Comarison of the bias over the Pequot War in four different US History textbooks.

The Americans and The Enduring Vision have entirely different views on the cause of the Pequot War. In The Americans it stresses that the Puritans were attacking Native American nations for two reasons: their land and their difference in religion. The book states: "Rather than convert the Native Americans, the New England colonists set out to remove or destroy native societies." (56). Consequently the Pequot nation decided to "take a stand against the colonists" (56) for not only themselves, but all Native American groups. The Enduring Vision presents the Puritans expansion as a favor to the Native Americans. It states that the Natives were so destitute that they offered their independence and land for military protection. Subsequently the Puritans put the natives in "praying towns" where "leaders chosen by the Puritans would teach the Native Americans Christianity and English ways." (58). It goes on to say that even though the colonists were doing the natives this favor, there were still some tribes, like the Pequots, who resented it simply because they liked to quarrel.

"The eyes of the soul of the multitudes are unable...

Engraving depicting John Endecott's landing on Blo...

English: Lion Gardiner in Pequot War by Charles St...

When describing the war each book provides only selective bits of evidence to put across the image of their choice to the readers, whether it is fair or not. For example, The Enduring Vision offers three quotes from people involved in the Pequot war; however, they are all from Englishmen. By contrast, The Americans gives two quotes as evidence as well, but they are both made by a Native American. In A History of the United States the authors discuss rumors the Europeans heard about the Natives:

"The "savages" of America, it was said, were not content merely to kill their victims. There were stories that they liked to torture their captives and even to eat them. Some Indian cruelties were supposed to be...