objectivity – U.S. to 1877

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Taylor’s main focus in chapters nine and twelve is the development of the New England and Middle colonies, especially how their development determined the treatment of the Indians. The Puritans came to America for religious reasons, to create a “city on a hill,” so the marked differences between their culture and the culture of the Indians led the Puritans to cultivate a deep dislike and distrust for them. On the other hand the Dutch founded New Netherland purely as a trade outpost which depended on the Indians for furs. Because of this the Dutch couldn’t afford to mistreat the Indians. This type of relationship is also seen later, in Pennsylvania as the weakened peoples of the area didn’t present much of a threat or competition for land. I agree with Sylvia’s point as well, that in describing the different interactions between Indians and colonists in different areas, Taylor tends to show bias and favoritism. However, I also think that the focus on motive and primary support which acknowledges, at least to some extent, the perceived positive and negative aspect of Indian relations in both regions, acts to negate some of the bias presented in his writing. For example, Taylor demonstrates that not everyone in New England completely overlooked the merits of Indian culture by including a quotation by colonist, Roger Williams, saying “It is a strange truth, that a man shall generally finde more free entertainment and refreshing amongst these Barbarians, than amongst thousands that call themselves Christians” (Taylor 191). While this quotation does not, by any stretch of the mind, demonstrate a wholehearted love or even acceptance of the Indians, it does show that the colonists of New England weren’t driven by a mindless animosity toward them. Taylor also makes it very clear that William Penn’s Indian policy was not simply formed out of good will. It was also a strategic move which created a “security screen” of displaced Indians to act as a buffer between the Pennsylvanian colonists and the French and it’s allies (Taylor 269). While some bias clearly does exist, inclusion of these details prevents Taylor prom painting either region as completely good or completely bad and provides readers with the information they need to form their own conclusions.

Author Alan Taylor has a very interesting line on the first page of the Introduction that, in my opinion, gives early insight into what this book will discuss. After shortly describing white Europeans’ motivation for immigrating to what is the present day United States, Taylor opens his fourth paragraph with a captivating person opinion- “But the traditional story of American uplift excludes too many people” (Taylor, Introduction) To me, this line immediately informs the reader that the purpose of this book is to give a more complete description of American History, one that fills in the holes and gives credit to those often forgotten in less “detailed” accounts of American History. The first chapter in the book immediately shows that Taylor does indeed intend to fill in those blanks. In it he gives brief overviews of the history of a number of Native American tribes who called the lands home way before Christopher Columbus or any other Europeans set foot in the “new world”.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the first chapter as it informed me about much I had never even heard regarding early life in the Americas. I had known that Christopher Columbus did not in fact “discover” these lands but I was unaware of the deep history that so many different native tribes had on the land. Taylor also gives a description of the natives that does not mesh with the way they are often portrayed today. Modern day filmmakers have painted an image of these early natives in moves (which is admittedly the extent of my previous study on this topic) as a supremely spiritual and peaceful people who were unjustifiably taken advantage of by the Europeans. While Taylor does not defend the Europeans, he makes sure to inform the reader that the Natives were not completely innocent, peaceful tribes who wished only to be left alone. They were just as violent and war-prone as the people they fought, they simply did not have the technology and weaponry to seriously compete. I appreciated Taylor giving this perspective here. It assures me that he did his best to stay completely objective. I can only assume that the rest of the book is written in the same manor.

Tag: objectivity

Week Three Readings

Introduction-Chapter 1 Post (#1)