Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Jamestown and Plymouth, two very different colonies.

In this paper I will show the differences and similarities between the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies. I will use the book The Earth Shall Weep by James Wilson(1) to support my thesis. It is important to know why the colonies were different so people have an idea of how Native Americans were treated in different places during the discovery of America.

The events between the Europeans and the Indians in Jamestown and the events between the Pilgrims and the Indians were very similar, however very different. What happened in Jamestown was almost like a sight into the future of what was going to happen in Plymouth. Religion, disease, interactions between the Natives and the English and the results in both the colonies were similar but very different from each other. Due to different reactions and different scenarios by the Indians and the Pilgrams in Plymouth, it caused Plymouth to be way more extreme than Jamestown.

When the Europeans and the Pilgrims landed in America they came to find already cultivated land. They found a civilization already established. However the English and the Pilgrims saw this civilization and clamied it disorganized and inefficient. Even though the Indians had established a whole way of life there, it was described as chaos(1). They appreciated the land that they saw, but they never really saw the Indians who put it there. Captain John Smith described the land as "well inhabited with a goodly, strong and well proportioned people"(1). He also said "that out of everywhere he has traveled he would rather live there than anywhere else"(1). When the Europeans and the Pilgrims arrived and took a look around they felt like the Indians weren't using their land because they were not farming properly on it. So they moved in and tried to force their way of life upon the Native Americans. This is was the major conflict starter in both the colonies. Indians farmed for survival, not to make economical success. Just like the Pilgrims in Plymouth, the Europeans of Jamestown wanted the land for trade and money.

However in Jamestown, just as soon as the Europeans discovered the land, they realized that they didn't know how to use it. They couldn't farm anywhere like the Indians could. So the Europeans needed Indian help to survive. At first they were trading and buying food off of the Indians to stay alive. Then they started claiming food and only leaving small payments behind and eventually they were leaving nothing at all behind for payment. The Indians in Jamestown started to starve because they didn't have enough food and seeds to feed themselves. The English only planned on living off of the Natives for a year, but they still could not create their own food. The Indians offered to help the Europeans, they would have taught them how to make their own food, but the Europeans hated and resented the Indians for helping them. They hated them for supplying them with food, and being so generous towards them. So they refused the offer. Europeans liked things the way they were between them and the Indians. They were making money exporting tobacco to England and wanted to keep things the same; taking everything from the Indians. In Plymouth things were similar but also very different. Unlike the Europeans at Jamestown the Pilgrims didn't need to depend on the Indians to survive. The Pilgrims were obsessed with killing the Indians and using their land and crops for trade. They wanted power just like the English in Jamestown. Unlike Jamestown, disease hit hard at Plymouth. First hitting the Native Americans. They ended up missing planting and harvesting cycles and they were missing their hunting seasons. This resulted in starvation for the Native Americans. The epidemics wiped out a lot of the Native Americans causing the Pilgrims to come in and take over the land that the Indians cleared. Unlike the English the Pilgrims fell sick with disease also, but just like the English they had to rely on Indian help as well. However they didn't rely for long. The Pilgrims knew how to grow crops on there own, so they didn't need to be dependent on them. This allowed them to be able to use the Indians land to make money and not have to trade or negotiate with them.

Indians and the English in both Jamestown and Plymouth followed the same religion. The Indians believed in living in the same area their ancestors lived in because their religion was based on place. "Place" meaning they felt like they could not leave the land that they came from. It has certian meaning being in the same location, the same moment as their ancestors. Europeans had a type of space religion, they could worship no matter where they were located. It didn't matter who lived their before, as long as your body is their, you are able to pray and practice religion. The conflicts between the two religions played a huge role in Jamestown and Plymouth. It caused the Indians to not surrender their land, and to stay basically under English control. They would not change their way of life, and in both places they had to be fought or forced into changing their life styles and they were eventually defeated. In both Jamestown and Plymouth the Indians eventually had to adapt European way of life due to disease and starvation. When disease fell over both of the colonies the Europeans and the Pilgrims both felt protected by God. They saw a lot of Native Americans dying and only few amounts from themselves. In result of feeling protected from God, they felt like the belonged there, and it boasted their confidence. Religion had a bad effect on both of the Native American cultures. They didn't want to stop practicing their way of life, they couldn't without almost falling under the English way of life.

