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. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of William Apes' Eulogy on King Philip is a classic of Native American literature reimagined for modern readers.

William Apes (1798-1839) was a Pequot writer, activist, and minister. Born in northwestern Massachusetts, he was raised in a family of mixed Pequot, African, and European descent. On his mother's side, he claimed King Philip--a Wampanoag sachem who was assassinated by Plymouth colonists--as his ancestor. Following their parents' separation, William and his siblings were taken to their maternal grandparents, who abused and neglected them. Soon, they were taken in by local families as indentured servants. At fifteen, he ran away to join a New York militia, serving in the War of 1812, where he developed a lifelong addiction to alcohol. In 1821, having returned to his Pequot family in Massachusetts, Apes married Mary Wood, with whom he had four children. He was ordained a Protestant Methodist minister in 1829, and in the same year published his groundbreaking autobiography A Son of the Forest. Written as a response to the United States government's policy of Indian Removal, A Son of the Forest was one of the first of its kind from a Native American author, earning Apes a reputation as a leading advocate for his people. In the last decade of his life, Apes worked tirelessly as an activist, lecturer, and writer, supporting the 1833 Mashpee Revolt on Cape Cod and delivering a powerful eulogy on King Philip in 1836.