John Smith Attitude Towards Indian Summary

- His attitude towards the indians is very respectful and he admires how different they do things. He also feels sorry for the indians could not understand him. In my opinion I think he both respected their customs and repelled them. I think he likes some things they do and is really against some things they don’t. If he didn’t like their customs he wouldn’t have joined them. If he repelled them then he would have killed them or not have killed them from the start

John Smith, from book 3, chapter 2 of his book, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles, wrote about his adventures in the new land of the Indians where he experienced new people, a new governance system and a new culture (Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England & the Summer Isles 43). Smith, who was an English soldier, explorer and author, ventured into a new and unfamiliar territory where he experienced many unknown and unusual conditions and his writings depict his initial experience with the natives of this new and hostile land. He referred to the indigenous people as “savages” based on their hostile nature and brutal behavior towards him and his men. Initially the native chief, Powhatan, wanted to torture and Kill Captain Smith but he

The author John Smith, a pilgrim who arrived to the Americas, wrote a description of the new land in his book “ A Description of New England ”. In this book Smith shows a wonderful world of vast food and pleasure. Also, William Bradford another pilgrim who arrived to Plymouth on the coast of Massachusetts, wrote a book called “ Of Plymouth Plantation ” in which he describes what really happened, how the pilgrims actually lived. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast both authors and their books. John Smith wrote about the wonderful place the New World was, on the other hand, William Bradford wrote about the realities and difficulties of the New World.

We all tend to have a certain way of doing things that when it comes to everyone else, we start to believe it’s a divergent way of doing things. In other words it’s an act of ethnocentrism. A perfect and extreme example of ethnocentrism would be Hitler and the Nazis against the Jews. Hitler believed that the Jews were subordinate to his ethnicity and his believes so they didn’t deserve to live. This connects with Bradford and Smith’s in the way of first impression. They both saw the native americans in an unfriendly way and very different from them due to their choice of style and that’s exactly where ethnocentrism plays a role. Bradford and Smith had their own opinions on the native americans once they touched land and saw them.

When the first colonists landed in the territories of the new world, they encountered a people and a culture that no European before them had ever seen. As the first of the settlers attempted to survive in a truly foreign part of the world, their written accounts would soon become popular with those curious of this “new” world, and those who already lived and survived in this seemingly inhospitable environment, Native American Indian. Through these personal accounts, the Native Indian soon became cemented in the American narrative, playing an important role in much of the literature of the era. As one would expect though, the representation of the Native Americans and their relationship with European Americans varies in the written works of the people of the time, with the defining difference in these works being the motives behind the writing. These differences and similarities can be seen in two similar works from two rather different authors, John Smith, and Mary Rowlandson.

description of native life are described in such a way as to emphasize some of

The arrival of the ‘foreigners’, as referred to by the Native Americans, turned a new stone in Native American diplomacy. No longer did they have to only deal with neighboring tribes, as they were forced to endeavor into politics with strangers who were looking to take their land. The first relationship between the pilgrims and the Native Americans began with the Wampanoag tribe. The relations between the two groups paved the view that the pilgrims had towards the Indians. The decently friendly relationship that stood between the two groups was short lived as the pilgrims felt that the indians were getting in the way of their expansion; and shortly after the friendship ceased to exist (Bell, 37).

In his annual message delivered in 1830 to the Congress, Andrew Jackson says that the government is willing to give the Indians new home far away from the „settled, civilized, christian people” just because he thinks they are savages and cannot live next to normal people, and even further, he wants them to be grateful about it. He says they should be happy that he removes them from places where their ancestors lived and died. Jackson names it a kind, generous gesture and persuades people that this is the only solution, that Indians cannot live among other people because they are too wild, too little civilized and have to live away from civilization.

8. How does Zinn attempt to prove that the Indians were not inferior? Provide examples.

Chief Joseph's speech "An Indian view of Indian affairs" is a transcription of the speech of the great Indian warrior, based upon his alleged statements about the state of Indian-white relations. It is thus a second-hand source to some degree, because Chief Joseph never learned to speak English, and his speech is only transmitted through a translation. Joseph mourns the duplicity of the white man, defends his tribe's actions, and mourns the death of his people. He portrays his people as a people of peace who, after they realized that resistance against the white man was futile, chose to give up their guns. However, they were displaced, time and time again, after the white man grew greedier and desired the profit and gold that could be gained from the territories where his people lived.

In the earlier years, Europeans were deeply influenced by the lifestyles of the non-Europeans. Europeans, when taking the non-Europeans hostages would study their behaviors, and hope to improve themselves by taking on the acts of the non-Europeans. During the 1760’s, Europeans respect for the non-Europeans behaviors was portrayed by William Smith when he described how the families and friends of the Native American hostages would come to visit and shed tears while bringing them food and personal items. The Europeans were deeply influenced by the actions and qualities of the non-Europeans, Smith even stated, “Cruel and unmerciful as they are, by habit and long example in war, yet whenever they come to give way to the native dictates of humanity, they exercise virtues which Christians need not blush to

Chapter 7, "Liberty, Anarchism, and the Noble Savage" was very subjectively and one-sidedly trying to glorify the Indian nature, Indian government and Indian

During American colonial times, the native peoples of the new world clashed often with the English settlers who encroached upon their lifestyle. Many horror stories and clichés arose about the natives from the settlers. As one might read in Mary Rowlandson’s Narrative, often these disputes would turn to violence. To maintain the process of the extermination of the natives alongside Christian moral beliefs, one of the main tenets of colonial life was the belief that the natives were “savages”; that they were morally and mentally inferior to the English that settled there. As is the case with many societies, certain voices of dissent began to spin. These voices questioned the assertions

Franklin showed us in this essay the hospitality and politeness of the Indians. The word of an Indian, who said “if a man enters one of our cabin we dry him if he is wet, we warm him if he is cold, we allay his hunger and thirst; we demand nothing in return. And if I enter any home in Albany and ask for food or drink, they won’t give me anything without money in return” It just shows how different two cultures work, while existing one near each other and not have the chance to avoid the influence of the other society.

Personal connections that are or are not developed with the Indians is a topic that both Morton and Bradford discuss. The Pilgrims’ initial encounter with the Indians is tense and there is an air of skepticism about what type of people they are, good or bad. Since they need to live together in a peaceful way, the Pilgrims create a treaty between themselves and the Indians so that there would be no misunderstanding about the expectations and trust each group needs to have with one another (Bradford 88). Morton views this in a different way; instead of believing that this is a mutual agreement between both communities, he feels that the treaty is forcing the Indians to act the way the Pilgrims want them to act (104). There is room for