BOOK CLUB: Whose Story? Two Views of King Philip's War

For centuries the common view of King Philip's War echoed Mary Rowlandson's bestselling captivity tale. But then William Apess came along...

PLEASE only sign up if you really plan to come. Places are limited and it's disappointing to people if they can't register and equally disappointing to us if there are empty spots and people could have joined us. You don't have to read everything, so no anxiety is required.

Questions that we'll consider are sent to you ten days before we meet.

Whose story predominates? Ever since its publication in 1682 as The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative - with its harrowing account of capture, flight and detention as well as the death of her child - has shaped the mainstream understanding of King Philip's War. In this view, cruel and savage Native people wantonly invade peaceful colonial towns, taking prisoners for ransom and brutally killing others.

But then came along William Apess, author, Pequot activist and Methodist minister, who in the first third of the 19th century turned this story upside down. He read his powerful and eloquent challenge to the prevailing wisdom aloud to audiences across Boston - a eulogy that was subsequently printed. For Apess, Metacom, or King Philip, was a hero - equal in stature to George Washington, fighting for Native people's rights and the true embodiment of Revolutionary principles.

Find out what you think by joining our virtual book club discussion of Rowlandson's captivity narrative, on the one hand, and William Apess' Eulogy on King Philip on the other.

Led by PHB book club's own Evana Rose Tamayo, we'll read these primary texts side by side to see what they tell us about ways of understanding - and how they might change. Here's what she has to say:

"In this discussion, we’re diving into the heart of King Philip’s War by pairing two bestselling authors who couldn’t be further apart: the captive Mary Rowlandson and the activist William Apess. It’s a study in contrast, faith, and the power of memory.

"Though written over 150 years apart, both texts grapple with the bloody toll and legacy of King Philip’s War (1675–1676). This conflict fundamentally solidified Puritan hegemony and marginalized the Indigenous peoples in New England. By reading these works together, we will see how the same events can be cast as either a divine trial or a national tragedy, and we can consider whether both perspectives can be true simultaneously."

READ

Mary Rowlandson, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God (known by multiple titles in its many reprintings)

William Apess, Eulogy on King Philip: as pronounced at the Odeon, Federal Street, Boston (Boston: published by the author, 1836)

You can also purchase copies online, secondhand.

Evana Rose Tamayo developed an interest in colonial American history and early American literature while studying history and English at the University of South Florida. Since 2006, she has taught literature at the high school level, where her passion for storytelling continues to shape both her teaching and creative work. She holds an Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instruction and am currently pursuing an M.Div. in biblical studies. Her first novel, which is set in 1920s Michigan and inspired by the moral tension in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, is currently in development.

Evana is planning many great book discussions for this year - so stay tuned! She's also running our "book of the month" book reviews, so do contact her at phbostons@gmail.com if you've got a book you'd like to write about.

The Partnership of Historic Bostons is an all-volunteer organization. As always, our public history events are free. But to make events such as this one - as well as our Metcom's Resistance series, we need your help! Please donate now to support real history.

Image: Above: author portrait in the frontispiece of A Son of the Forest: The Experience of William Apes, A Native of the Forest (New York: published by the author, 2nd edition, 1831). Below: cover image from A Narrative of the Captivity, Sufferings and Removes of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (Boston: Printed and sold at John Boyle's Print, 1773). Wikimedia Commons