Civilizing savages Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Civilizing savages - Essay Example Like all the groups that will be discussed, the British behaved in culturally and an ethnically superior way to all native inhabitants; viewing them only as a source of trade and/or an obstacle in acquiring more land. Of all the colonizers, the French perhaps treated the Natives with more of a modicum of respect than did the Spanish or the British. This is not to say that they viewed them as their equals; they most certainly did not; however, the subjugation of the native population and forced removal of their lands was at least not a primary policy as it relates to the French. This determination can be seen by the money, time, effort, and lives expended by way of the Jesuit missionaries working to convert those tribes under French influence in and around Montreal and Quebec. As it relates to the Spanish, there existed a desire to convert the â€Å"saves† under their influence to Catholicism; however, it appears as if the first instinct was to utterly crush and decimate the po pulation before such efforts were attempting. To this end, entire civilizations were rendered defenseless as large numbers of the male population were massacred/maimed and others forced into bondage. Conversely, the final group that will be discussed is that of the Pennsylvania settlers. Although they were far from perfect, this multi-ethnic group composed of Dutch, Irish, English, Scotch, and French settlers established a settlement that no doubt took first prize with regards to its overall treatment of the native population.