What led to King Philip's War? Local American Indians refused to obey English law. Narragansett Indians and colonists attacked a Pequot fort. Pequot Indians attacked an English trading post. Colonist settlement on Wampanoag land increased. Why did the Pilgrims and the Puritans establish colonies in the New World? to follow Separatist beliefs to benefit the Church of England to practice their religions freely to avoid an impending religious war