This book takes a new approach by synthesizing the work of scholars of military and Indigenous history to provide the first chronologically ordered, region-wide, and long-term narrative history of conflict in the Early American Northeast.

War and Colonization in the Early American Northeast focuses on war and society, European colonization, and Indigenous peoples in New England from the pre-Columbian era to the mid-eighteenth century. It examines how the New English used warfare against Native Americans as a way to implement a colonial order. These conflicts shaped New English attitudes toward Native Americans, which further aided in the marginalization and the violent targeting of these communities. At the same time, this volume pays attention to the experiences of Indigenous peoples. It explores pre-Columbian Native American conflict and studies how colonization altered the ways of warfare of Indigenous people. Native Americans contested New English efforts at colonization and used violent warfare strategies and raids to target their enemies—often quite successfully. However, in the long run, depending on time and geographic location, conflict and colonization led to dramatic and violent changes for Native Americans.

This volume is an essential resource for academics, students, academic libraries, and general readers interested in the history of New England, military, Native American, or U.S. history.