Philip King of Mount Hope
Engraver Paul Revere Jr. American
Related author Thomas Church American
Sitter Philip, Sachem of the Wampanoags American
Not on view
Early New Englanders knew the Native American chief Metacomet as King Philip. Leading the Wampanoag people around Narragansett Bay, he responded aggressively when the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies repeatedly broke treaties with the local tribes and expanded westward. "King Philip’s War" broke out in June 1675, with raids and battles fought from the Connecticut River Valley north into Maine. When a truce was made in April 1678, the Native population had been reduced by more than half and rendered effectively landless. Many colonial settlements suffered great damage, with adult male numbers decimated, the economy ruined, and the western frontier pushed back by miles. A century later, Revere produced this portrait of Metacomet to illustrate a history that glossed over the war’s true costs.
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