Although religion had more of an impact in Plymouth than it did Jamestown. In Plymouth, once disease fell over the Indians, they became confused and unsure of why it was happening to them and not the Pilgrims. The epidemic of pox wiped out ninety percent of their population. In Plymouth there whole religion went crashing down. Ceremonies stopped, rituals, dances, celebrations. It crushed their spirit and lowered their confidence. This did not happen in Jamestown, and it had major effect on the Native Americans of Plymouth. The Indians saw that there were no Pilgrims dying of epidemic. They saw it as some sort of punishment from God. They considered switching religions, and most did. They felt like the Europeans had "greater spiritual power"(1). The deaths of so many Native Americans caused setback for the Indians. The Pilgrims moved in and claimed the land that was cleared by the Indians but wasn't being used due to death. This opened up opportunity and basically lead the Europeans to American success. As the Pilgrim confidence and success grew, in Jamestown it was the opposite. The psychological religious effects on the Jamestown Europeans may have boasted their confidence, but the way they lived off of the Natives lowered it. They started to question there superiority(1). They didn't feel like their way of life was good enough if they had to depend on the Native Americans to survive. They still however called them savages and said they were chaotic and inefficient. So even though the religions of both of the Native Americans in both colonies were the same, and both religions of the Europeans were the same, it had different physiological effects of both of them. This made them react to different situations and problems differently. Different thinking by Jamestown and Plymouth was one of the reasons that each of them resulted differently.

"Why should you take by force that from us which you can have by love? Why should you destroy us, who have provided you with food? What can you get by war? We can hide our provisions, and fly into the woods; and then you must consequently famish by wronging your friends. What is the cause of your jealousy? You see us unarmed, and willing to supply your wants, if you will come in a friendly manner, and not with swords and guns, as to invade an enemy."(1) This was said by Wahunsonacock, the sachem, or better known as chief of the Powhatan tribe. In Jamestown and likewise Plymouth the Indians believed in peace. They had the same way of life and all the same beliefs. They both were also brutally invaded, and had both their land and their pride taken from them. The Native Americans believed that if the Europeans came in peace and understand their culture, they could share a world together. When both the English and the Pilgrims needed food to survive, the Native Americans were willing to give it. Both worlds never appreciated the Indians. They just hated the Indians for their generosity towards them as they were taking over Native American land. The Indians of both places were willing to help them and live among them. They just didn't want the Europeans to come and invade them and to take by force what was theirs. The Native Americans were being reasonable. They couldn't understand why these new people wanted to destroy them when they were supplying them with food. They couldn't understand why the new comers had to force what they needed out of them, because if they came in peace, they would have gotten what they wanted. Jamestown and Plymouth were the same when it came to getting what they wanted out of the Indians. Jamestown and Plymouth were also turned out the same in the end. Both places ended up in Native American defeat. What was different was how the Indian defeat came about.

In Jamestown when the Europeans arrived and disrupted Indian life, the Europeans forced their way of life upon the Indians. They took all of the Natives food and when disease fell over the Indians it resulted in starvation. The Native Americans of Jamestown had no choice but to fall under the same way of life as the English to survive. Disease was wiping everyone out and the Native American culture was dying. In order for survival they had to do more than just grow crops, so they started living economically like the English. They made cooking pots and furs and grew crops to trade and sell. It was the only way to survive. In Jamestown unlike Plymouth there were never serious blood battles between the two groups. There was a conflict however between them, it was called in history the uprising of the Pawhatan tribe. The Pawhatans fought the English but the small conflict ended up in Indians defeat. In Plymouth when the Pilgrims arrived and disrupted Indian life just like the Europeans had in Jamestown the Pilgrims didn't necessarily force their way of life onto the Indians. The Pilgrims could live without Indian help and they did for a short time, and then they just left the Native Americans alone. However after epidemic hit the Pilgrims they relied on Native American help to survive. This was the huge difference between Jamestown and Plymouth. The Pilgrims could live without Native American support; they didn't need the Indians. Jamestown however couldn't, they needed the Indians to survive. This in the end helped the Pilgrims. They used the Native American products like fur to make money in trade with England, and the whole time knowing that they could destroy them and still survive. After the epidemic, the Pilgrims decided to make a treaty agreement. In this treaty there was a misunderstanding by the Native Americans and it gave domination to the English instead of equilibrium like the Indians thought. The treaty also states that each party would help each other if there was ever an attack by a third party, and that each of them would disarm when they met(1). The treaty agreement wasn't followed well. In Plymouth the Indians ended up rebelling against the Pilgrims. The Pequot tribe and the English went through attacks and war. It ended up in every Indian tribe across New England was against the Europeans. It was King James' war and it was much bigger than the war in Jamestown. Also in unlikeness to Jamestown the Indians ended up in defeat and extinction.

The Jamestown Virginia and Plymouth Massachusetts colonies were very similar but they were also very different. The major causes that put the Indians and the English into conflict were things that were very different between the colonies. Religion, how the English interacted with the Native Americans, psychological aspects; how they thought of themselves, and the English's first impression of the Native Americans were conflict causes factors in the two colonies. Jamestown and Plymouth had more significant differences than they did similarites. The significant differences between the two are why Plymouth came out more suscessful in European eyes, or more disastorous to the Native Americans than Jamestown.

No comments: