Three Shouts of "Huzzah!"
A stomach bug this week afforded me time to finish Mayflower. The epilogue, where Philbrick draws most of his conclusions, is a fat hammer to the chest. And while there are many ideas worth dwelling on in there, one question has me absolutely enthralled:
How did Metacom (aka Philip) go from the most hunted man in New England in the late 17th century to a mythological proto-American freedom-fighter in the early-19th?
Fron the get-go dude had plenty to be serious about
Philbrick, understandably, rushes through the intervening 150 years, and left me pondering. As I said to my mother on Wednesday, it sounds like double-think; how else do you hold two entirely contradictory notions simultaneously? I’m so curious about this transformation, and scanning Philbrick’s notes in the back, I’ve already ordered a book on the American need for mythological identity.
In part, it’s just intellectual pursuit. A kind of trust that because my interest is piqued, something juicy is waiting. But another, more enterprising part of me, thinks this could be the big connection between the 17th & 19th centuries I’ve wondered about. And when I get to thinking about that, I realize there has been an identity-defining war in the 60s or 70s of every century of our country. Also worth smoking on.
But as I get ramped for the gigantic picture, smaller things are tugging at my heart. When Metacom was – ahem, finally – killed, Benjamin Church, and his English and Sakonnet soldiers three times shouted “Huzzah!” before dismembering the Pokanoket sachem. Metacom’s head was, as was custom, stuck on a pole outside Plymouth. One of his hands went to Boston; the other Church gave as a prize to one of his Sakonnet warrior-soldiers. Who later put in a jar of rum and charged a pretty penny for viewings. Different world, different world, different world…
This was hardly the first time he was taken down a peg. As the Plymouth court record reads, Metacom’s brother, Wamsutta, came before the magistrate asking for a Christian name. The court responded with Alexander (Wamsutta) and Philip (Metacom). Richter claims those names referred to Alexander the Great, and his brother Philip, under whom the ancient world fell apart. Not long after his brother’s death (very likely by poisoning at the hands of the Puritans), he stirred the pot again in the courts, and for his demands became known, mockingly, as King Philip.
Metacom’s death marked the end of arguably the most defining war of our country’s history. From this war we articulated American racism. And despite the deeply entangled economic circumstances that lead to barbarism on both sides, we still call it Philip’s War. The English were bystanders, the story goes, until they were compelled to react. Godly, you might say. Christian.
This might not deserve the label of “clever observation,” but no wars throughout written history been predicated on anything other than God. Yes, we fight for resources. But why do we think we deserve what our neighbors already have? Because God’s on our side. Hence the huzzahs.Also, I’d argue the Civil War was more defining, but only because I know fucking tons about it and know shit about Philip’s War. Preach it, brother — I’d like to know.
I’m realizing I don’t have a blow-by-blow of the War to demonstrate for you precisely why I think this was the most defining conflict in our national history. But if you’ll satisfy yourself with the imprecise until I acquire or generate that timeline, here’s the gist:The sale (and arguable theft) of land, mutually dissolving trust of Indians and Whites, Christian conversion or purging of Indians, and birth of the Frontiersman archetype all had their prototypical beginnings here. From this vantage, now knowing more about Metacom’s War than the Civil War (which I’ll be getting heavily into for Reservoir Dredge), I think most of our most essential American instincts (bad in the war, much good in the events preceding it) had their origins here. Thus my case for self-definition.But I’m willing to be schooled. In a while, I’ll be at your doorstep, bro. Believe.
Hey Adam,
Awesome research. I wanted to know where you got that image of Metacom, or if you have any other info about that image, such as the date it was made, artist or the collection it’s in, etc. I’m doing a series of large graphite on black paper drawings, and one of them is based on that image of Metacom. I’d be grateful for any information.
Thanks,
Biddy
Thanks! Honestly, your googling will be as effective as mine. If I’m able to scan a version of it some day, I’ll let you know.
Poignant post. A powerful moment in American history…and a style of interaction and being that has produced our civilization…and I wouldn’t say we built the best one possible, not even close. Lots of room for improvement. Good to reexamine the first roots of our engagement.