The Portraits of Native American in the Essays
The author of the first essay begins with the words “America is the child of Europe.” It is mentioned that before the Europeans came, the vast regions were occupied by “a wilderness of tribes of copper-colored barbarians or savages.” With these words, the author characterizes the American Indians. He also sarcastically says that Indians are good in constructing calendars and temples, handicraft, bakery, building houses of “clay or cedar beams, shaped with stone implements and ornamented with huge carved totem poles, to devise rude political institutions, and to raise crops of beans, pumpkins, and Indian corn.” David S. Muzzey has an aggressive orientation to Indians.
The author of the second essay states that Indians “could be eliminated or pushed aside,” and this would create an opportunity for the great “democratic experiment.” In the first half of his essay, the author speaks about Indians without respect. However, in the second half, Thomas A. Bailey admits that Indian maiden Pocahontas “helped save the colony by enlisting the aid of the Indians.”
The authors of the third essay are assured that Indians and their culture have had historical importance. They mention the impact of Indians on agriculture. The attitude to Indians in that essay is much more respectful.
The Comparison of Growing Up in Puritan New England and Today’s America
The upbringing of Puritan children nowadays would be considered abusive. Children were required to comply with their parents’ words and beliefs. The punishments were violent. Children could be executed. The parents, in turn, were obliged to “teach” their children, and if they failed, they could be executed too. Puritan children’s adulthood got to them much earlier than it comes to kids today.
Indentured Servitude, Slavery, Native Americans and Anthony Johnson and free Blacks in the 1600s
The phenomenon of indentured servitude is an outcome of poverty. A lot of poor Europeans wanted to find a better life in America. Since they could not afford to cross the ocean, they signed the document which obliged them to work for the employer on arrival for a certain period. Once the servitude expired, they could live their lives in America.
The slavery in the colonial United States originated from European colonies’ need for labor, especially agricultural labor. Most of the slaves were brought to colonial the United States from the Caribbean. However, the slavery of Indians in large numbers also occurred. Most of the time, the slavery of Indians is merely mentioned because of the larger scale of African slavery.
Anthony Johnson was a black man who reached freedom in the early 1600’s Colony of Virginia. After his indenture had expired, Anthony earned his property. Also, he became a slaveholder.
The Differences between the Settlements in Massachusetts and Virginia
The colonies of Massachusetts and Virginia were similar in some things. For example, they were founded at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Also, their forms of government were similar. Both Virginia and Massachusetts had something similar to self-government. However, these two settlements were mostly different. For example, the climates of the colonies differed significantly. That made the economies of the settlements unlike. Massachusetts with its climate, for instance, based it’s economy on the maritime industry. In Virginia, on the contrary, the climate was warm and nice for agriculture.