Mayflower -- Question 4

The Pilgrims fifty-year peace with the Indians collapsed because the people who first established the peace with the Indians soon died off, as did the Indians who first established peace with the Pilgrims. Then, all that was left were the sons and daughters of these first peacemakers. So, the sons and daughters did not have that strong relationship with the Indians the first Pilgrims did, and began to lose respect and understanding for them, using them to gain land and success. When new settlers arrived from England, they also, had no initial respect or understanding for the Indians. All they knew is that there had been a peace made with them, and they over stayed their welcome in the Indian's eyes. They pushed the Indians into a small corner after buying all their land, and they had no respect for them, sometime brutally lashing out at them, and even selling some as slaves. All this could have been prevented if the second generation Pilgrims had held the same religious views the initial Pilgrims did that made them have a respect and an understanding that they needed the Indians. I think the success of the settlement made the second generation Pilgrims feel that they no longer needed the Indians. So, instead of peace and agreements, it turned into the Pilgrims using the Indians for land.