The primary source this week requires a bit of explanation.  The author, Edward Winslow, was one of the leaders of the Pilgrims in Plymouth.  Pilgrims, like Puritans, wanted to "purify" Protestant religious practice, moving it further away from Catholicism.  The two groups differed in their methods:  Puritans, who would migrate to Boston and Massachusetts Bay in the 1630s, were non-separating Congregationalists--that is, they did not formally break with the Church of England.  Pilgrims, who came to Plymouth in the 1620s, are also referred to as Separatists because they formally broke with the Church of England.

At the start of the excerpt in March 1623, "the Captain" refers to Miles Standish, "a soldier of fortune fresh from the Dutch wars" (Salisbury 112).  Massassowat is the Indian leader called Massasoit in Salisbury.  A "pniese" (Winslow 337) is defined by Winslow as "one of [an Indian leader's] chiefest companions or men of valor" (288).  "Master Weston's colony" (327) is Wessagusset, founded by Thomas Weston in 1622.  If you get confused by any of the place names in Winslow, refer to Salisbury's map on p. 112.  In general, the excerpt covers the same ground as Salisbury 125-40.

1. Compare and contrast Euro-Indian relations in early Roanoke and Jamestown versus early New England.  Did the contacts in New England start off more or less auspiciously than they had in the Chesapeake?
 
 
 
 

2. In Salisbury's telling of the story, who had agency in the contact between Indians and Europeans?  How was this agency demonstrated?
 
 
 
 

3. What were Massasoit's motives in revealing the intentions of the Massachusett Indians?