00:09:43.309 born of some enlightened worldview or was it 00:09:43.309 --> 00:09:45.629 just sheer naked necessity? That's the million 00:09:45.629 --> 00:09:47.889 dollar question. Because, I mean, he didn't have 00:09:47.889 --> 00:09:50.450 a ship full of cannons. If he wanted to survive 00:09:50.450 --> 00:09:52.830 the winter, he literally had to play nice with 00:09:52.830 --> 00:09:54.710 the people who controlled the territory. That 00:09:54.710 --> 00:09:58.409 is the core tension of his legacy for sure. Necessity 00:09:59.090 --> 00:10:01.509 undeniably forced him to Canonicus' door. He 00:10:01.509 --> 00:10:03.950 had no other choice. Right. If he had arrived 00:10:03.950 --> 00:10:06.210 with an armada, perhaps the story would be entirely 00:10:06.210 --> 00:10:08.710 different. OK. But we have to look at his actions 00:10:08.710 --> 00:10:11.110 after he secured his immediate survival. After 00:10:11.110 --> 00:10:13.809 the snow melted. Exactly. That is where we see 00:10:13.809 --> 00:10:17.549 something that transcends mere desperation. Once 00:10:17.549 --> 00:10:20.169 Williams was safe, He didn't just lock his door 00:10:20.169 --> 00:10:22.970 and isolate his settlement. What did he do? He 00:10:22.970 --> 00:10:26.070 engaged in a massive proactive effort to understand 00:10:26.070 --> 00:10:28.850 his new neighbors. And that effort leads to a 00:10:28.850 --> 00:10:32.330 deeply profound cultural artifact. Williams attempts 00:10:32.330 --> 00:10:36.039 to literally decode the culture. Yes. But. We 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:37.899 have to set the stage for what he was walking 00:10:37.899 --> 00:10:40.620 into because the source material provides some 00:10:40.620 --> 00:10:43.580 incredibly grim context here. Very grim. The 00:10:43.580 --> 00:10:45.740 indigenous populations of this region were dealing 00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:48.779 with an existential crisis. They had been and 00:10:48.779 --> 00:10:51.940 were currently being devastated by disease. These 00:10:51.940 --> 00:10:54.720 were virgin soil epidemics. What does that mean 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:57.320 exactly? Well, European explorers, fishermen 00:10:57.320 --> 00:10:59.639 and traders had been moving along the coast for 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:02.259 decades before Plymouth or Massachusetts Bay 00:11:02.259 --> 00:11:05.340 were even founded. So the contact happened long 00:11:05.340 --> 00:11:07.399 before the permanent settlements. Right. And 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:09.580 they brought pathogens with them. Things like 00:11:09.580 --> 00:11:12.320 smallpox and leptospirosis. And the indigenous 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:15.080 populations had absolutely no natural immunity 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:17.639 against them. None whatsoever. The mortality 00:11:17.639 --> 00:11:20.360 rates were just staggering. In some areas, entire 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:22.620 villages were entirely wiped out. So you have 00:11:22.620 --> 00:11:24.740 a demographic collapse happening in real time. 00:11:24.820 --> 00:11:28.259 Yes. And on top of that, The geopolitical map 00:11:28.259 --> 00:11:31.519 is shifting, leading to intense intertribal warfare. 00:11:31.740 --> 00:11:33.720 Because the power balance is totally thrown off. 00:11:34.059 --> 00:11:35.779 Communities are grieving massive losses while 00:11:35.779 --> 00:11:37.539 trying to defend themselves against indigenous 00:11:37.539 --> 00:11:40.240 rivals who might be trying to exploit that sudden 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:43.259 weakness. This is the highly volatile, traumatized 00:11:43.259 --> 00:11:46.659 landscape that Williams steps into. And his response 00:11:46.659 --> 00:11:50.059 to this massive cultural and linguistic gap. 00:11:50.570 --> 00:11:54.029 is to write a book. Yeah, in 1643, he publishes 00:11:54.029 --> 00:11:56.610 a key into the languages of America. Which is 00:11:56.610 --> 00:11:59.009 effectively a phrase book and a dictionary of 00:11:59.009 --> 00:12:01.269 the Narragansett language. Yeah, exactly. Let's 00:12:01.269 --> 00:12:03.029 talk about the mechanics of doing that in the 00:12:03.029 --> 00:12:05.549 1630s. I mean, this isn't just downloading a 00:12:05.549 --> 00:12:07.730 language app on your phone. Not at all. Think 00:12:07.730 --> 00:12:10.509 about the intense vulnerability and the physical 00:12:10.509 --> 00:12:13.850 effort required. You have to sit across from 00:12:13.850 --> 00:12:16.980 someone who does not share your worldview. Or 00:12:16.980 --> 00:12:19.360 your religion. Or a single root word of your 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:21.039 vocabulary. Right, you're starting from absolute 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:23.340 zero. You literally have to point at objects, 00:12:23.559 --> 00:12:25.659 you have to mimic sounds. And you have to listen 00:12:25.659 --> 00:12:29.000 closely enough to grasp complex syntax, writing 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:31.860 down phonetic spellings by candlelight. It requires 00:12:31.860 --> 00:12:34.460 a posture of total humility. Yes. You have to 00:12:34.460 --> 00:12:37.120 become the student and rely entirely on the patience 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:40.080 of your indigenous hosts. And that is the absolute 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:42.700 antithesis of the typical colonial approach. 