What factor contributed to warfare between the colonists and the Native Americans?

Answer 1

The Pequot War (1636-1637) was in large part caused by competition and rivalry between the Pequot and Mohegan tribes and their various allies. In some cases, the Narragansetts killed English traders simply to prevent them from trading with their rivals. The English colonists became involved when a series of retaliatory killings of English traders (sometimes for their own misdeeds, and sometimes for the misdeeds of the Dutch) caused them to protest to the Indians, and the Narragansett ignored the Colonists's complaints.

In short, the fractured and competetive political situation among the local tribes (which had been made much worse by the smallpox plagues that had swept the area in the preceeding decades) and the need to manipulate or control the very lucrative fur trade with the English Colonists led to the war.

King Philp's War was more pointedly directed at the English colonists themselves. It had much more to do with the English practice of buying Indian lands, and the pressure by the Puritans to convert the local natives to Christianity. Philip put together an alliance of other tribes who also wished to force the English back. The war killed between 40 and 60 percent of the native population, and perhaps 20 or 25 percent of the English population. Purportionately, it was one of the bloodiest wars in our entire history. The massive losses suffered by the tribes put an end to them as a political presence in the New England colonies forever, and it was not until the French and Indian war, nearly a century later that the fear of Natives burning entire towns to the grouns was realized.

Answer 2

The main cause of the Pequot War was the struggle for control due to the cultural, political, and economic changes that occurred after the arrival of the Dutch and the English. All of the trade in the region was controlled by the Dutch and Pequot. This resulted in a short-term stable situation. The English traders arrived in the region and caused intense competition and conflict for control of trade which caused the war to break out.