Pequot War

The Pequot War was a 1636–1638 conflict between the Pequot people and English colonists and their Indigenous allies in southern New England. It ended with Pequot defeat, enslavement, and the dispersal of survivors.

Mystic massacre: The 1637 English-led attack that burned a Pequot fort near Mystic, killing hundreds of people. The attack became the war’s most devastating episode and a turning point in the campaign.
Connecticut River trade: The exchange of goods along the Connecticut River among Indigenous communities and European traders. Competition over trade and access to the river sharpened tensions before the war.
Treaty of Hartford (1638): An agreement imposed after the Pequot War that restricted Pequot identity, movement, and political autonomy. Its terms formalized the victors’ control over surviving Pequot people and territory.
Colonial genocide: The destruction or attempted destruction of Indigenous peoples through colonial conquest, displacement, and violence. The scale and intent of the campaign have made the war central to debates over colonial genocide.
Siege of Fort Saybrook: A series of Pequot attacks on the English settlement and fort at the mouth of the Connecticut River. These attacks formed part of the conflict’s opening phase and shaped English retaliation.
Wethersfield attack: A 1637 raid on the English settlement of Wethersfield that killed settlers and intensified the conflict. The raid helped prompt the Connecticut colonists’ military campaign against the Pequot.
Pequot diaspora: The dispersal of Pequot people through enslavement, forced relocation, and incorporation into other communities. The war’s outcome scattered Pequot survivors across New England and beyond.
New England colonialism: The establishment and expansion of European colonial rule in New England and its effects on Indigenous societies. The conflict exemplifies how English settlement challenged Indigenous sovereignty in the region.
Uncas: A Mohegan leader who allied with the English during the Pequot War and later established Mohegan political power. His alliance brought Mohegan fighters into the campaign against the Pequot.
Dutch colonial empire: The overseas territories and commercial networks governed by the Dutch Republic from the seventeenth century onward. Dutch trade and diplomacy in the region formed part of the colonial rivalry surrounding the conflict.

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