The True Story: Held Captive

Mary Rowlandson was captured by Indians and then later returned to her family. What happened to other people who were captured by Indians? Were they also released or were they killed?

                Many Native American tribes captured women and children as a way to increase their numbers after losing tribe members to warfare or disease. The prisoners were given to families that had lost relatives in the war, and the families could do with the prisoners as they wished by either adopting them into the family or killing them. Unless they had just found out that their family member was dead or they were especially bitter about the killing, most Indians adopted the prisoners (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWscalping.htm).  

                Some Indians, however, had been abused when white people took their land and stole their horses.  These vindictive Indians would kill and scalp some colonists that they happened upon, even if those particular colonists had not hurt those Indians. One member of the Cheyenne tribe had 1,000 scalps that he liked to show off (http://www.academicamerican.com/recongildedage/topics/indian.html).

                Many colonists were scared of being scalped, but in reality, scalping was not as common as people believed. It was not until the French and Indian War that scalping became more common. During the French and Indian War, French military leaders claimed that they would pay money for scalps of the British. Some colonists who had been captured were scalped because the Indians wanted this money (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWscalping.htm).

                Other white people, like Mary Rowlandson were taken captive to be sold back for ransom. Some women were also held for sexual favors. Often, when women were rescued, they were not rescued by members of their own community but by various white communities that happened to be in the area or passing by (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/bxi01). More often than not, the Indians treated women kindly and really liked children (http://www.academicamerican.com/recongildedage/topics/indian.html).

                The children who were captured often did not want to return to their previous life and wanted to stay with the Indians because they liked this new life so much. They were assimilated into Indian culture and often married Indian chiefs and warriors when they grew up (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/bxi01).

                Many people believed that Indians were savage and brutal, but this was grossly over exaggerated.  Yes, some Indians cold heartedly killed white people that did not deserve it, but as a whole, most Indians treated their captives with kindness or as part of the family. One must remember that the Indians were living peacefully until settlers came and took their land and killed their people instead of taking unclaimed land or asking for help and claiming neutrality.

For more information on Native American stereotypes see this video:

"Common Sense" and propaganda

What kind of impact did “Common Sense” have during it’s time and how does it compare to propaganda throughout history?

               

            “Common Sense” made a huge impact in the starting of the Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress had tried negotiating with the British Parliament to no avail. The colonists were not sure if they wanted to go to war. “Common Sense” is what pushed them over the edge to declare independence and  even told the colonists the proper way to make the changes that they wanted to see. Without the influence of Thomas Paine, America would still just be an extension of England today, and democracy would have never existed(http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/commonsense.html).

                “Common Sense” is propaganda. Propaganda is a form of advertisement that tries to convince one of something and to take action on it. Characteristics of propaganda include exaggerating the enemy, using strong emotion such as fear, often has a slogan, and often forces a choice between two extreme alternatives (http://www.historians.org/projects/GIRoundtable/propaganda/Propaganda_Intro.htm).

                “Common Sense” uses these devices in the following examples: “Even brutes do not devour their young, nor savages make war upon their families” and “Men of passive tempers look somewhat lightly over the offenses of Great Britain, and, still hoping for the best, are apt to call out, ‘Come, come, we shall be friends again for all this” (American Literature, 631). In the first quotes Paine uses sensational imagery to claim that the British are savages who have turned on their families and have no conscious. In the second quote Paine claims that one is a fool if he does believe in going to war and tries to embarrass those people.

                Other forms of propaganda have been used throughout history to sway people’s opinions.

Consider this image of a Cold War poster: 

 http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnsb&tbnid=YgqM6Q0ew9IhLM:&imgrefurl=http://www.designer-daily.com/examples-of-american-cold-war-propaganda

                

             The soldiers have evil faces and are strangling a woman as they set the American flag on fire, symbolizing the destruction of our country. This poster is designed to make one fear the Soviets. Believing they are the enemy, one will be more patriotic and support the American precautions and even attacks against the Soviets. It also serves to reject communism, which led to a fear that everyone that one knew was a communist. People would often turn in their neighbors to the police because they thought the neighbors were Communists.

                Hitler was so popular, even though his ideas were absurd, because he was a talented speaker. He also maliciously exaggerates his enemies. He says in a speech made to thousands of people, “The German nation had hoped to gain, in turn, the goodwill of others, but it met only the naked egotism of the cruelest and meanest vested interests, which began to loot everything there was to loot.” He claimed that he tried to negotiate with the allies and says that they were determined to take everything from Germany that they could for no reason. This is a blatant lie because it was Germany that was antagonizing the other countries. As everyone knows, Hitler believed that Jews were an inferior race. He says, “ I do not want to miss pointing out what I pointed out on 3rd of September [1940] in the German Reichstag, that if Jewry were to plunge the world into war, the role of Jewry would be finished in Europe.” Hitler is using fear and hyperbole by saying that Jews will lead to the destruction of the world. (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/hitler013041.html).

                Propaganda is a very influential tool used by many speakers and activists, but it is always biased and cannot be used to form a competent opinion. Both sides of the situation must be looked at. It is a fantastic tool in the right hands and a horror in the wrong hands.

Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening

Why did the Great Awakening occur and how is it applicable to life today?

           Puritans led lives that were initially focused on God and the rejection of materialism, but problems developed within the community. Over time, they became complacent and would go through the motions without feeling the conviction or the closeness to God; they were bored with religion (http://www.great-awakening.com/?page_id=12). Also, conflicts with the Indians and other religious groups led to a wild and rebellious nature which led to drinking, cursing, sexual promiscuity, and other forms of sin. Some churches were even led by preachers that had not even converted. When two popular young adults died unexpectedly, many people began to wonder about the meaning of life and the afterlife (http://www.revival-library.org/pensketches/revivals/1st_edwards.html).

Jonathan Edwards was a very gifted speaker, and with his words 300 people were initially converted. Then the word quickly spread because the newly converted would go door to door and tell people about God. Jonathan Edwards was radical at this period of time because he preached that good works would not get one to heaven; belief in God was the only thing that was necessary. Jonathan Edwards also pushed for kindness towards people of other religions (http://americanhistory.about.com/od/colonialamerica/p/great_awakening.htm).

          Another great influence was a man named George Whitefield (http://www.revival-library.org/pensketches/revivals/1st_edwards.html). George Whitefield was a British minister who traveled around the colonies preaching. When he returned to England, he also spread the religious enthusiasm in the homeland, which led to the Great Awakening in England (http://americanhistory.about.com/od/colonialamerica/p/great_awakening.htm). Here is a video with a more in depth look at George Whitefield: The Lightning Rod of the Great Awakening

The Great Awakening was a little glimpse of what would come with the American Revolution. It only takes a couple of leaders to generate many followers for a cause. When the colonists were filled with vigor for a cause they would enact changes. If they were not happy with the religion then they would modify it just as if they were not happy with the government they would modify that too (http://www.great-awakening.com/?page_id=12).

It seems that there was a cycle of religious fervency, religious lax, and then renewed vigor. This is applicable today because many people are raised in a Christian household but then question their beliefs because of a life changing event such as the death of a young relative. A lot of people rediscover the appeal of their own religion and might even attend a more appealing church like the Puritans did when they discovered Jonathan Edwards. Some people also disaffiliate from their religion or convert to a new one.