Differences Between The Holocaust And Native American Genocide

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Recommended: History of Westward Expansion and its effects on Native Americans

The word “genocide” is a general term. It is vague and could be used to group together and refer to a number of very unique events in history. Defined as the systematic murder of a specific group of people, genocides have occurred since ancient times. America’s most famous genocide, and the longest genocide in history, was the Native American Genocide. Considered to have begun the day the Mayflower hit the shore of Massachusetts, and ended in 1924 when the Indian Citizenship Act was past, the Native American Genocide lasted for over four centuries. In the 15th century, over 10 million Native Americans lived on the land that is part of the modern day United States. By 1900, that number was a mere 300,000. Most Americans, however, hardly know …show more content…

However, creating a scale of genocides like this with the Holocaust at the top undermines the severity of all other genocides. Some historians have used the term “America’s Holocaust” for the Native American Genocide, but this indirectly invalidates it by inferring that it has to be comparable to the Holocaust to be a legitimate genocide. By considering it the Holocaust of America, it disregards the differences between the two genocides and indirectly erases the Native American Genocide from history. Although equivalent in magnitude and destruction, characterizing the Native American Genocide as “America’s Holocaust” is historically inaccurate and disrespectful. Considered the longest genocide in history, the Native American Genocide lasted for several centuries. Some historians consider the day the Mayflower hit the shore of Massachusetts to be the beginning of it. It ended in 1924 with the Indian Citizenship Act, but it reached its height in the 17th century, mainly when westward expansion had started and the amount of settlers traveling west was quickly growing. (United to End Genocide) Several million Natives had already been wiped out by early settlers, giving them smallpox-infected blankets and letting the disease spread

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