Running head: DEERFIELD MASSACRE � PAGE �1� SHORT TITLE OF PAPER (50 CHARACTERS OR LESS) � PAGE �5�
Deerfield Massacre
Name
HIS/110
March 19, 2011
Paul Petrequim
�
Deerfield Massacre
The New England frontier was filled with colonist that had left England seeking a better life and fleeing the oppressive rule of the King. However life on the new frontier was not easy and colonists did not only have to adapt to their new environment they had to face the danger of attacks from Indian tribes and wars with France and England. New England colonists were engaged in constant skirmishes with Indian tribes who later joined French troops from New France. They would then engage in small-scale attacks against the New England colonist that just wanted a fresh start to live a peaceful life. During this time these attacks led to much bloodshed but the most famous massacre occurred in the Deerfield Colony.
In Retaliation
In retaliation the English conducted counterattacks against Abenaki Indian villages, which caused an escalation in the types and levels of attacks occurring in the New England colonies. The Indians and French conducted small raids at first and eventually would raid entire towns. In a raid planned by the Governor of New France, the French and their allies, the Abenaki Indians, were sent to attack a village known as Deerfield. The colonist in Deerfield had taken several measures to prevent any raids, such as building a stockade and a garrison, and conducting night patrols to warn citizens of any looming attacks, these security measures could not stop the massacre that was to occur.
On February 29, 1704 a settlement known as Deerfield in the Massachusetts colony, made up of a population of 300 colonists, was attacked by Abenaki Indians and soldiers in the French...