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The Name of War

The Name of War is one of the prominent books about American wars of 17th century

authored by Jill Lepore. The book investigates and explains King Philip’s War. King Philip’s

War was the deadliest colonial era war fought between the colonists and the New England Indian

tribes. According to Lepore, King Philip’s War was triggered partially by the attempt of the

colonists to subjugate the Indians’ culture with the desire of Christianizing them. Besides

Christianizing them, the colonists feared losing their Christian souls and Englishness. Colonists

perceived that the far-reaching influence of Indian culture in the region would ultimately corrupt

their Englishness. This can be considered the major reason why Colonists went into war with the

Native American Indians. In “The Name of War,” through the testimonies of prominent

chroniclers of War Rowlandson, Mather, Wheeler and Hubbard, Jill Lepore asserts in late 17th

century New England, in a time of change and cultural anxieties, King Philip’s War served as a

way for colonists to reclaim their Englishness.

King Philip’s War chroniclers wrote different accounts giving first-hand experiences in

the war. All of these war accounts provide details of cultural identity of King Philip’s War. For

example, the writings and expressions of Rowlandson, Mather, Wheeler and Hubbard served to

reestablish and reclaim an English identity distinct by opposing an Indian identity. The account

of war given by Increase Mather shows how the English people went astray and they needed to

reclaim back their cultures.

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Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative presented in “The Name of War” importantly

highlights the causes of the King Philip War. In this account, Rowlandson gives her experience

as a slave of the Native Indians. She gives a diary accounts covering every day of her capture

that took approximately 11 weeks. Expressively, Rowlandson provides her encounter in slavery

in connection to God and the Bible. Ideally, she considers her capture as a trial from God to test

her faith; therefore, she must put up with it. Only after she remains faith in Christianity when she

can be a true Christian fit for Puritan society. However, through her Christian perspective the

readers should understand the cause of the Philip’s War. Rowlandson created an obvious bias,

degrading the disregarding the Native Indian culture. Rowlandson compared physical appearance

with status. Barely, abhorrence and detestation of the Native Americans (Indians) was inherent

to Rowlandson and the English people’s belief system. Through Rowlandson, the reader can

understand how English people show little value for Native American people and their culture.

Increase Mather and Cotton Mather, his son held the same understanding of the King

Philip’s War. In their War chronicles, both Increase and Cotton Mather perceived King Philip’s

War as a holy war. According to them, the war was aimed at purifying the contamination of their

Christianity and culture from the Native Americans. King Philip’s War was considered a war

against barbarism. Most of the cultural anxieties and tensions that caused war between the

colonists and Indians in 1675 were not resolved when Increase Mather authored his “Brief

History” than when Cotton Mather authored his “Magnalia Christi Americana.” According to

Mather and his son Cotton, the questions concerning the sovereignty of Native Americans

(Indians) and the legitimacy of the Colonists land claims was not solved. However, distressingly,

the English colonists feared degenerating into Indians as a result of their savage actions in the

war.
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The account of Thomas Wheeler about the King Philip’s War clearly depicts the causes

of the war were attached to cultural identity. Thomas Wheeler was a colonial soldier of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the captain in the King Philip’s War in 1675 and later wrote

his narrative explaining his experiences. According to Wheeler, the underpinning cause of the

King Philip’s War was the unrelenting interest of Colonists to have more and more land.

However, the immediate cause of this war was the death penalty trial of the three of Metacon’s

men. After this grievous execution of three of Metacom’s men, Metacom and his battalion

started attacking and killing English settlers as well as destroying their settlements. The attacking

and destruction of English settlers and their settlements continued for a long time. As a result, the

colonists began to abandon the frontier and withdrawing into fortified seaside towns.

In conclusion, to better understand the King Philip’s War that left American crippling in

mid-17th Century, it is important to venture through the causes of it. From the evaluation of

different chroniclers such as Rowlandson, Wheeler, Increase Mather and Cotton Mather, cultural

identity was the main factor that fueled the war between the colonists and the Native Americans

(Indians). The Indians were almost overpowering the English settlers through constant wars led

by King Philip senior before the mantle was given to Metacon (King Philip junior). The English

settlers engaged in this remarkable war to promulgate Christianity beliefs and practices as well as

regain their Englishness. In the book “The Name of War” Jill Lepore asserts in late 17th century

New England, in a time of change and cultural anxieties, King Philip’s War served as a way for

colonists to reclaim their Englishness.

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Work Cited

Lepore, Jill. The name of war: King Philip's war and the origins of American identity. Vintage,

2009.