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Causes Of The Pequot War

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The Pequot War began primarily because of a struggle to control trade. The Pequot- Dutch control of trade in the land started in the 1620s. " By 1635, the Pequot had extended their control through a tributary confederacy of dozens of tribes created through coercion, warfare, diplomacy and intermarriage." (pequotwar.org, 2017) While the Dutch and Pequot tribes controlled all trade in the land, the was a short time of stability, but the arrival of English traders and settler shifted the balance of control. I stated earlier that the Pequot War began because a struggle to control trade, and this was the case, because The English traders and settlers wanted trade to be more stable and everyone had a little bit of power, but the Pequot wanted none of this, they only wanted to do anything in their power to keep the control in their hands only. In the summer of 1634, the Pequot tribe murdered English trader John Stone and his crew. Although, the Pequot tried to explain and justify their actions, the English settlers did not believe them, and led to even more tension in the relationship. In 1636, another English trader name of John Oldham was murdered by the Manisses Indians, and this murder led directly into the Pequot War, at the very first battle site, named "Battlefields of the Pequot War." The war was fought in 1637, and their battles were fought over many things such as, “property, livestock damaging Indian crops, hunting, the selling of alcohol to Indians, and dishonest

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