00:12:42.740 --> 00:12:45.039 Which relies on the assumption of cultural superiority, 00:12:45.259 --> 00:12:48.419 right? Just dictating terms. Exactly. Creating 00:12:48.419 --> 00:12:51.860 a linguistic key implies a deep fundamental desire 00:12:51.860 --> 00:12:55.139 to converse, to actually negotiate. To understand 00:12:55.139 --> 00:12:57.399 the inner workings of another society. The book 00:12:57.399 --> 00:13:00.440 was categorized by daily life, things like weather, 00:13:00.940 --> 00:13:04.659 eating, salutations. It was a tool built specifically 00:13:04.659 --> 00:13:07.519 for coexistence. But the tragedy of this effort 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:09.940 is revealed immediately in the history. It's 00:13:09.940 --> 00:13:12.340 heartbreaking. Because the language he was documenting 00:13:12.340 --> 00:13:15.539 eventually died out entirely. Yes. Today, it 00:13:15.539 --> 00:13:18.019 is only partially preserved because of the book 00:13:18.019 --> 00:13:20.919 Williams wrote. Just think about that. A language 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:23.899 is an entire operating system for human consciousness. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.240 Right. It carries a culture's relationship to 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:28.740 the environment, to their ancestors, and to each 00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:30.740 other. And the fact that the Narragansett language 00:13:30.740 --> 00:13:34.100 was silenced and exists now primarily as an archive 00:13:34.100 --> 00:13:36.659 within Williams's book. It's a devastating testament 00:13:36.659 --> 00:13:39.659 to the cultural erasure that colonization brought. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:43.649 He built a bridge to a living culture. but history 00:13:43.649 --> 00:13:46.190 turned it into a memorial. Wow. But you know, 00:13:46.429 --> 00:13:48.149 in the short term, that bridge actually worked. 00:13:48.409 --> 00:13:51.039 It did. This localized diplomacy wasn't just 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:54.519 an academic exercise for him. It had massive, 00:13:54.860 --> 00:13:57.600 immediate geopolitical applications. Very practical 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:00.539 ones. Williams used his linguistic skills and 00:14:00.539 --> 00:14:03.600 the trust he had built to keep the powerful Narragansetts 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:06.259 on friendly terms with the colonists. And this 00:14:06.259 --> 00:14:10.019 culminated in a formal military alliance in 1637. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:12.940 Right. During the Pequot War. The Pequot War 00:14:12.940 --> 00:14:15.620 is a crucial turning point here. Let's unpack 00:14:15.620 --> 00:14:18.220 that. The Pequots were another powerful indigenous 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:20.220 nation in the region, primarily based in what 00:14:20.220 --> 00:14:23.580 is now Connecticut. OK. And they controlled the 00:14:23.580 --> 00:14:26.679 highly lucrative wampum trade, which was vital 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:29.100 for both indigenous diplomacy and the burgeoning 00:14:29.100 --> 00:14:31.519 European economy. So the English colonies wanted 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:35.139 to break the Pequot monopoly. Exactly. The English 00:14:35.139 --> 00:14:37.759 are looking for an angle to take control. But 00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:40.000 why would the Narragansett's ally with Rhode 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.419 Island, and by extension the rest of the English, 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:45.480 against the Pequots. It comes back to the shifting 00:14:45.480 --> 00:14:48.159 balance of power caused by that demographic collapse 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:51.240 we just discussed. The disease. Right. The Narragansetts 00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:53.360 were powerful, but they were dealing with the 00:14:53.360 --> 00:14:55.539 fallout of disease and regional instability. 00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:58.279 And the Pequots were their traditional rivals. 