“With most strange gestures and passions he began his invocation and environed the circle of meal; which done, three more such like devils came rushing in with the like antic tricks…” (Smith, 63). This account is from John Smith’s captivity in the village of Pamunkey, as the Native Americans held a ceremony to see if he meant them well. While the Native Americans were simply practicing their common rituals, Smith portrays them as mystical and devil-like creatures. His thoughts were shared with numerous other colonists who viewed the Native American’s as inferior and barbarous. Although it has been four hundred years since the colonists encountered the Native Americans, these same prejudices can still be seen being applied to different races today.
In spite of efforts by the Native Americans to show that they were civilized and capable of cohabitation with the colonists, they were still viewed by the colonists as being a subordinate race. Smith was captured by the “savages” of the Pamunkey tribe, in which he demanded to see their king. Smith was taken to him, and there he pulled out his compass. All of the Natives “stood as amazed with admiration” (Smith, 61) as he showed them the glass surrounding the needle, yet they could not touch it, and talked of the diversity of the world, different nations, and the universe. Smith said this in a manner that made it seem like the technology and knowledge was common-place, and that the Natives were absolutely stunned by it. Although these feelings of superiority over the Natives eventually subsided, they carried over to the African Americans. It wasn’t long after John Smith’s time that the Africa Americans started being viewed in this same manner; as only being fit for work. Americans used...
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...ere have been people who have refused to board their flight because a Muslim was going to be aboard the same plane. Some people are even uneasy just being in the same place as a Muslim, just like many of the colonists were uneasy in the presence of even a single Native American. Obviously, these feelings are undeserved since not everyone who is Muslim, is a terrorist.
But, as Americans, it seems we have a strong habit of building our beliefs too quickly. Just because one group of Native Americans was attacking the colonists, it didn’t mean that the rest of them would do the same. However, this is how the colonists saw it and to combat it, they spread the word that all of the Native Americans were inferior and barbarous. These beliefs stuck with Americans throughout time, and we continued to place the same prejudices against the African Americans, and the Muslims.
Not many Englishmen defended the foreign peoples’ way of life, which led to accounts which were generally defamatory, and in some cases provided justification to violence against them. Upon arrival to Virginia explorers such as John Smith had already created preconceived notions of the Native Americans. They romanticized Native Americans claiming them to be an insatiable, wanton people who practically threw themselves upon the newcomers. Englishmen would often sexualize Native American women, and as Townsend writes, “The colonizer of the imagination were men – men imbued with almost mystical powers. The foreign women and the foreign lands wanted, even needed, these men, for such men were more than desirable.” The Englishmen were eager to believe this, and writers such as Peter Martyr and Richard Hakluyt only further inspired such fantasies of colonization. Even Smith himself produced half-truths about his capture and experiences among the Powhatan people in order to be perceived as the hero. There was clear prejudice for the Native Americans in the European countries, and reports only affirmed the English of their disdain for these strange people. The first step the English took in destroying Native American culture was discrediting them as mere savages who were too uncivilized to properly make use of their land or develop innovations on the scale that they themselves
When the colonists came to America, they classified the Native Americans as complete brutal savages. But was that a correct assumption? The Native Americans lived a life that was a complete opposite from the way that the Europeans were accustomed to. The Native Americans believed that the land was shared by everyone and not one person could own it. The Native Americans also had a polytheistic religion which completely went against the beliefs of the colonists. The colonists viewed the Native Americans as savages and barbarians because their ways of living were different.
Native Americans were viewed poorly in the eyes of European settlers. "Europeans early perceptions of Indians were an important factor in how explorers and early colonist dealt with Native American people and in the end subdued them. They were sometimes considered barbarians because of their different lifestyle. European settled discussed in primary sources how their rituals and traditions were "horrible and abominable, and deserving punishment.” For example, Native Americans sacrifice souls to their idols as a ritual. Europeans did not think this was good behavi...
Across the nation, millions of Americans of all races turn on the television or open a newspaper and are bombarded with images of well dressed, articulate, attractive black people advertising different products and representing respected companies. The population of black professionals in all arenas of work has risen to the point where seeing a black physician, attorney, or a college professor are becoming more a common sight. More and more black people are holding positions of respect and authority throughout America today, such as Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Condelezza Rice and many other prominent black executives. As a result of their apparent success, these black people are seen as role models for many Americans, despite their race. However, these groups of black people are exceptions to the rule and consist of only a tiny fraction of all black Americans. These black people in turn actually help to reinforce the inequality of black Americans by allowing Americans of other races to focus on their success. A common thought is, "They made it, why can't you do the same?" The direct and truthful answer to that question is Racism.
