Massachusetts in The American Revolution - Before European Settlement

Before European Settlement

Massachusetts was originally inhabited by tribes of the Algonquian language family such as the Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Mahican, and Massachusett. The Algonquian tribes inhabited the area prior to European settlement. In the Massachusetts Bay area resided the Massachusett people. Near the present Vermont and New Hampshire borders and the Merrimack River valley was the traditional home of the Pennacook tribe. Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and southeast Massachusetts were the home of the Wampanoag, whom the Pilgrims met. The extreme end of the Cape was inhabited by the closely related Nauset tribe. Much of the central portion and the Connecticut River valley was home to the loosely organized Nipmuc peoples. The Berkshires were the home of both the Pocomtuc and the Mahican tribes. Spillovers of Narragansett and Mohegan from Rhode Island and Connecticut, respectively, were also present.

Although cultivation of crops like squash and corn supplemented their diets, these tribes were generally dependent on hunting, gathering and fishing for most of their food supply. Villages consisted of lodges called wigwams as well as long houses, and tribes were led by male or female elders known as sachems.

In the early 1600s, large numbers of natives were decimated by virgin soil epidemics such as smallpox, measles, influenza, and perhaps leptospirosis, against which they had no immunity. In 1617–1619, smallpox reportedly killed 90% of the Massachusetts Bay Native Americans. The epidemics' high mortality resulted in extensive restructuring of native politics, with the survivors of previously strong villages banding together to form new alliances – a situation which may have increased their vulnerability during the English invasion.

Europeans began exploring the coast of North America in the 16th century, but few attempts were made at permanent settlement anywhere. Early European explorers of the New England coast included the Englishman Bartholomew Gosnold (who named Cape Cod in 1602), Frenchman Samuel de Champlain (who charted the northern coast as far as Cape Cod in 1605 and 1606), and the Englishmen John Smith and Henry Hudson. Fishing ships from Europe also worked in the fish-rich waters off the coast, and may have engaged in trade with some of the natives.