Forced Faith: Harvard, John Eliot, and the Erasure of the Original People

The transfer of land from Indigenous peoples to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, as told in FORCED FAITH reveals the deeply intertwined processes of dispossession and forced conversion that defined English colonization in New England. The book focuses on how the Puritan settlers, particularly under leaders like Reverend John Eliot, not only took Native lands but also sought to reshape Indigenous identities through Christian conversion.From the outset, the English settlers, armed with royal charters, claimed vast tracts of land without acknowledging the communal nature of Indigenous land stewardship. Tribes such as the Massachusett, Wampanoag, and Nipmuc had rich cultural traditions and complex societal structures, which were in stark contrast to the colonists' notions of private land ownership. As the settlers expanded, this clash over land ownership led to conflict, and Native peoples were increasingly dispossessed of their ancestral lands.However, the colonists’ ambitions went beyond land acquisition. FORCED FAITH highlights the central role of religious conversion in the English colonization process. John Eliot’s establishment of praying towns was part of a broader effort to convert the "Original People" of the region, as the Puritans sought to impose their religious and cultural systems on Native communities. These towns represented a profound cultural disruption, as Indigenous peoples were pressured to abandon their traditional beliefs and adopt Christianity, often under coercive conditions.The book also explores the broader "civilizing" mission of the colonists, including the role of education in this process. Harvard College's 1650 charter included a promise to educate Indigenous youth, but like many of the colonists' promises, this commitment was largely abandoned. Education, which was intended to convert and assimilate Native people, became another tool in the broader effort to suppress Indigenous identities.The spread of epidemic diseases, coupled with environmental degradation and military conflicts like