Reference no: EM133259082

Film commentary: "After the Mayflower"

1. According to the film, most Americans today view the first Thanksgiving in a positive light: as "the bright opening chapter of the American creation story." Is this how the Wampanoag - including Massasoit - came to remember that day? If not, how did they come to view it in hindsight (i.e. after the fact)?

2. How do we know now that there were virgin soil epidemics prior to the Pilgrims arriving in 1620? What did the English find in villages like Pawtuxet when they arrive in 1620? If the Pilgrims did not introduce disease into the Native population prior to 1620, who did (be specific)?

3. How did the Wampanoag know that the Pilgrims had come to stay? Why didn't Massasoit decide to wipe out their settlement, instead of allowing them to stay? What was the military advantage to allowing them to stay?

4. What was the relationship like between the Wampanoag and Pilgrims during the first decade following contact (i.e. 1620-1630)? Were the English able to "colonize" the Wampanoag at that point? Why or why not?

5. How did trade help to strengthen the relationship between the Wampanoag and the English?

6. What began to happen in 1630, which shifted the relationship between the Wampanoag and the English? What was the one thing that Native people had, that the English wanted?

7. How did the Wampanoag view their land? Did the English view land in the same way (if not, how did they view it)? Other than the arrival of many English, why was Massasoit in a weak bargaining position when it came to ceding land to the English?

8. How was Philip - Massasoit's son and eventual heir - different from his father and his father's generation?

9. When and why did the English "lose their sense of openness" towards Native people? Why was the establishment of "praying towns" evidence of this loss of openness? How did the English attitude about cultural differences between them and Native people at this point differ compared to the beginning of the film, when they and the Wampanoag first formed alliances after the first Thanksgiving (i.e. question #4)?

10. Why did the murder of Philip's personal secretary trigger King Philip's War? Why did the Wampanoag ultimately lose this war?