Eulogy on King Philip

Eulogy on King Philip (1836) is a speech by William Apes. An indentured servant, soldier, minister, and activist, Apes lived an uncommonly rich life for someone who died at just 41 years of age. Recognized for his pioneering status as a Native American public figure, William Apes was an astute recorder of a life in between. His Eulogy on King Philip celebrates the Wampanoag sachem also known as Metacomet, whose attempt to live in peace with the Plymouth colonists ended in brutal warfare. “[A]s the immortal Washington lives endeared and engraven on the hearts of every white in America, never to be forgotten in time- even such is the immortal Philip honored, as held in memory by the degraded but yet grateful descendants who appreciate his character; so will every patriot, especially in this enlightened age, respect the rude yet all accomplished son of the forest, that died a martyr to his cause, though unsuccessful, yet as glorious as the American Revolution.” Long considered an enemy of the American people, a rebel whose head was left on a pike for years in Plymouth, King Philip remained a hero to his descendants. In this fiery speech, Pequot activist William Apes portrays Philip as an impassioned defender of his people whose assassination and martyrdom serve as a reminder of the brutality of the early colonists. For Apes, a leader of the nonviolent Mashpee Revolt of 1833, Philip was a symbol of indigenous resistance whose legacy remained strategically misunderstood and misrepresented in American history. This edition of William Apes’ Eulogy on King Philip is a classic of Native American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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