Preview

Ben Franklin's Native Americans

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
865 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ben Franklin's Native Americans
In the works of Ben Franklin and John Smith the Native Americans were portrayed with no disregard for feelings. By portraying the Native Americans as savages what were the long term outcomes? First off they were not respected by anyone because they were different in their beliefs. Second they were also thought of as being stupid and not educated correctly. Third they were used for the skills that they knew (i.e. hunt, survive), since white men could not do many of the things Indians could do. I think that when Ben Franklin was writing about the Native Americans it was for people to read and see that they were being treated unfairly. John Smith wrote about how he and his men belittled them and it is hard to say what if any of his writings were true and reliable.
Granted Ben Franklin meant well when writing the "Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America", it was not always taken that way. At first glimpse he makes it seem like he agrees with what the "white people" were saying about the Indians, but that was not the case. He suggests that the Native Americans should not have been treated so bad because they did not practice the same civility as others. Ben Franklin also thought that the Native Americans should have been welcomed instead of made fun and treated like circus clowns. He also treated them in a favorable light by opening his mind to their culture. On the other hand John Smith treated them in a negative light by thinking of them as slaves. He used the Native Americans, and not just for work but for supplies and shelter. He would tell them he would give them copper and other things in return for their labor. If you really look closely at how John Smith treated them you would see how history is repeating itself today.
Obviously back in the 1700's if you did not attend school or college you were thought of as being uneducated. Although going to school was important for the white people it was not as important for the Native Americans. The Native

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Robertson stayed true to his objective and only shows slight bias. An unfair representation of the Native Americans was conveyed when Robertson called the Indians savages. Yet, he supported his claim by illustrating the Indian’s savage behaviors later in the text. While displaying the Indian’s savage behavior, he did not thoroughly examine their culture; and therefore, showed slight bias in his work. However, it does not diminish Robertson’s overall objectivity.…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The essay that Ben Franklin writes is rather compelling. He actually takes his time to observe the Native Americans rather than judging them harshly. He makes very clear and wise observations on their lifestyle. However, which isn’t so different from there’s. He does notice that they council each other differently from the European society. He sees that they give each other respect by taking time to understand what one another is saying, and collectively correcting each other. When you Franklin compares his council and how they all talk over one another voicing their opinions. Moreover, what Franklin means by savages is that by his examination that simply both the Europeans and Natives consider both their cultures to be civil. Franklin writes,…

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Benjamin Franklin Dbq

    • 155 Words
    • 1 Page

    This document proves that Benjamin Franklin was an activist to acquire rights for Indians and tried to convince other Europeans to consider the way of treating what they used to do to those Indians. He also mentioned to the unreasonable murders of the Indians which was done by the Europeans. Therefore, intended audience in the source was Europeans because Benjamin Franklin thought he could have told those people not to do murders in order to make the relationship between the Indians and the Europeans peaceful. That was also his purpose which is making the New World better. “The only Crime of these poor Wretches seems to have been, that they had a reddish brown Skin, and black Hair; and some People of that Sort, it seems, had murdered some of…

    • 155 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essie and her husband, Joseph Franklin, a fellow Mississippian, worked hard to obtain success. They did not have expensive higher education degrees that some blacks may have today; however, what they had were common sense, disciple, perseverance; and a determination to obtain their dreams. Given this, they acquired homes in some of California's most affluence middle-class communities, and by America's standards, they were successful. Though Essie was successful, she, nevertheless, did not allow the material trappings to change her in any way. She kept her head about her.…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the election of 1824, candidates John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson did not gain enough electoral votes to win. In accordance with the constitution, the election was settled in the House, and to the people’s dismay, Henry Clay helped John Quincy Adams gain enough votes to become President, in what what later known by the Democrats as the “corrupt bargain.” A war hero and aristocrat from the agrarian state of Tennessee who liked to chew tobacco and duel with pistols, Andrew Jackson was particularly livid about the results of this election, considering he had won the popular vote. Andrew Jackson and his party, the Democratic Party, won in the election of 1828 and went on to radically alter the principles and functions of democratic government by championing the “common man” and taking a brutal stance towards the Native Americans.…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Not only one of America’s Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin is one of the world’s most influential human beings. Most people recognize him as the face of a hundred dollar bill or the elementary school lesson of his kite in a storm discovering electricity. He was a scientist, an inventor, a printer, a philosopher, a musician, an economist, and of course a statesman. With his tremendous intellectual gifts, Franklin introduced devices to society that benefited America as a whole. Franklin’s most famous inventions were; the lighting rod, the bifocal glasses, the Franklin Stove, the glass harmonica, and even the current day urinary catheter. Getting to know Franklin personally, if stated as a possibility, would be an honor.…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Smith refers to the natives as savages many times in his writing. “The next morning betimes they came to the fort, where Smith having used the savages with what kindness he could, he showed Rawhunt, Powhatan's trusty servant, two demi-culverins..”(8). This shows Smith referring to the natives as savages but also being somewhat sarcastic with saying,…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    There are many people across the world that have impacted their community in a variety of ways. In the United States of America there have been people who have shaped America into the free country it is today. The Founding Fathers of the United States of America are great examples of people who transformed the United States into what it is today. Benjamin Franklin was the most influential developer of America. After America encountered Benjamin Franklin as a printer, a publisher, and an inventor, America was never the same. Benjamin Franklin left a lasting impact on the United States of America for forever.…