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:01.539 Yes. So from the Narragansett perspective, the 00:15:01.539 --> 00:15:03.820 English, with their firearms and growing numbers, 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:06.899 presented a highly effective counterweight. Oh, 00:15:06.899 --> 00:15:10.080 I see. By allying with the English, the Narragansetts 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.820 could eliminate a major rival and secure their 00:15:12.820 --> 00:15:15.419 own dominance in the region. It's geopolitical 00:15:15.419 --> 00:15:17.820 real politics. Totally. It's a grand chess board, 00:15:18.220 --> 00:15:20.639 and the Narragansetts make a calculated strategic 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:23.860 decision to use the new colonial players to check 00:15:23.860 --> 00:15:26.620 an old indigenous enemy. And Roger Williams was 00:15:26.620 --> 00:15:29.639 the crucial conduit that made that alliance possible. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:31.580 Because he actually put in the work to speak 00:15:31.580 --> 00:15:34.179 the language and negotiate as a peer. Exactly. 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:37.960 It shows that For a brief window of time, a functional, 00:15:38.139 --> 00:15:40.620 mutually beneficial piece was actually achievable. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:44.440 Achievable, yes. But fundamentally unsustainable 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:46.220 over the long term. Unfortunately, yeah. Because 00:15:46.220 --> 00:15:48.720 the original architects of that piece inevitably 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.460 aged out of the picture. Decades pass. And a 00:15:51.460 --> 00:15:54.360 new generation inherits the landscape. And what 00:15:54.360 --> 00:15:57.139 they inherit is an absolute powder keg. We are 00:15:57.139 --> 00:15:59.759 moving into the late 17th century now, approaching 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:04.860 1675. And the history is blunt. The peace did 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:08.179 not last. The demographic and spatial realities 00:16:08.179 --> 00:16:11.120 of New England had drastically changed. And this 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:14.139 brings us to Metacomet. Yes, who became the paramount 00:16:14.139 --> 00:16:16.700 sachem of the Wampanoags. And the English referred 00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:19.279 to him as King Philip. Right. And this sparks 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:21.659 King Philip's War, which consumes the region 00:16:21.659 --> 00:16:26.340 from 1675 to 1676. Now, there is a vital detail 00:16:26.340 --> 00:16:29.139 in the source text here that highlights this 00:16:29.139 --> 00:16:31.679 generational shift. Which one? Well, Metacomet 00:16:31.679 --> 00:16:34.830 was known as King Philip by the settlers of Portsmouth, 00:16:35.009 --> 00:16:37.350 right? Yes. A Rhode Island settlement that had 00:16:37.350 --> 00:16:39.509 actually purchased its land from Metacomet's 00:16:39.509 --> 00:16:42.750 father. Massasoit. Now, Massasoit is a legendary 00:16:42.750 --> 00:16:45.149 figure in colonial history. He forged the initial 00:16:45.149 --> 00:16:47.230 alliance with the Pilgrims at Plymouth back in 00:16:47.230 --> 00:16:50.389 the 1620s. Exactly. Massasoit operated under 00:16:50.389 --> 00:16:52.210 the strategic assumption that he could manage 00:16:52.210 --> 00:16:54.909 the English presence. By utilizing them as allies 00:16:54.909 --> 00:16:57.450 and trading partners within his existing indigenous 00:16:57.450 --> 00:16:59.769 network. Right. And he engaged in land sales, 00:16:59.889 --> 00:17:01.950 including the ones to Portsmouth. But by the 00:17:01.950 --> 00:17:05.589 time his son, Metacama, takes power, the colonial 00:17:05.589 --> 00:17:07.349 footprint is completely different. Night and 00:17:07.349 --> 00:17:10.269 day. It's no longer just a few struggling settlements 00:17:10.269 --> 00:17:12.890 clinging to the coast, desperate for indigenous 00:17:12.890 --> 00:17:15.509 help to survive the winter. No, it has become 00:17:15.509 --> 00:17:19.769 a massive, self -sustaining, resource -hungry, 00:17:19.829 --> 00:17:22.789 colonial machine. And the systemic clash between 00:17:22.789 --> 00:17:25.130 these two societies has finally reached a breaking 00:17:25.130 --> 00:17:27.390 point. It wasn't just about a few individual 00:17:27.390 --> 00:17:30.930 disputes anymore. Right. It was about totally 00:17:30.930 --> 00:17:34.460 incompatible ways of existing on the land. Let's 00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:37.220 drill into the mechanics of that incompatibility. 