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.
Cronon raises the question of the belief or disbelief of the Indian’s rights to the land. The Europeans believed the way Indians used the land was unacceptable seeing as how the Indians wasted the natural resources the land had. However, Indians didn’t waste the natural resources and wealth of the land but instead used it differently, which the Europeans failed to see. The political and economical life of the Indians needed to be known to grasp the use of the land, “Personal good could be replaced, and their accumulation made little sense for ecological reasons of mobility,” (Cronon, 62).
Local histories written in the nineteenth century are often neglected today. Yet from these accounts, one can see a pattern develop: the myth of Indian extinction, the superiority of White colonists and also to understand how American attitudes and values evolved. The myths were put forth for a reason according to Jean O’Brien. O’Brien explains how the process came to fruition in Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England. In the majority of local town histories, Indians are mentioned in passing, as a past that will never return. Indians were ancient, whereas English colonists brought modernity to New England. Jean O’Brien argues that local histories were the primary means by which white European Americans asserted
Cherokee tribes led the way in adopting American traditions and ideals. They created their own schools and drafted a constitution. Some Cherokee people became farmers and slave owners. When they felt they were wronged or being taken advantage of, they filed court cases and sought justice as an American would. Surely all of these things speak to the fact that being a Native American Indian does not automatically make someone a “savage.” Classifying the Natives and savage made it easier for Jackson to justify their expulsion. If he had recognized them as equal citizens he could not have forced them from their
To many of the English colonists, any land that was granted to them in a charter by the English Crown was theirs’, with no consideration for the natives that had already owned the land. This belittlement of Indians caused great problems for the English later on, for the natives did not care about what the Crown granted the colonists for it was not theirs’ to grant in the first place. The theory of European superiority over the Native Americans caused for any differences in the way the cultures interacted, as well as amazing social unrest between the two cultures.
In Benjamin Franklin’s Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America, he writes about how the Native Americans were being called savages because their culture and traditions were different. The work that took place here, was him taking a stand and writing these remarks to bring awareness to others on how everyone is different in some way. Franklin explains, “ But they are still ignorant. You know our Practice. If a white Man in travelling thro’ our Country, enters one of our Cabins, we all treat him as I treat you; we dry him if he is wet, we warm him if he is cold, we give...
Author and Indian Activist, Vine Deloria makes compelling statements in chapters 1 and 5 of his Indiana Manifesto, “Custer Died For Your Sins.” Although published in 1969 this work lays important historical ground work for understanding the plight of the Indian. Written during the turbulent civil rights movement, Deloria makes many comparisons to the Black plight in the United States. He condemns the contemporary views toward Indians widely help by Whites. He argues that Indians are wrongly seen through the historical lens of a pipe smoking, bow and arrow wielding savage. Deloria views the oppressors and conquerors of the Indian mainly in the form of the United States federal government and Christian missionaries. The author’s overall thesis is that whites view Indians the way they want to see them which is not based in reality. The behavior of whites towards Indians reflects this false perception in law, culture and public awareness.
As America moved westward the Indians had finally run out of places to live. The Indians were moved to reservations, and the parents were convinced that their kids could develop better lives by abiding and living as a white American in the east. After they reached the east they were looked upon as savages, uncivilized and dirty. As they walked through a town they were looked upon as being the conquered and mocked. Children at the sight of them had much fear. People did not understand the culture of the Indians.
In the seventeenth century, the English and many other Eastern countries came to the “new land” for a vast amount of reasons. Many of these foreigners came for religious freedom, some to seek fortune, and others were convicts being deported. However, for those who came across the sea, there was one thing they were not planning to have conflict with when they arrived. The natives, or as the English called them “savages”, which were a distinction on how some viewed these natives, had made this land their home long before settlers came exploring. The differences in language, hierarchy, and society divided these two cultures. Living in the same region, the relationships between the natives and English varied among the East coast.
... idea that people should begin to think more logically. In Benjamin Franklin’s essay, “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America,” Franklin uses the literary device, satire, in attempt to make a political change. He satirically writes, “Savages we call them, because their manners differ from ours, which we think the perfection of civility; they think the same of theirs”(1). Franklin points out that people will look at different cultures and call it something like “savage’ when those “savages” are looking at them saying the same thing. Franklin attempts to help people recognize the foolishness of the American’s attitude regarding the Native Americans.
Smith, Paul Chaat. 2009. Everything You Know about Indian Is Wrong. Minneapolis: Unviersity of Minnesota Press. Print.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Europeans started to come over to the new world, they discovered a society of Indians that was strikingly different to their own. To understand how different, one must first compare and contrast some of the very important differences between them, such as how the Europeans considered the Indians to be extremely primitive and basic, while, considering themselves civilized. The Europeans considered that they were model societies, and they thought that the Indians society and culture should be changed to be very similar to their own.
The article, “Native Reactions to the invasion of America”, is written by a well-known historian, James Axtell to inform the readers about the tragedy that took place in the Native American history. All through the article, Axtell summarizes the life of the Native Americans after Columbus acquainted America to the world. Axtell launches his essay by pointing out how Christopher Columbus’s image changed in the eyes of the public over the past century. In 1892, Columbus’s work and admirations overshadowed the tears and sorrows of the Native Americans. However, in 1992, Columbus’s undeserved limelight shifted to the Native Americans when the society rediscovered the history’s unheard voices and became much more evident about the horrific tragedy of the Natives Indians.
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
Benjamin Franklin wrote “In Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America”, because he made observations and describes it in this essay the difference between the society of White English America and Native Americans. Furthermore, he needed people to understand that those supposed savages are different from us and that is acceptable. In every culture, whether White English America, or Native Americans, we all have some practices of disrespect and courtesy. Not all cultures are the same, as well as everyone’s life is different. Benjamin explains the differences between our society and their nation; moreover, he explains that their manners differ from ours as well.
The Native Americans or American Indians, once occupied all of the entire region of the United States. They were composed of many different groups, who speaked hundreds of languages and dialects. The Indians from the Southwest used to live in large built terraced communities and their way of sustain was from the agriculture where they planted squash, pumpkins, beans and corn crops. Trades between neighboring tribes were common, this brought in additional goods and also some raw materials such as gems, cooper. seashells and soapstone.To this day, movies and television continue the stereotype of Indians wearing feathered headdresses killing innocent white settlers. As they encountered the Europeans, automatically their material world was changed. The American Indians were amazed by the physical looks of the white settlers, their way of dressing and also by their language. The first Indian-White encounter was very peaceful and trade was their principal interaction. Tension and disputes were sometimes resolved by force but more often by negotiation or treaties. On the other hand, the Natives were described as strong and very innocent creatures awaiting for the first opportunity to be christianized. The Indians were called the “Noble Savages” by the settlers because they were cooperative people but sometimes, after having a few conflicts with them, they seem to behaved like animals. We should apprehend that the encounter with the settlers really amazed the natives, they were only used to interact with people from their own race and surroundings and all of this was like a new discovery for them as well as for the white immigrants. The relations between the English and the Virginian Indians was somewhat strong in a few ways. They were having marriages among them. For example, when Pocahontas married John Rolfe, many said it has a political implication to unite more settlers with the Indians to have a better relation between both groups. As for the Indians, their attitude was always friendly and full of curiosity when they saw the strange and light-skinned creatures from beyond the ocean. The colonists only survived with the help of the Indians when they first settler in Jamestown and Plymouth. In this areas, the Indians showed the colonists how to cultivate crops and gather seafood.The Indians changed their attitude from welcome to hostility when the strangers increased and encroached more and more on hunting and planting in the Natives’ grounds.