IN 1661 measures were taken to procure for Connecticut a patent directly from the Crown of Great Britain. Governor Winthrop was sent to England for this purpose. He was a man of superior address, and his application was made under favorable circumstances; and on the 20th of April, 1662, Charles the Second granted the colony letters patent, conveying ample privileges, under the Great Seal of England.
This charter included the colony of New Haven. The inhabitants of this colony were greatly dissatisfied with this. Mr. Davenport and other ministers were strongly of the opinion that all government powers should be vested in the churches, and the churches were unanimously opposed to being united with Connecticut. In New Haven only church members in full communion could be freemen, but in Connecticut all orderly persons, who were possessors of a freehold to a certain amount, might enjoy all the rights of citizenship. Doubtless the people of New Haven were fearful that the purity of their churches would be marred, and the civil administration corrupted by a union with Connecticut. After much difficulty, however, the two colonies, at the general election, May 12th 1664, united, and John Winthrop was chosen governor.
March 12th 1664, Charles the Second granted to his brother, the Duke of York and Albany, a patent, covering several extensive tracts in North America, and the lands on the west side of the Connecticut River were included in this patent. Colonel Richard Nichols was then sent from England with an armament, to reduce the Dutch possessions in America, and to hear and determine all matters of controversy between the New England colonies. After he had possessed New Netherland, and rechristened it New York, he, “with his associates,” met the agents of Connecticut, and on the 30th of November 1664, determined the boundaries between the two colonies. They also determined the southern boundary of Connecticut to be the sea, thus cutting off her possessions on Long Island.
Ten years later the Duke of York received from the King another patent, granting the same territory described in a former patent. He commissioned Major Edmund Andross to be Governor of New York, and all his territories in these parts. Andross was a petty tyrant, and a pliant tool of the Duke. Under the patent of 1674 he laid claim to the lands on the east side of Connecticut River, in violation of the agreement of 1664, and in disregard of the priority of the patent of Connecticut. In 1675, he attempted to force his claim by taking possession of the fort at Saybrook. By the firmness and resolution of Captain Bull, however, he was defeated in this attempt.
King Philip’s War
In 1675, what is known in history as King Philip’s war broke out, and during its continuance a veritable reign of terror prevailed in some portions of New England. Philip was the principal chief of the Wampanoags, and to prevent the formation of an alliance between him and the Narragansetts the English made with the latter a friendly treaty, in July 1675. Within six months from that time it was found that the Narragansetts were secretly aiding the Wampanoags. A winter campaign against the Narragansetts was accordingly undertaken, and for this Massachusetts furnished five hundred and twenty-seven men, Plymouth one hundred and fifty-nine, and Connecticut three hundred, besides one hundred and fifty Mohegan Indians. This force, in December 1675, came together at a place called Pettyquamsequot. Sixteen miles from that place the Narragansetts had a strong fort, on a piece of dry ground, in the midst of a large swamp. This fort consisted of a circle of palisades, surrounded by a thick fence of trees. Within the fort were about six hundred wigwams, and large stores of corn, wampum, etc.
The English marched for this fort on the morning of the 19th of December. A deep snow impeded their march, but at 4 P.M. of the same day they attacked the Indians in their fortress. They were at first repulsed, but a second onset was made, and after a terrible conflict, in which many of the attacking party fell, the Indians were destroyed or dispersed in the wilderness. It was computed that about three hundred Indians were slain in this fight, and that many others who were wounded, died in the cold cedar swamp, where they had taken refuge. Hollister says: “The village was burned to ashes, and the valuable stores that it contained, with the women and children, whose number history has never recorded, and whose agony, though brief, was only heard in its full significance by the ear of a mercy that is infinite.” Trumbull says: “They were in much doubt then, and afterward seriously inquired, whether burning their enemies alive could be consistent with humanity, and the benevolent principles of the gospel.” Humanity revolts at such atrocities.
Of the 300 from Connecticut 80 were killed and wounded, and of these about 40 were killed or died of their wounds.
This overthrow of the Narragansetts did not terminate the war, which was continued by Philip and his allies till the summer of 1676.
This terrible war, as well as many others that have been waged between the whites and the aboriginal proprietors of the soil, might doubtless have been averted had the fact been recognized that the Indians had rights that Christians were under obligation to respect.
Source
Whittemore, Henry, History of Middlesex county, Connecticut, with biographical sketches of its prominent men, New York : J. B. Beers & Co., 1884.
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