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:39.859 OK, let's do it. The English economy required 00:17:39.859 --> 00:17:42.380 constant expansion. Right. They brought cattle 00:17:42.380 --> 00:17:44.839 and pigs. And they let them roam freely. These 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:48.099 livestock would wander into indigenous, unfenced 00:17:48.099 --> 00:17:50.960 agricultural fields and just decimate their corn 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:52.920 crops. And the English response was essentially, 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:54.980 well, you should have built a fence. Exactly. 00:17:55.460 --> 00:17:58.099 But the indigenous way of life required vast 00:17:58.099 --> 00:18:00.799 open territories for seasonal movement, hunting, 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:04.500 and sustainable agriculture. the land destroyed 00:18:04.500 --> 00:18:06.940 their economic model. Metacomet recognized that 00:18:06.940 --> 00:18:09.880 the continued expansion of English legal jurisdiction 00:18:09.880 --> 00:18:12.339 and physical settlement was an existential threat. 00:18:12.599 --> 00:18:14.980 They were slowly suffocating the Wampanoag and 00:18:14.980 --> 00:18:17.940 their allies. And this realization is what led 00:18:17.940 --> 00:18:21.240 to the eruption of King Philip's War. An incredibly 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:24.099 bloody desperate effort to halt colonial expansion. 00:18:24.339 --> 00:18:27.220 Which brings us back to Rhode Island. Yes. So 00:18:27.220 --> 00:18:30.339 the region explodes. And the history notes that 00:18:30.339 --> 00:18:32.779 Metacomet led attacks around Narragansett Bay. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:35.539 despite Rhode Island's continued neutrality. 00:18:36.819 --> 00:18:40.019 Okay, we really need to examine this concept 00:18:40.019 --> 00:18:41.920 of Rhode Island's neutrality because it is one 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:45.380 of the most fascinating legal fictions in this 00:18:45.380 --> 00:18:47.900 entire narrative. It really is a fiction. Rhode 00:18:47.900 --> 00:18:50.019 Island essentially raises its hand in the middle 00:18:50.019 --> 00:18:55.279 of a massive bloody regional war and says, we 00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:57.200 are sitting this one out. Yeah, good luck with 00:18:57.200 --> 00:18:59.400 that. Right, think of it this way. Imagine you 00:18:59.400 --> 00:19:01.500 live in a massive, sprawling apartment building. 00:19:01.700 --> 00:19:04.279 A fire breaks out on the first floor. The residents 00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:06.380 on the second floor are actively fighting the 00:19:06.380 --> 00:19:08.839 people on the third floor over the fire extinguishers. 00:19:09.079 --> 00:19:12.380 The hallways are ablaze. And you, sitting in 00:19:12.380 --> 00:19:15.180 your apartment on the fourth floor, decide to 00:19:15.180 --> 00:19:17.180 tape a little piece of paper to your door that 00:19:17.180 --> 00:19:21.339 says, fire -free zone, neutral territory. I love 00:19:21.339 --> 00:19:23.279 that analogy. You can declare neutrality all 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:25.980 you want, but the flames do not recognize your 00:19:25.980 --> 00:19:28.480 invisible borders. the smoke is going to come 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:30.400 under the door. Because your apartment is built 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:32.720 out of the exact same flammable wood as the rest 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:35.559 of the building. Exactly. That analogy perfectly 00:19:35.559 --> 00:19:38.559 captures the mechanical failure of Rhode Island's 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:40.900 geopolitical position. They are geographically 00:19:40.900 --> 00:19:42.819 situated right in the center of the conflict 00:19:42.819 --> 00:19:45.819 zone. Metacomet is launching attacks in the exact 00:19:45.819 --> 00:19:48.259 same bay where Roger Williams hammered out his 00:19:48.259 --> 00:19:50.759 original peace treaties. But if Rhode Island 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:53.720 was truly neutral and Metacomet knew the legacy 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:56.750 of Roger Williams, Why was the war spilling over 00:19:56.750 --> 00:19:59.170 into their territory? Because neutrality is impossible 00:19:59.170 --> 00:20:01.329 when you are physically occupying the land that 00:20:01.329 --> 00:20:03.750 is the root cause of a systemic conflict. Right. 00:20:04.069 --> 00:20:06.490 To Metacomet and the Indigenous Coalition fighting 00:20:06.490 --> 00:20:09.250 for survival, the legal distinctions between 00:20:09.250 --> 00:20:11.549 Massachusetts, Connecticut, Plymouth, and Rhode 00:20:11.549 --> 00:20:13.829 Island were increasingly irrelevant. They were 00:20:13.829 --> 00:20:16.250 all just English. Yes, Rhode Island had a history 00:20:16.250 --> 00:20:18.750 of better relations. Yes, they had been more 00:20:18.750 --> 00:20:21.650 diplomatic, but they were still English colonists. 