After the Mayflower
Paper 1
Part 1: At the start of the film After the Mayflower: We Shall Remain, the English and the Native Americans celebrated the first Thanksgiving together in 1621. Both groups of people seemed trusting of each other and showed personal respect. At this time the Wampanoag Indians had the power and chose to use it to form a treaty with the weak English Pilgrims. The two groups shared everything and traded their assets with each other. As the film continued there was an obvious change in power to the English with more and more Puritan immigrants from Europe arriving. By the end of the movie the English decided to use their power to control all lands instead of keeping the treaty with the native people. The English “thanksgiving” at the end was portrayed by the display of King Phillip’s dismantled head at Plymouth as a reminder that the English held all power of the Native Americans and that God continued to smile down on their endeavor. The contrast between the two Thanksgivings is incomparable. One group is always going to hold more power; it is just a matter of what they choose to do with it. In the case of the Pilgrims and the Indians, the Indians chose to use their power towards creating equality while the Pilgrims chose to completely eliminate anyone who refused to become a replica of the English beliefs and cultures. Religion was represented in many different scenes of the film within the various groups. When the Pilgrims first arrived to America they saw the deserted lands of the Native Americans as a spiritual sign that their people should move in and take settlement regardless of the bodily remains of the deceased Indians from the recent epidemic. After the Native Americans and Europeans signed the treaty there was a sudden emergence of sharing and overlay of cultures. As Massasoit became very ill, Edward Winslow came to visit him and his people. The film showed Winslow praying for Massasoit’s recovering even though they believed in a different
Part 1: At the start of the film After the Mayflower: We Shall Remain, the English and the Native Americans celebrated the first Thanksgiving together in 1621. Both groups of people seemed trusting of each other and showed personal respect. At this time the Wampanoag Indians had the power and chose to use it to form a treaty with the weak English Pilgrims. The two groups shared everything and traded their assets with each other. As the film continued there was an obvious change in power to the English with more and more Puritan immigrants from Europe arriving. By the end of the movie the English decided to use their power to control all lands instead of keeping the treaty with the native people. The English “thanksgiving” at the end was portrayed by the display of King Phillip’s dismantled head at Plymouth as a reminder that the English held all power of the Native Americans and that God continued to smile down on their endeavor. The contrast between the two Thanksgivings is incomparable. One group is always going to hold more power; it is just a matter of what they choose to do with it. In the case of the Pilgrims and the Indians, the Indians chose to use their power towards creating equality while the Pilgrims chose to completely eliminate anyone who refused to become a replica of the English beliefs and cultures. Religion was represented in many different scenes of the film within the various groups. When the Pilgrims first arrived to America they saw the deserted lands of the Native Americans as a spiritual sign that their people should move in and take settlement regardless of the bodily remains of the deceased Indians from the recent epidemic. After the Native Americans and Europeans signed the treaty there was a sudden emergence of sharing and overlay of cultures. As Massasoit became very ill, Edward Winslow came to visit him and his people. The film showed Winslow praying for Massasoit’s recovering even though they believed in a different
Cited: God in America. PBS, 2010. Sando, Joe S. “Pope, the Pueblo Revolt, and Native Americans in early New Mexico.” Ed. Richard W. Etulain. New Mexican Lives: Profiles and Historical Stories. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2002. 19-44. Print. We Shall Remain: After the Mayflower. PBS, 2009.