New England Frontier, 3rd edition: Puritans and Indians 1620-1675 [Paperback]

Alden T. Vaughan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1995

In contrast to most accounts of Puritan-Indian relations, New England Frontier argues that the first two generations of Puritan settlers were neither generally hostile toward their Indian neighbors nor indifferent to their territorial rights. Rather, American Puritans-especially their political and religious leaders-sought peaceful and equitable relations as the first step in molding the Indians into neo-Englishmen. When accumulated Indian resentments culminated in the war of 1675, however, the relatively benign intercultural contact of the preceding fifty-five-year period rapidly declined. With a new introduction updating developments in Puritan-Indian studies in the last fifteen years, this third edition affords the reader a clear, balanced overview of a complex and sensitive area of American history.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alden T. Vaughan, Professor Emeritus of History at Columbia University is the author or editor of numerous books, including The Puritan Tradition in America, 1620-1730, New England's Prospect, and Puritans among the Indians.

Product Details

• Paperback: 492 pages
• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press; Third Edition edition (April 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080612718X
• ISBN-13: 978-0806127187
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #234,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and balanced, January 24, 2000

By 

Jeffrey A. Swanson (Shelby, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New England Frontier, 3rd edition: Puritans and Indians 1620-1675 (Paperback)

This is the most balanced account of the relationship between the Indians and the early settlers I have read. It is an excellent book for someone who is interested in both sides of the story, Indian and Puritan. Vaughan tries to portray the truth of both people's viewpoint and doesn't get bogged down in politically correct rambling so prevalent in modern renditions (i.e. Greg Nobles). A must read for those who desire to be balanced in their view of History.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tribes and Colonies, June 17, 2002

By 

"guiscard" (Toms River, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New England Frontier, 3rd edition: Puritans and Indians 1620-1675 (Paperback)

In 1620 the English Puritans settled in the region they called New England. There they met the natives, the Indians. This book explains how the Puritans and Indians related with each other until 1675. Vaughan demonstrates that the Puritans did not exploit the Indians as often believed but dealt fairly with them. He neither denigrates nor whitewashes either the Puritans or the Indians, but is fair to both sides.

Vaughan describes the Indians, their beliefs and customs, and what they thought of the Puritans. Vaughan also portrays the beliefs and customs of the Puritans and their attitudes towards the Indians. Vaughan recounts how the Puritans and the Indians allied together to destroy the aggressive Pequot tribe in the Pequot war in 1637.
Vaughan sketches the trade between Puritans and Indians, at first trading furs for items and later for wampum. Then he describes how the Puritans tried to fit the Indians fairly into their legal system. Finally he recounts the Puritans attempts to convert the Indians to Christianity.

This is an excellent account, based on extensive primary and secondary sources, of the little known period before King Philips attack on the Puritans changed how the colonists and the Indians saw each other.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Early, Early Show, May 18, 2007

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New England Frontier, 3rd edition: Puritans and Indians 1620-1675 (Paperback)

A sensitive and sensible look at English-Indian relations in New England, 1620-1675. Vaughan attempts to dispel a number of myths (myths that have only intensified over time), by demonstrating that: 1) The Puritans did not push the New England Indians off their land. Indians owned and sold their land. 2) The Puritans did not deplete the food source of the natives. Game did decrease as more and more English settled in, but Indians were agricultural and grew most of their food. 3) The Puritans did not upset the Indians' economic pattern by underpaying them for goods and services. The tools Indians received from the English as payment for furs and land, for instance, were highly prized. 4) The Puritans did not kill off the Indians in a series of military actions. Warring tribes probably caused as many Indian deaths as the English, and the immediate causes of the Pequot War and King Philip's War were complicated and emerged from both sides. 5) Indians were not mistreated out of hand by the English in legal cases; for example, the death penalty for murder applied to all, regardless of race. Indians were frequently compensated for damaged property caused by the colonists' livestock. 6) The Puritans were not indifferent to the physical, moral, and spiritual well-being of the Indians. Puritans did not even regard the natives as a different race, but rather as white men with different features caused by their environment and "debased" by the Devil. Like themselves, they viewed the Indian as a creature fallen from Grace, and worthy of salvation.

I am not expert enough to know exactly on which side of these "myths" the truth actually lies, though I suspect Vaughan is more correct than not. The political incorrectness of his views, however, seem fairly obvious and would probably receive little consideration today or be dismissed out of hand. This would be unfortunate, however, for much of what Vaughan has to say seems fair and reasonable. For all that, it's an interesting book, well written, and, in a provocative way that older historical works often are, a breath of fresh air.