00:20:21.710 --> 00:20:23.710 They still owned the cattle eating the native 00:20:23.710 --> 00:20:26.630 crops. spatial footprint was still part of the 00:20:26.630 --> 00:20:29.750 colonial expansion. So the individual goodwill 00:20:29.750 --> 00:20:33.769 of Roger Williams couldn't act as a shield against 00:20:33.769 --> 00:20:36.609 the broader machinery of colonialism. It was 00:20:36.609 --> 00:20:39.589 too little, too late. You simply cannot be a 00:20:39.589 --> 00:20:42.269 neutral colonizer in a war that is fundamentally 00:20:42.269 --> 00:20:45.099 about the rejection of colonization. And worse 00:20:45.099 --> 00:20:47.319 still for Rhode Island, their declaration of 00:20:47.319 --> 00:20:49.720 neutrality wasn't just ignored by the indigenous 00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:52.779 forces. It was about to be violently and systematically 00:20:52.779 --> 00:20:55.920 violated by their fellow English colonists. This 00:20:55.920 --> 00:20:58.420 brings us to the absolute breaking point of the 00:20:58.420 --> 00:21:01.900 narrative. December 19, 1675. This is a date 00:21:01.900 --> 00:21:04.319 that shatters whatever illusion of a fire -free 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:06.819 zone Rhode Island was clinging to. The event 00:21:06.819 --> 00:21:09.299 is known historically as the Great Swamp Fight. 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:11.680 Though it is more accurately described as the 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:14.789 Great Swamp Massacre. The specifics of this event 00:21:14.789 --> 00:21:17.930 are staggering. Tell us what happened. A massive 00:21:17.930 --> 00:21:21.269 colonial force led by General Josiah Winslow 00:21:21.269 --> 00:21:24.730 invaded and destroyed a fortified Narragansett 00:21:24.730 --> 00:21:27.450 village located deep within a swamp in southern 00:21:27.450 --> 00:21:29.869 Rhode Island. Let's look at the composition of 00:21:29.869 --> 00:21:32.450 that invading army. It was made up of militias 00:21:32.450 --> 00:21:34.609 from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Plymouth. 00:21:34.730 --> 00:21:37.529 Notice who is entirely absent from that list. 00:21:37.730 --> 00:21:40.609 Rhode Island. Exactly. The neighboring colonies, 00:21:40.650 --> 00:21:43.269 operating as a unified military bloc called the 00:21:43.269 --> 00:21:46.170 United Colonies, completely disregarded Rhode 00:21:46.170 --> 00:21:48.710 Island sovereignty. Why do they just ignore Rhode 00:21:48.710 --> 00:21:51.049 Island's borders? To the leadership of Massachusetts 00:21:51.049 --> 00:21:53.549 and Connecticut, Rhode Island was a rogue state. 00:21:53.710 --> 00:21:55.490 Because of the religious freedom stuff? Yes. 00:21:55.589 --> 00:21:58.369 It was a haven for religious dissidents and heretics. 00:21:58.690 --> 00:22:01.529 And its policy of neutrality was viewed as a 00:22:01.529 --> 00:22:04.809 dangerous, treasonous liability. So General Winslow 00:22:04.809 --> 00:22:07.809 gathers this unified New England army, marches 00:22:07.809 --> 00:22:10.230 them straight across the colonial border, deep 00:22:10.230 --> 00:22:13.130 into Rhode Island territory, and launches a massive 00:22:13.130 --> 00:22:15.190 preemptive strike against the Narragansetts. 00:22:15.450 --> 00:22:17.750 The very people who had granted the land for 00:22:17.750 --> 00:22:20.390 Providence 40 years earlier. The mechanics of 00:22:20.390 --> 00:22:23.150 the attack are brutal. The Narragansetts had 00:22:23.150 --> 00:22:26.569 built a massive, fortified winter encampment 00:22:26.569 --> 00:22:29.200 in the Great Swamp. And under normal conditions, 00:22:29.400 --> 00:22:32.319 the swamp acted as a natural, impenetrable moat. 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:34.359 Right, you can't just march an army through a 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:38.420 swamp. But December of 1675 was bitterly cold. 00:22:38.579 --> 00:22:41.779 The swamp froze solid. This allowed Winslow's 00:22:41.779 --> 00:22:44.460 army to march straight over the ice and directly 00:22:44.460 --> 00:22:46.839 up to the palisades of the village. The United 00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:48.859 Colonies launched this attack because they were 00:22:48.859 --> 00:22:51.089 paranoid, right? Yeah. The Narragansetts hadn't 00:22:51.089 --> 00:22:53.210 fully entered the war on Metacomet's side yet. 00:22:53.410 --> 00:22:56.069 But they were taking in Wampanoag refugees. Exactly. 00:22:56.450 --> 00:22:58.589 And the English saw this as evidence that the 00:22:58.589 --> 00:23:00.690 Narragansetts were massing for an offensive. 00:23:00.890 --> 00:23:04.089 So they struck first. The destruction was apocalyptic. 