    • 1808 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Starving Time Jamestown

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages

    He witnessed savages, attacking and destroying the lives of his crew, which shows that the visions of achieving wealth was going to effect the Native Americans negatively, which conveys to the readers why the Native Americans took such horrible action amongst John Smith’s crew. He begins to go into detail on the living conditions they were left to face. He had to deal with watching savages attack and eat other human bodies, when no food or anything eatable was available. The dreadful conditions that occurred throughout those times are hard to imagine even capable of happening within today’s society. John Smith states how, a man killed his own wife and cut up her body and was left to eat her up. Readers are able to identify, the in depth context of the word “savages” was used throughout his story in order to identify the Native Americans. The following shoes, how the Native Americans negatively impacted the Jamestown settlers and left them to suffer harsh conditions. The story of George Percy, includes into detail about what happened during the “Starving Times”. It concludes that starvation was…

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before the arrival of the first European settlers, numerous tribes of Native Americans were allowed to establish themselves across the American continents in isolation and without interruption from outside forces. When the Mayflower finally arrived in 1620, the English settlers and Native Americans were so vastly different it is easily apparent as to why they so fundamentally misunderstood each other on even the most basic levels. Since neither the colonists nor the Native Americans had interaction with one another until this point, their values were so integrated into their respective cultures that they were unable fully to understand each other. These differences are most visible between the settlers' and natives' understanding of class, economics, and gender.…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Benjamin Franklin: A Hero

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Did you know Benjamin Franklin had 17 brothers and sisters while living in poverty? Benjamin Franklin lived a hard cruel life to get to his position and importance. There are many reasons to look up to Benjamin Franklin. There are so many wonders that can found about him including Franklin’s childhood, inventions, and his involvement in government proving that Franklin should be looked up to as a hero.…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the sea and land explorers two other groups of people had began to move west. During the 1800’s fur traders and missionaries had started to come to the west. According to Encyclopedia.com “these people were permanent white settlers that came to live in what is now called washington”. Each group came for different reasons. The fur traders were sent by companies to obtain valuable pelts. The missionaries were sent by their churches to teach native americans christianity and spread their religion. Neither had much success in achieving their goals.…

    • 155 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Native American

    • 2493 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Native American education delineated social responsibility, skill orientation, political participation, and spiritual and moral values. The cardinal goals of Native American education were to develop the individual’s latent physical skills and character, inculcate respect for elders and those in authority in the individual, and help the individual acquire specific vocational training (Franklin, 1979). Native American education was also for developing a healthy attitude toward honest labor, developing a sense of belonging and encouraging active participation in community activities. Both boys and girls had equal access to education. Boys were taught by their fathers, uncles, grandfathers, and other male elders. Girls were instructed by their mothers, aunts, grandmothers, female elders and other members of their families. Sometimes, both boys and girls received instruction at the feet of either male or female elders (Mould, 2004). There were barely any dropouts and the community ensured that every child received a full education.…

    • 2493 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Having established the first library, opened his own university, and invented several pivotal technological advances, Benjamin Franklin – one of America’s leading forefathers – was a prominent, innovative leader, whose ideas and life achievements were important to the founding of America and led to the creation of the idea of the American Dream.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people in the U.S. have different views on whether college education is worth it. To some people college education is the gateway to a better life and a future but, to some they are able to become successful without a college degree. A degree from college shows how intelligent that person may be. It may also show how wealthy and elite they are. As for people without attending college demonstrate how uncivilized they are. Or so they say. Some degree pays for themselves off some don’t. The debate over if college education is worth it may have begun when the colonialist arrived from Europe and founded “New College” in 1636. People who argue that college is worth it contend that college graduates have higher employment rates, bigger salaries, and more work benefits than high school graduates. They say college graduates also have better interpersonal skill, live longer, have healthier children, and have proven their ability to achieve a major milestone. People who argue that college is not worth it content that the debt from college loans is too high and delays graduates from saving for retirement, buying a house, or even getting married. They say many successful people never graduated from college. Colonial colleges were mainly founded and attended by wealthy Puritans, and followed the models of…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays