American Centuries

Pocumtuck Valley
Memorial Association

American Centuries > Lessons > History Lessons By Teachers > Metacom or King Philip’s War

Metacom or King Philip’s War

Details

Author
Mary Farrin
Topic/Subject Area
Military, Wars, Battles; Native American
Historical Era
Colonial settlement, 1620–1762, Revolutionary America, 1763–1783, The New Nation, 1784–1815
Grade Level
Elementary (K–5)
Creation Date
Last Revision Date
2024

Related items

About This Lesson

Summary and Objective

Students will understand that there were differences in beliefs about land and land use among the many indigenous peoples and the English settlers at the time of Metacom’s War by examining the maps and accounts. By doing this students will begin to develop understandings about cultural and social conflict during our colonial period. Students will apply these understandings to the essential questions: How does what people did in the past influence the present? How does point of view influence our understanding of history?

Materials & Resources

Collection Items
Website

Teaching Plan

  1. Students begin with this lesson having had instruction on Massasoit and the Wampanoags, Governor Bradford, the treaty signed by both, the 50 years of uneasy peace that followed, the death of Massasoit, his two sons, Wamsutta and Metacom, then the untimely and suspicious death of Wamsutta and the rise of Metacom as leader of the Wampanoags, along with the migration and settlement of European settlers that lead to Metacom’s War.
  2. In small groups students will examine the documents and maps in the collection. They will also access the Story Menu page on PVMA’s Raid on Deerfield: The Many Stories of 1704 website. The following questions will be used to begin the discussions:
    1. What do you notice about the location of the various settlements of indigenous and English?
    2. How do you account for the differences in the English and indigenous peoples attitudes?
    3. What or whose point of view is missing in these documents?
    4. What outcomes or consequences can be attributed to the misunderstandings between these groups of people?
  3. Students will discuss their findings and record these on a Venn diagram or similar compare and contrast graphic organizer.
  4. The diagrams will be posted and added to as the unit on colonization continues. Large and small group discussions will use these findings to support ideas and opinions expressed. As a follow-up activity students will choose one of the following writing activities and write as an indigenous or English person:
    1. Write a letter to family
    2. Write an ode or ballad describing a point of view
    3. Write a news story about the events
    4. Retell the event in the oral tradition (digital recording)
    5. Write a diary entry