Part One, Language, Chapter 2, The Story of It Printed Summary and Analysis

Between 1675, many narratives of King Philip's War were printed, including Increase Mather's A Brief History of the War. Hubbard's A Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians was published in 1677. Mather was fiercely competitive with Hubbard. He even campaigned to discredit Hubbard's account (he failed though). Those who experienced the worst of the war did not write about it. Literacy in early America was often characterized by religious context and there were a scarce number of books otherwise. Reading and writing were taught separately and most colonists could do only one or the other. An elite monopolized information. The twenty-one accounts of the war represent several types of writing aimed at different audiences. The most standard narratives were published in London. Other accounts were apocalyptic...