Week 4: An Account of a Settler in the United States

So far as concerns the first, the savages, they are, in general, strong, agile, and supple people, with blackish bodies; they went about naked at first and wore only a cloth about the loins. Now they are beginning to wear shirts. They have, usually, coal-black hair, shave the head, smear the same with grease, and allow a long lock to grow on the right side. They also besmear the children with grease and let them creep about in the heat of the sun, so that they become the color of a nut, although they were at first white enough by Nature... They strive after a sincere honesty, hold strictly to their promises, cheat and injure no one. They willingly give shelter to others and are both useful and loyal to their guests...I once saw four of them take a meal together in hearty contentment and eat a pumpkin cooked in clear water without butter and spice. Their table and bench was the bare earth, their spoons were mussel-shells, with which they dipped up the warm water, their plates were the leaves of the nearest tree, which they do not need to wash with painstaking after the meal, nor to keep with care of future use. I thought to myself, these savages have never in their lives heard the teaching of Jesus concerning temperance and contentment, yet they far excel the Christians in carrying it out... We, the latest arrivals, being Christians included in honorable associations and companies, after obtaining royal permission from England in the year 1681, bought certain portions of the country for ourselves from the governor, William Penn, with the intention to erect new cities and colonies, and not only to gain thereby our own temporal advantage and support, but also to make the savages gentle and docile, and to instruct them in the true knowledge of God, insomuch that I live in the hope of being able to announce more good news of their conversion to Christianity within a short time... It is truly a matter for amazement.

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/becomingamer/growth/text1/pennsylvaniapastorius.pdf

This account was written by Francis Daniel Pastorius, founder of the first German settlement in Pennsylvania, written in the 1690's. As it states in the introductory of this account, Pastorius wrote several accounts of the middle Atlantic colony to encourage his fellow countrymen to emigrate to America. From his account I have made specific references to the Native Americans and their appearance. From the discussions surrounding the appearance of the Native Americans from Wednesday's class, its clear that what defined Native Americans were their physical bodies and strength. What differentiates Native Americans from the settlers were not only their sense of dress, but also the way in which, according to Pastorius, were'...in general, strong, agile, and supple people, with blackish bodies...'

In addition to this, Pastorius also focuses a lot on religion, and the importance that it has over the Native Americans culture. ' I thought to myself, these savages have never in their lives heard the teaching of Jesus concerning temperance and contentment, yet they far excel the Christians in carrying it out...'. Pastorius' account draws heavily on the influence of religion and the effect that it had on the Native people. Despite their upbringing lacking in obvious Christian values, they are still shown to exhibit them. Christian values were an important factor that existed within the tribes, even to the extent that they portrayed and carried out their loyalty, according to Pastorious, better than traditional Christians did themselves.

Finally, from the above extract, Pastorious also notes how many Europeans attempted to change America, and the Native Americans within them. In particular their intent was to calm the Native Americans, and to some extent make them passive. An additional aim was to modernise America by 'erect[ing] new cities and colonies, and not only to gain thereby our own temporal advantage... and to instruct them in the true knowledge of God, insomuch that I live in the hope of being able to announce more good news of their conversion to Christianity within a short time...'. It could be argued that this was the beginnings of the New America.