Early Settlers Account of the Native Americans

In April following they set out two small vessels under the command of Capt. Philip Amidas and Capt. Arthur Barlow, who after a prosperous voyage, anchored at the inlet by Roanoke, at present under the government of North Carolina. They made good profit of the Indian truck, which they bought for things of much inferior value, and returned. Being overpleased with their profits, and finding all things there entirely new and surprising, they gave a very advantageous account of matters, by representing the country so delightful and desirable, so pleasant and plentiful; the climate and the air so temperate, sweet, and wholesome; the woods and soil so charming and fruitful; and all other things so agreeable, that paradise itself seemed to be there in its first native lustre.

They gave particular accounts of the variety of good fruits, and some whereof they had never seen the like before; especially, that there were grapes in such abundance as was never known in the world. Stately tall large oaks, and other timber; red cedar, cypress, pines, and other evergreens and sweet woods, for tallness and largeness, exceeding all they had ever heard of; wild fowl, fish, deer, and other game in such plenty and variety, that no epicure could desire more than this new world did seem naturally to afford.

And to make it yet more desirable, they reported the native Indians (which were then the only inhabitants) so affable, kind, and good-natured; so uncultivated in leaning, trades, and fashions; so innocent and ignorant of all manner of politics, tricks, and cunning; and so desirous of the company of the English, that they seemed rather to be like soft wax, ready to take an impression, than anyways likely to oppose the settling of the English near them. They represented it as a scene laid open for the good and gracious Queen Elizabeth to propagate the gospel in and extend her dominions over; as if purposely reserved for her majesty by a peculiar direction of providence, that had brought all former adventures in this affair to nothing; and to give a further taste of their discovery, they took with (page 9) them in their return for England, two men of the native Indians, named Wanchese and Manteo. (page 10)

This account is of the first hand attempts at settling in Virginia from 1575-1705 and is from the view of an early settler. This extract of the account focuses on the first impressions of the Natives.

This account shows that the early settlers were fascinated in the exoticness of America, even referring to it as paradise; “that paradise itself seemed to be there in its first native lustre”. This is not surprising as these early settlers came across from England, so they were not sure to the “temperate climate” or the “sweet air”. These also emphasize how different this new found land must have been from what they were used to.

I found some similarities in how the Native peoples were described in this account, and how Columbus described them. Columbus described them as being ignorant, and so does this account; “...ignorant of all manner of politics, tricks and cunning...” and this shows that the general consensus was that the Native peoples were not as intelligent as the European settlers. However, unlike many early settlers who described the Native peoples as savages, this account describes them as “kind” and “good natured” showing that the Natives and the settlers did get on. On the other hand, although this may be the case for this particular tribe and this particular group of settlers, this was not always the case. In fact, in some cases different tribes and settlers conflicted. This extract also shows that the Natives were open and quite welcoming of the settlers; “they seemed rather to be like soft wax, ready to take an impression than anyways likely to oppose the settling of the English near them”, this again highlights how the two different groups were tolerant and welcoming of each other.

This account also shows that early settlers did think they were superior to the Natives; “They represented it as a scene laid open for the good and gracious Queen Elizabeth to propagate the gospel in and extend her dominions over” implies that the early settlers felt that the Natives wanted to be ruled over by a great authority. It is also interesting that when some of the settlers returned to England, they took with them “two men of the native Indians”. This is further evidence of how fascinated the settlers were with America and the natives as they wanted to take something back to show the people of England. It could also be argued that the Native Americans were not considered human as they were probably taken back to England alongside furs and ornaments. This also shows the mentality of the settlers as they felt they were superior. This is not surprising considering slavery was becoming prevalent and many Europeans believed that being white meant you were superior to other races.

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/jamestown-browse?id=J1001