Summary
In this chapter, the author gives a candid history of America. He precisely traces the historical developments which took place a lot of years ago. This started during the pre-colonial era when America was inhabited by the indigenous ethnic groups such as the (red) Indians. Just like any other society, the pre-colonial America as a free society in which people mingled with less barriers. Life was much better because the few available people would live in harmony. The kind of communal life adopted was quite necessary for promoting cohesion and understanding. It was such a beautiful environment endowed with natural resources such as rivers and lakes.
Besides, the author narrates that there were adequate resources to be used by all the people without any constraints. Most importantly, the author reports that there was adequate land to till to provide food for all the people. As a community, the Indians lived as brother without having any problem with their neighbors. However, all these changed especially after the conquering of their land by the Englishmen. As superior men, the English immigrants decided to take control over the land. They took advantage of this situation to be in charge of religion and politics.
After occupying the land, the Puritans introduced an oppressive political system. Instead of caring for the indigenous populations, they only safeguarded their interests. For instance, they held that it was only the puritans who would be free to own land and enjoy political representation. This made them dominate the economy and political spheres of the territory at the time. Because of their selfishness, they forgot about the original inhabitants of land who could have limited access to land and political leadership.
Since such incidences had been foreseen by great minds, the original inhabitants would be wary of the strangers. The author narrates that the Wampanoag believe that the coming of the colored strangers had been prophesied by a wise chief who had also warned them not to tolerate their invasion. This explains why their coming was fiercely resisted. In fact, on their first encounter, the Indians attacked the explorers’ ships with bows and arrows. This was meant to scare and subdue them from gaining access to the new land.
Chapter 9
Summary
After settling in America, their new land, the Englishmen began ruling the natives. As already highlighted, they controlled the agricultural sector. This was done by encouraging the coming of the English settler farmers. After their coming, they were given land to cultivate. As already anticipated, the Indians would lose their land to these new comers. This was affected through forceful eviction or enforcement of legislations which worked in favor of the settlers. At one time, the government availed land to the European settler farmers in Mississippi after the enforcement of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. This, alongside other land allotment programs, encouraged the expansion of the English farmers throughout the country.
At the same time, the original inhabitants were denied free access to land as they had been. A part from the land allotment programs, the Indians cunningly lost their land to the settler farmers after failing to repay the loans they had been granted. Because of this, they easily lost their land which might have been seized since most of them were used as collaterals in securing such loans. As the story depict, this was indeed a hectic experience.
