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The Peculiarities of Race and Ethnicity in the Southern Colonies

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Racial peculiarities are the biggest obstacles in southern colonies. Differences in race continue to be problematic in the south. David Fisher Albion’s Seed, Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia and William Byrd’s Aborigines express the different outlooks Indians and African Americans face in comparison to the White settlers. Southern settlers viewed themselves as a superior race. Southerners considered other ethnicities as being civilized in their own habitat. Different physical features played a role. Different morals of the Native Americas played a part in the way white settlers viewed them. Native Americans had a unique outlook on life. The native tribes communicated to each other in different languages. Jefferson…show more content…
Furthermore, White Virginians and Native inhabitants differed in their morals. Natives are not as repugnant as their generally described when comparing themselves against the first settlers. The first settlers took the Natives hospitality for granted. Settlers treated the Indians as second-class. Virginians thought that they were far from being Christians. According to Byrd, “Morals and all considered, I can’t think the Indians were much greater Heathens than the first Adventures, who, had they been good Christians, would have had the charity to take this only method of converting the Natives to Christianity.”(William Byrd, History of the Dividing Line, p.3). Morals differ when dealing with a specific culture. Factors differ in material and cultural circumstances. William states, “The principle difference between one People and another proceeds only from the different opportunities of Improvement.”(William Byrd, History of the Dividing Line, p.120). Race slavery did not create the culture of the southern colonies that culture created it. Ultimately, that shows that morals were completely different because southerner did not consider slavery as being wrong. Whites in the south considered slaves as a piece of property. In the eyes of White southern settlers they were superior of all races. They considered any other ethnicity as second class. Since Indians and African Americans were not brought up how whites were they were inhumane.
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