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:06.460 Hundreds of Narragansett men, women, and children 00:23:06.460 --> 00:23:08.420 were killed. And they destroyed their food too. 00:23:08.900 --> 00:23:11.559 Their massive winter food supplies, stores of 00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:14.079 corn and beans essential for surviving the freeze, 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:16.859 were systematically burned. So even those who 00:23:16.859 --> 00:23:19.339 managed to escape into the frozen swamp? They 00:23:19.339 --> 00:23:21.720 were left with absolutely no shelter and no food. 00:23:22.059 --> 00:23:24.859 Just imagine the psychological paradigm shift 00:23:24.859 --> 00:23:27.859 for the surviving Narragansetts. I mean, for 00:23:27.859 --> 00:23:30.660 four decades, they had navigated an incredibly 00:23:30.660 --> 00:23:33.720 complex localized relationship with the Rhode 00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:36.539 Island settlers. They allowed them to stay. They 00:23:36.539 --> 00:23:38.759 allied with them. They dealt with Roger Williams. 00:23:38.880 --> 00:23:41.920 And the reward for that localized diplomacy was 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:45.220 an army of English soldiers marching into their 00:23:45.220 --> 00:23:47.660 territory and slaughtering their people. It proved 00:23:47.660 --> 00:23:50.279 definitively that the English were, practically 00:23:50.279 --> 00:23:53.460 speaking, a monolith. It didn't matter what the 00:23:53.460 --> 00:23:55.380 Rhode Island government said. When the chips 00:23:55.380 --> 00:23:58.000 were down, English troops from anywhere could 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:01.059 cross the border and unleash total war. This 00:24:01.059 --> 00:24:03.500 preemptive massacre accomplished exactly what 00:24:03.500 --> 00:24:06.079 the Uniter colonies feared, by the way. It forced 00:24:06.079 --> 00:24:09.200 the powerful Narragansett nation fully and irrevocably 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:11.680 into the war against the English. Any hope of 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:14.680 regional containment was completely dead. Which 00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:16.500 brings us back to the moment we started with 00:24:16.500 --> 00:24:18.640 at the beginning of the show. The devastation 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:21.700 in the Great Swamp demanded a response. The Narragansetts 00:24:21.700 --> 00:24:24.539 regrouped. and they brought the war directly 00:24:24.539 --> 00:24:26.599 to the doorstep of the man who had founded the 00:24:26.599 --> 00:24:29.900 colony. The Narragansetts retaliated by invading 00:24:29.900 --> 00:24:32.440 and burning down several Rhode Island settlements. 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:35.220 And the most symbolic of these was Providence. 00:24:35.740 --> 00:24:38.900 The town built by the exiled settler. The town 00:24:38.900 --> 00:24:41.920 founded on a deed from Chief Canonicus. The town 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:44.759 meant to be a haven for religious freedom. It 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:47.700 is surrounded and put to the torch. But, as we 00:24:47.700 --> 00:24:49.660 discussed at the very beginning, they allowed 00:24:49.660 --> 00:24:52.920 the population to leave first. This act of restraint 00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:55.779 in the middle of a war of extermination is one 00:24:55.779 --> 00:24:58.259 of the most profound mysteries of this history. 00:24:58.339 --> 00:25:00.980 It really is. Why, fresh from the massacre of 00:25:00.980 --> 00:25:03.200 their own families in the Great Swamp, would 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:05.559 the Narragansett warriors spare the citizens 00:25:05.559 --> 00:25:07.299 of Providence? Writ yourself in the shoes of 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:09.359 those colonists. You are waiting for the blade 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:11.589 to fall. You know what your fellow Englishman 00:25:11.589 --> 00:25:14.049 just did in the swamp. And instead you are told 00:25:14.049 --> 00:25:16.529 to walk away. It is an incredible contradiction. 00:25:16.769 --> 00:25:19.329 What does it suggest? Well, it suggests a deeply 00:25:19.329 --> 00:25:22.549 ingrained moral code regarding warfare that the 00:25:22.549 --> 00:25:25.289 English militias clearly did not share. Right. 00:25:25.609 --> 00:25:28.930 But it also strongly implies a lingering complex 00:25:28.930 --> 00:25:32.230 respect for the specific legacy of Roger Williams. 00:25:32.690 --> 00:25:34.490 Even as they were burning down the structures 00:25:34.490 --> 00:25:38.250 of colonization, the memory of Williams. The 00:25:38.250 --> 00:25:41.250 man who came to them freezing, who learned their 00:25:41.250 --> 00:25:43.910 language, who negotiated with canonicals. That 00:25:43.910 --> 00:25:46.130 memory might have carried enough diplomatic weight 00:25:46.130 --> 00:25:48.950 to scare his townsfolk. They were systematically 00:25:48.950 --> 00:25:51.609 unbuilding the physical footprint of the English. 