Professor Newell discusses her book, Brethren by Nature: New England Indians, Colonists, and the Origins of American Slavery, which explores the enslavement of Indians by the English Colonists in New England. Massachusetts became the first English colony to legalize slavery in 1641, and the colonists’ desire for slaves shaped the major New England Indian wars, focusing the conflicts on obtaining captives and slaves. We discuss how Pequot War of 1637 and King Philip’s War of 1675–76, solidified Native Americans as permanent slaves and led to racialized slave codes.
Professor Margaret Ellen Newell is an American historian. She is a Full professor of history at Ohio State University and recipient of the 2016 James A. Rawley Prize from the Organization of American Historians.
