The Pokanoket had interacted with European traders and explorers for at least a century before the arrival of the Pilgrims in 1620.

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Despite being greatly weakened by war, disease, and famine, Massasoit Ousamequin shrewdly leveraged the arrival of these English colonists by negotiating a mutually defensive agreement. This treaty would become known as the Treaty of Peace, also known as the 1621 Treaty with Massasoit.

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In the winter of 1636, Massasoit Ousamequin welcomed Roger Williams to Pokanoket lands in Sowams and granted permission for him to settle.

While tensions would continue to rise over land and power, Massasoit Ousamequin managed to keep peace between his people and Plymouth Colony for 40 years. Upon his death in 1661, his eldest son, Wamsutta, inherited the mantle of leadership and an increasingly precarious position as the English appetite for land only grew. Following his death under suspicious circumstances, his younger brother and successor, Metacom, determined that he would not see the erosion of what sovereignty remained of his people without a fight.