00:25:52.190 --> 00:25:55.589 The experiment of coexistence was over. The structures 00:25:55.589 --> 00:25:58.160 had to burn. But they looked at the people and 00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:00.420 decided not to inflict the same slaughter that 00:26:00.420 --> 00:26:02.880 had visited upon them. It was a demonstration 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:06.539 of profound mercy paired with the absolute erasure 00:26:06.539 --> 00:26:09.000 of the settlement. But that mercy was not reciprocated, 00:26:09.079 --> 00:26:11.819 was it? No. The burning of Providence was the 00:26:11.819 --> 00:26:14.619 final major projection of Indigenous power in 00:26:14.619 --> 00:26:17.220 the region. The tide of the war turned. And the 00:26:17.220 --> 00:26:19.480 retaliation from the unified English colonies 00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:22.700 was swift, absolute, and utterly devoid of restraint. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:25.119 The climax of King Philip's war brings us to 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:27.200 the final erasure of Rhode Island's autonomy. 00:26:28.279 --> 00:26:30.539 The history notes that one of the final actions 00:26:30.539 --> 00:26:32.819 of the war was the hunting down and killing of 00:26:32.819 --> 00:26:36.059 Meta Comet. King Philip himself. Right. Let's 00:26:36.059 --> 00:26:38.759 look at the logistics of his death. Meta Comet 00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:41.200 is tracked down to Mount Hope. And Mount Hope 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:43.980 is physically located within Rhode Island. But 00:26:43.980 --> 00:26:46.460 the troops that kill him are led by Captain Benjamin 00:26:46.460 --> 00:26:48.240 Church. And Captain Church is from Connecticut. 00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:50.980 So the paramount indigenous leader is killed 00:26:50.980 --> 00:26:53.759 on Rhode Island soil. by a Connecticut militia. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:56.279 Rhode Island is just a theater of operations 00:26:56.279 --> 00:26:58.859 for foreign armies at this point. It cements 00:26:58.859 --> 00:27:02.400 the reality that the colonial borders, the localized 00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:05.039 diplomacy, the haven that Williams envisioned. 00:27:05.180 --> 00:27:07.599 It had all collapsed. Rhode Island had lost complete 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:10.279 control of its own territory. And the aftermath 00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:13.039 for the native populations is chilling. Yes, 00:27:13.259 --> 00:27:15.599 the historical record provides a few specific 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:18.839 data points that track the ultimate tragic consequence 00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:21.259 of this conflict. Just four years after the war 00:27:21.259 --> 00:27:24.839 ends, there is the 1680 Colonial Census. What 00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:27.980 does this say? It lists 175 enslaved people in 00:27:27.980 --> 00:27:30.619 Rhode Island, specifically noting that this number 00:27:30.619 --> 00:27:33.369 included both Native and Black persons. This 00:27:33.369 --> 00:27:35.710 is the horrific transition of the survivors. 00:27:36.170 --> 00:27:38.170 Following the defeat of the indigenous uprising, 00:27:38.390 --> 00:27:40.930 the colonies had massive war debts to pay. How 00:27:40.930 --> 00:27:43.569 did they pay them? One of the primary ways they 00:27:43.569 --> 00:27:46.430 funded that debt was by selling indigenous captives 00:27:46.430 --> 00:27:49.130 into slavery. Wow. Many were shipped out of New 00:27:49.130 --> 00:27:51.410 England to the brutal sugar plantations of the 00:27:51.410 --> 00:27:53.910 West Indies, removing them from their homelands 00:27:53.910 --> 00:27:57.579 forever. But as the census shows... A significant 00:27:57.579 --> 00:28:00.220 number remained enslaved locally. Forced into 00:28:00.220 --> 00:28:02.519 bondage right on top of the lands they used to 00:28:02.519 --> 00:28:05.500 control. The transition is staggering. And then 00:28:05.500 --> 00:28:08.440 we jump forward in the timeline to 1740. The 00:28:08.440 --> 00:28:10.640 history mentions that the colonial government 00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:13.339 appointed two men, Richard Ward and Samuel Perry, 00:28:13.779 --> 00:28:17.240 to act as trustees to the Indian Sacham Nenegret. 00:28:17.619 --> 00:28:20.079 Let's unpack the legal mechanism of a trustee. 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:22.079 What does that mean? Well, Seycham is a leader, 00:28:22.299 --> 00:28:24.640 right? A political figure meant to guide their 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:26.660 people and negotiate with other powers. Right. 