The Tidewater Wars is a relatively obscure part of early American history. While not often in common high school-level textbooks, it holds much significance in influencing the early colonists' desires for defense and an available military force of some sort. Opechancanough, the Chief of the Indian Confederation in the Tidewater Area of Virginia had satisfied the white settlers by asserting that the sky would fall before he broke the peace in the land.

Only a few months later, on March 22, 1622, Good Friday no less, Indians attacked the white settlements without warning. The natives killed any man, woman, and child they could without regard. Over one fourth of the population of Virginia was slaughtered. Shocked and afraid, the remaining settlers were scattered and lacking sufficient protection. Colonists sought aid from King George III and the Potomack Indians. With this help, the colonists organized and for ten years made counterattacks on the offending natives with the assistance of friendly native American tribes. The Tidewater wars caused strain and stress on the white settlers, constantly performing military actions, but by 1632 temporal peace was established. The governor of Virginia signed a peace treaty with the chiefs of the major tribes in the opposing Indian confederation and the Tidewater Wars came to an end.