He was succeeded by his brother Metacom, later known as King Philip, who claimed Wamsutta had been poisoned. Ousamequin’s first son and successor, Wamsutta, died in 1662 amid negotiations with the colonists over land. Despite periodic tensions, peace between the two groups survived until after Ousamequin’s death in 1661, making the 1621 treaty the only one between Native Americans and English colonists to be honored throughout the lives of all who signed it. For Ousamequin, the treaty meant preserving his people’s autonomy and his own power and influence, as even some Wampanoags bitterly disagreed with his decision to align with the English colonizers.Ĭarver died in April 1621, but Bradford and Winslow, his successors, continued to honor the treaty with the Wampanoags.
Lasting Impact of the 1621 Peace Treatyįor the Pilgrims and other settlers at Plymouth Colony, the peace treaty with the Wampanoag meant learning the skills they needed to attain that first successful harvest-and to survive. Tisquantum had managed to escape slavery and lived briefly in England before returning home in 1619 aboard another English ship.Īs Bradford and Winslow later wrote in Mourt’s Relation (1622), “ has a potent adversary in the Narragansetts, that are at war with him, against whom he thinks we may be of some strength to him, for our pieces are terrible to them.” In the treaty, the Wampanoags and the Plymouth settlers, on behalf of King James I, agreed to keep peace between them, as well as to defend each other against potential attacks by other Indigenous groups.
He and Governor John Carver negotiated the treaty with the help of Tisquantum (Squanto), a Wampanoag from Patuxet who had been among the group captured by Hunt in 1614. While he initially kept his distance from the Mayflower’s inhabitants, fearing further aggression-and disease-Ousamequin evidently came to the conclusion that an alliance with the new English arrivals in the region could help protect his people.Īfter sending Samoset, an Abenaki chief (possibly a captive of the Wampanoag) who knew some English, as an emissary to the Plymouth settlers on March 16, 1621, Ousamequin arrived about a week later. When the Plymouth settlers arrived, Ousamequin was struggling to prevent the Narragansett from subjugating the remaining Wampanoags and forcing them to pay tribute.
Samoset is depicted as welcoming Pilgrims in Plymouth in 1621 in this book illustration published in 1853.īy 1620, Wampanoag weakness had provided an opportunity for a rival group to the west, the Narragansett, who had largely escaped the impact of the disease.
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