The colonists, by saying that the Native Americans were primitive and savage because of their differing and seemingly illogical attitudes, were able to do things that they could never have done to people they believed to be equals. Whether this was a conscious or subconscious method on the part of the Europeans remains hotly debated, but the fact remains that by pointing out the differences of the two main cultures as a negative denoting European superiority, the colonists were able to take the Native American lands and goods without much remorse.
Prejudice, the act of judging someone based on outward appearance or social standing. In the 1960’s Harper Lee wrote a book called To Kill a Mockingbird, about prejudice and how hard the times were. In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many examples of prejudice showing how morally wrong it was. There are several examples of prejudice in the book: Tom Robinson because he is African American, Boo Radley because of his standing in their society, and the Cunningham Family because of how poor they were. The following paragraphs will discuss these examples.
... abundance and an “iron horse” to ride on (1112). When the children finally arrived at school, they were forced into an “iron routine” (1117). They were the subject of “rude curiosity” (1114) and blatant animosity by white students. The East was not the fairyland the missionaries had painted. The Native Americans are not scoundrels. They have been defrauded of their land and culture.
Many colonist viewed the Native Americans as spawn of the devil. In Thomas Morton’s writing he said “if we do not judge amiss of these savages in accounting them witches,… some correspondence they have with the Devil out of all doubt.” (Foner 5) An example of historical content is the Metacom’s War by the year of 1675. The Indians in southern New England didn’t like the new settlers pushing on new religion and harsh treatment. Some of the Indians “converted to Christianity, living in protected ‘praying towns.’” (Jones, Wood, Borstelmann, May, and Ruiz 68) The Indians were ok with the conditions until “a white man shot and wounded a Native American.” (Jones, Wood, Borstelmann, May, and Ruiz 69) Colonist began to even distrust the Indians that were willing to convert to Christianity and moved their “praying towns” to “Deer Island in Boston Harbor” (Jones, Wood, Borstelmann, May, and Ruiz 69) This historical content shows that the colonist didn’t truly trust the Indians even when they were of the same religion, like Morton’s writing said “they have with the Devil out of all doubt” (Foner
The Native Americans were the earliest and only settlers in the North American continents for more than thousands of years. Like their European counterparts, the English colonists justified the taking of their territories was because the natives were not entitled to the land because they lacked a work ethic in which shows that the colonists did not understand the Native Americans system of work and ownership of property. They believed the “Indians seemed to lack everything the English identified as civilized” (Takaki, Pg. 33). Because the settlers were living far away from civilizations, to ensure that they were civilized people, the settlers had negative images of the Native Americans so that they would not be influenced and live like the how the natives do, ensuring that these groups are savages who are uncivilized. Many began to believe this was God’s plans for them to civilize the country in which many would push westward and drive the Indians out to promote civilization and progress. While the United States was still in its early stages of development,
The encounter of early explorers with the people of the Americas would ultimately set in motion the destruction of long existing Native American life and culture. Engrained into the minds of the Europeans were prejudiced images and stereotypes of the Native Americans, which we struggle still today to eradica...
Their religion, since it was not Christianity, was not “correct”, and their “uncivilized” mannerisms were a threat to the stability of the new America. Among these reasons, Native American Voices, by Steven Mintz, explains the “justification” given for the removal of the Native Americans, most notably: political differences, philosophical reasoning, biological inequalities, and geographic dominance.
In Thomas King’s novel, The Inconvenient Indian, the story of North America’s history is discussed from his original viewpoint and perspective. In his first chapter, “Forgetting Columbus,” he voices his opinion about how he feel towards the way white people have told America’s history and portraying it as an adventurous tale of triumph, strength and freedom. King hunts down the evidence needed to reveal more facts on the controversial relationship between the whites and natives and how it has affected the culture of Americans. Mainly untangling the confusion between the idea of Native Americans being savages and whites constantly reigning in glory. He exposes the truth about how Native Americans were treated and how their actual stories were
The stereotype of Native Americans has been concocted by long history. As any stereotype constructed by physical appearance, the early Europeans settlers were no different and utilized this method. Strangers to the New World, they realized the land was not uninhabited. The Native Americans were a strange people that didn't dress like them, didn't speak like them, and didn't believe like them. So they scribed what they observed. They observed a primitive people with an unorthodox religion and way of life. These observations made the transatlantic waves. Not knowingly, the early settlers had transmitted the earliest cases of stereotyped Native Americans to the masses. This perpetuated t...
Ethnocentrism began to develop in America long before we were officially a nation. When Europeans first came to America and had their initial encounters with the Native Americans, the Europeans were so surprised about how different the Natives were. Their differences in language, dress, and skin color made them doubt that the Native Americans were even human. Stemming from this notion, the Europeans eventually began to consider the Natives as the “other” and felt that they were more civilized than the “others.” Amerigo Vespucci wrote that the Native Americans were “worse than heathen; because we did not see that they offered any sacrifice, nor did they have a house of prayer.” Consequently, these feelings...