00:28:26.779 --> 00:28:29.240 But when a government appoints a trustee to oversee 00:28:29.240 --> 00:28:31.920 you, it implies that you are a ward of the state. 00:28:32.180 --> 00:28:34.440 You are legally deemed incapable of managing 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.079 your own affairs. Or your own money or your own 00:28:37.079 --> 00:28:40.019 remaining land. It is the ultimate erasure of 00:28:40.019 --> 00:28:43.059 legal personhood and sovereignty. Exactly. Look 00:28:43.059 --> 00:28:46.740 at the arc. In 1636, Chief Canonicus is a sovereign 00:28:46.740 --> 00:28:49.500 leader evaluating an English exile and signing 00:28:49.500 --> 00:28:52.200 a diplomatic deed. He is the power broker. By 00:28:52.200 --> 00:28:55.460 1675, the population is subjected to preemptive 00:28:55.460 --> 00:28:58.559 massacres. By 1680, the survivors are categorized 00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:01.960 as enslaved property on a census. And by 1740, 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:04.400 the remaining leadership is subjugated to colonial 00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:07.619 trustees. The transformation from sovereign landowners 00:29:07.619 --> 00:29:10.940 to wards of the state is absolute. It is incredibly 00:29:10.940 --> 00:29:13.240 heavy to process the entire trajectory of this 00:29:13.240 --> 00:29:15.619 deep dive. It really is. We started with a guy 00:29:15.619 --> 00:29:17.859 knocking on a door in the snow trying to build 00:29:17.859 --> 00:29:20.480 a new kind of society based on negotiation. And 00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:23.400 we end with burning towns, a dead indigenous 00:29:23.400 --> 00:29:26.380 leader and a multi -generational legacy of enslavement 00:29:26.380 --> 00:29:28.900 and legal subjugation. It reveals that peace 00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:31.480 is an incredibly fragile construct. It isn't 00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:33.259 a permanent piece of infrastructure just because 00:29:33.259 --> 00:29:35.839 you signed a document. It requires immense constant 00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:38.279 effort to maintain against the gravity of greed, 00:29:39.079 --> 00:29:41.640 territorial expansion, and the horrific momentum 00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:44.559 of warfare. The localized piece that Roger Williams 00:29:44.559 --> 00:29:47.980 built was genuine, but it was dismantled by the 00:29:47.980 --> 00:29:50.660 broader systemic pressures of a region that simply 00:29:50.660 --> 00:29:53.460 could not sustain two conflicting ways of life. 00:29:53.619 --> 00:29:55.359 As we step back and look at the whole picture, 00:29:55.839 --> 00:29:58.460 I keep returning to the artifact that tried to 00:29:58.460 --> 00:30:00.720 bridge that divide. A key into the languages 00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:02.900 of America. Roger Williams wrote that book in 00:30:02.900 --> 00:30:06.420 1643 with the express purpose of connecting two 00:30:06.420 --> 00:30:09.259 living, breathing cultures. It was intended to 00:30:09.259 --> 00:30:12.099 be a vibrant tool for daily communication, trade, 00:30:12.339 --> 00:30:14.660 and mutual understanding. But because of the 00:30:14.660 --> 00:30:17.599 devastating systemic consequences of King Philip's 00:30:17.599 --> 00:30:21.420 War, the indigenous society had documented was 00:30:21.420 --> 00:30:23.900 irreparably fractured and subjugated. And because 00:30:23.900 --> 00:30:25.619 the culture was fractured, the purpose of the 00:30:25.619 --> 00:30:27.519 book was fundamentally altered. What was written 00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:30.740 as a dynamic bridge between peoples became essentially 00:30:30.740 --> 00:30:33.839 a tombstone. It transformed into the only surviving 00:30:33.839 --> 00:30:36.299 record of a language spoken by the very people 00:30:36.299 --> 00:30:38.819 who first welcomed Roger Williams in from the 00:30:38.819 --> 00:30:41.440 cold. A tool for coexistence became a memorial 00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:44.200 to something permanently lost. It makes you wonder 00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:46.910 what Other cultural bridges in history, treaties, 00:30:47.210 --> 00:30:49.190 alliances, attempts at understanding were built 00:30:49.190 --> 00:30:52.230 with immense effort, only to become mere memorials 00:30:52.230 --> 00:30:55.150 to a peace that couldn't survive the fire. Think 00:30:55.150 --> 00:30:56.950 about the fragile mechanics of those agreements. 00:30:57.849 --> 00:31:00.170 It takes an incredible amount of empathy to build 00:31:00.170 --> 00:31:02.690 them and so little time to burn them down. Something 00:31:02.690 --> 00:31:04.589 to mull over. Until next time.