American Savages

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Recommended: Relationship between the United States and Native Americans

Benjamin Franklin wrote “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America” to show that it was not the Native Americans that were “savages”, in fact it was the Americans that acted like savages towards the Native Americans because they were not accustom the their culture. Americans considered Native Americans to be “savages” because they had very different customs and lifestyle. Responsibilities that were considered important to Americans at that time were not important to the Indians. “Our laborious manner of life, compared with theirs, they esteem slavish and base and the learning, on which we value ourselves they regard as frivolous and useless” ( 226). Americans consider things such as graduating high school and college and getting a job to support themselves and their families to be very important achievements and a huge responsibility. To the Native Americans being a good hunter and becoming a man are far more important to them. Although it was hard for Americans to accept that Native Americans believe those things are more important than graduating college, it does not by any means give them a reason to be considered “savages.” If anyone should be considered a “savage” it should be the Americans because of the way they reacted to the Native Americans when they showed them their culture. Boys in the Native American culture are pushed to be good runners, skilled hunters, and good warriors. When they achieve this they are considered men in their society. When they become too old to do all of this they become counselors of the village. Women are expected to raise children, make food, and take care of the children for a lifetime. There is no police force, government, or punishment in their culture. They do not need it. These r... ... middle of paper ... ...ative Americans were kind and polite to everyone and wear raised to see everyone equally. The Americans took advantage of their politeness and monopolized them because they knew that they did not know what they were doing. Once again this shows that it was not the Indians were “savages” but in fact the Americans were. Native Americans were stereotyped as savages during that time. They were taken advantage of and seen as ignorant. When in reality it was not the Indians that acted like “savages,” it was the Americans that treated the Native Americans poorly and took advantage of them. They did it because they were different. They were seen as different because they had a very different lifestyle than that of the Americans. Franklin wrote “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America” to show Americans that they were the true “savages” not the Native Americans.

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