Metacom (King Philip)

Timeline

1. 1638–1662Bristol area, Rhode Island (Mount Hope) · Rhode IslandMetacom was born at a Wampanoag camp near Mount Hope; his father Massasoit had made peace with the Mayflower settlers. After his father and brother died in succession, he became sachem around 1662, and colonists called him by the name of the English king Philip.
2. 1662–1675Frontier of the New England colonies · New EnglandMetacom tried to hold the tribal alliance together through diplomacy and marriage, but colonial expansion, land seizure, debt bondage, and missionary intervention sharpened tensions. Around 1671 he was forced to surrender arms and acknowledge colonial jurisdiction, splitting the tribe over the policy of compromise.
3. 1675–1676New England theater of war · Massachusetts Bay ColonyAfter the Battle of Swampscott in 1675 the war erupted in full; Metacom joined with the Narragansett and other tribes to attack colonial towns, at one point striking half of New England's towns. In August 1676 he was ambushed and killed by colonial militia near Rhode Island, and his head was publicly displayed, bringing the war toward its end.