Converting The West Vs. Jeffrey's Analysis

I believe that Jacob’s option and focus differed from Jeffrey’s in several ways. Being that Jeffrey’s focused mainly in the Oregon territory and the Whitman’s, it was a more personal story about the missionaries. Jeffrey’s told the story that followed Narcissa Whitman as she grew up, wed her husband, had a child, lost her child, the adoption children, and became a missionary wife. On the other hand, Jacobs focuses on the Indians, she tells more of their story, both here in America and in Australia. Jacob’s also told more of the personal story of Native people. Even though our country would not be what it is today without the Europeans taking over the lands. White European Missionaries made an awful impact on the Native people around the world;
Jacobs, were compelling pieces of literature. In Converting the West, Jeffrey’s tells the story about the missionaries and their work within the Indian nations, although they were not very successful, they still tried their hardest to spread the Christian way of life. The story mainly focused on Narcissa and Marcus Whitman who traveled throughout the Oregon Territory spreading the word of God and tried to convert to Indian nations especially the Cayuse into savable Christians who would go to heaven and spread the word of God. In Converting the West, Jill Conway offered an optimistic view of what missionary work meant for nineteenth-century women. She suggests “that missionary work liberated women from conventional notions of romantic sensibility and encouraged unusually egalitarian marriages for the period” xiv. In the book White Mother to a Dark Child, Jacob’s tells the story about the Indian people here in America and the indigenous people of Australia were forced to become more like the Europeans Christians. Their children were forced into boarding schools, where they were not allowed to speak their native languages or practice any of their religious beliefs. This led to all kinds of immoral and corrupt interactions between the Europeans and the Natives, who did not want any white people around. Although the missionaries tried, they only had an impact on
Although they both cover similar situations, they are by far very different from each other. In the book, Converting the West, Jeffrey’s focus is more upon the white women’s point of view and experiences. How and where the missionaries lived when they were on their errand. With all the work the Whitman’s and the other missionaries did to try and earn trust from the Indians, they eventually lost all hope with the influx of Anglo-Americans who were coming to the Oregon Territory. This would ultimately led to the massacre of the Whitman’s and many other missionaries. In the book, Mother to a Dark Race, Jacob’s focuses on the children, families and communities of the native people, how it affected their family, culture, and communities. In my opinion, Mother to a Dark Race is by far more detailed and personal then Converting the West and although I would recommend both books, I really enjoyed Jacob’s version far better than