Eliot translates the Bible
49. John Eliot. The treatment of the Indians by the colonists was generally just and kind. Trading with the white man had brought the Indians better food and clothing. Schools were being set up to give them some of the white man's education, and many preachers tried to teach them to become Christians. One man who spent his whole life in this work was John Eliot. His first care was to learn the language of the Indians of Massachusetts. He succeeded so well that he was able to translate the entire Bible into the Indian language and to preach to the Indians in their native tongue.
The converts that he made he gathered together into communities which settled near the English towns. These converts were taught how to build themselves log cabins and to live and dress like the English. The principal village established by Eliot was at Natick, Massachusetts. Others quickly followed Eliot's example, and several other Christian Indian villages sprang up. These communities flourished, and in a few years Eliot could count as many as four thousand converts among the Indians of Massachusetts.
Eliot continued to preach until his death in 1690. Even the fierce King Philip's War could not check his success.
KING PHILIP, INDIAN CHIEF AND HATER OF WHITE MEN
The Indians are persecuted
50. King Philip. After the death of old Massasoit the friendship between Pilgrims and Indians soon came to an end. More and more white settlers came in and built homes. The Indians began to fear that they would be crowded out of the country which belonged to them and to their fathers before them. No longer were they treated with respect as at first. They were a proud people, and grew bitter because they saw that they were despised.
One of the proudest of the race was Philip, son of Massasoit and ruler of his people. Several times the governor of Plymouth forced him to do things against his will. This hurt the pride of Philip, and he began to hate the English. His own people also came to him frequently with complaints against the white men. Philip grew surly, while the colonists began to distrust him.