The Name of War

Early in 1676, Nipmucks attack Lancaster, Massachusetts, killing many but sparing a prominent minister’s wife, Mary Rowlandson, whom they take prisoner. For three months she travels overland with her captors; finally, a ransom is paid and Rowlandson is released. A Christian Indian, James Printer, so-named for his skills with printing presses, helps negotiate her freedom.

Over the next few years, she writes an account of her captivity, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God; James Printer sets the type at the Cambridge Press; the book is released early in 1682. By November, it has gone into a third printing and a London edition. Sovereignty is considered the first American best-seller and most popular Indian captivity story; it becomes foundational to Americans’ sense of themselves.

Rowlandson believes that her captivity is an affliction that tests her spiritual resolve. “Twenty pounds bought her freedom; captivity saved her soul" (128). Writing about her experience also helps “redeem” her from the horrors she has witnessed and the survivor’s guilt she feels.

The Indians need people to replace lost tribe members, and captured children often remain with tribes, become Indianized, and forget how to speak English.