Essay #1
When reading Benjamin Franklin’s essay “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America,” it was interesting to see the similarities and differences of perceptions between the Indians and the white English in America. Franklin takes an outside look on the perceptions of the Indians by analyzing various observations he’s made or witnessed and comparing them to the norms of the white English society. Clearly the two are very different in their cultural beliefs, and this essay helps bring these differences to light while making the point that Indians are anything but “savages.”
One must take into account what life was like when this essay was written in 1784. Many of the white English settlers thought themselves to be superior to the Indians, because of their education and what have you. Indians were often called “savages,” which is a pretty derogatory term for human beings, and Franklin recognized that. In this essay, he attempts to prove to the readers that no particular race, religion or culture is better than another and that Indians shouldn’t be called “savages” just because they have a different lifestyle than the white English settlers. They simply value different things and have different customs, which has a large effect on perceptions and reality.
The first perception discussed in the essay compares the way the Indians run their form of government to that of the English. He notes how the Indian are able to run a government without police, prisons, or punishment, and instead it is run on a sort of basis of respect with “great order and decency” (Norton, 477). When someone speaks in the Indian counsel everyone listens and remains silent, and once the speaker is finished the rest remain silent to allow time for th...
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...nd space fearing they would be intruding if they had done otherwise. Furthermore, when strangers come to an Indian village, the villagers put them up and provide them with anything they may need – food, skins, etc. – to refresh them from their travels. Once the strangers are fully refreshed, then the conversation as to why they are there begins. Yet if an Indian were to approach a white man’s house and ask for something to drink, for example, the white man would demand money in return and would kick out the Indian if he had none.
The observations Franklin describes helps readers understand that some things we originally perceive as negative are not so. When we apply the same criteria for judging their practices to our own cultural practices we can understand the differences between our cultures, and come to a realization that no one culture is better than another.
The English took their land and disrupted their traditional systems of trade and agriculture. As a result, the power of native religious leaders was corrupted. The Indians we...
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