Mayflower -- Question 10

Because the English saw all the Indians as "King Phillip's" Indians, it put the English in a bigger hole then they ever were in. At first, it was just King Phillip's Pokanoket Indians and a few other tribes with grudges against the English. But, the English became paranoid and came to the very wrong conclusion that all Indians were against them. When, in fact, many of the Indians would have originally sided with the English. This made the war longer and much more tragic than it ever should have been. The English would strike out against any Indian, friend or foe, and this made many of the friendly Indians resent the English. The English would even sometimes attack their own converts, the Praying Indians. Finally Benjamin Church came along and got the English thinking straight, he made them realize that not all Indians were out to get them. If the English had understood this concept from the start, the war could have been much shorter and less tragic.