Jaia Floyd
AMH2020
Journal 3
· In John Smith’s letter “General history of Virginia, New England and the Summer isles” he experiences the Native Americans and refers to them as savages. While on his journey looking for land he ends up on the Native Americans land and decides he wants to take over. As he continues to ask his men to trade thing with the so called “savages”. This letter is spoken it seems in third person as he refers to being “The people of Jamestown reacted devastatingly to find out about his capture, and all were in combustion” (Smith 64). The Native Americans wouldn’t give their land easily and they would fight smith’s men constantly. In Benjamin Franklin’s “Remarks concerning Savages of North America” The native Americans were treated as he continuously shows the difference between white man and savage and different cultures of each while the “savage” would be the Native Americans. Franklin says, "Savages we call them, because their manners differ from ours, which we think the perfection of civility; they think the same of theirs" (Franklin 218). Franklin does try to make it known that just because these cultures differ doesn’t mean that one is better than the other and does not make it wrong. They are not less of a human because they have differences in culture as all of us. Franklin also says, “The politeness of these savages in conversation indeed carried to excess since it does not permit them to contradict or deny the truth of what is asserted in their presence” (Franklin 219). The Native Americans are just as much people as the average white man is what Franklin tries to express in the letter. In William Bradford’s “Of Plymouth Plantation” They treat the Native Americans is quick to judge them after calling them “blood thirsty” and “savages” as the other authors did too but he knows the Native Americans are very skilled but doesn’t like to admit it. Therefore, it is interrupted that he thinks the pilgrims helped the Native Americans more because he saw them as savages but really he was almost forcing a certain lifestyle on the Native Americans. This represents the narrators as savages themselves because they see a lifestyle different then theirs and calls it savage.
Journal 8
In Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” he rationalizes his call for breaking the law because he felt that government was unjust and got away with so much because of the power they had over mainly blacks but poor whites also. The government abused and perverted their power and he thought what he was doing was right because he used the same method as the government and said “if I believe it, it can happen” Thoreau mentions “I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave’s government also” (Thoreau 903?). Connecting with “Slavery in Massachusetts” Free slaves and black individuals that were born free, were constantly being accused of being a slave and taken into custody so that they can be sent back to south because it would be their word against the white mans. It was so violent there was no chance for the blacks to escape elsewhere they would taken against their will and made into slaves in the south. The fugitive slave law was a law that benefited the south in Massachusetts their runaway slaves would be returned back to south. Thoreau addresses the governor in very rude way because he has no reason to treat him with respect. The governor is employed of the people that elected him and he didn’t vote for that, that focuses on helping lacks and slaves.
