Ethnocentrism During The Early Colonial Period
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s culture is the centre of the world thus considering all other cultures as being inferior. This natural circumstance can be expected to emerge where a unity is established between different ethnic, racial or linguistic groups. The ethnocentric individual will judge other groups relative to his or her own particularized ethnic group or culture especially with concern to language, behavior, customs, and religion. These ethnic divergence and developments serve to define each ethnicity unique cultural identity.
According to textbook The Health Anthology of American Literature it exemplifies the term ethnocentrism that predominated during the Early Colonial period. During the time period of 1700’s one of the most prominent examples of ethnocentrism is when the Europeans first came to America and had their first initial encounters with the Native …show more content…
This became a major controversial issue which led to the Salem Witch Trials. This social upheaval resulted from the growing tensions in a land-hungry community with an overabundance of unmarried women; on the other hand it represented communal Puritan doubt turned into self-mutilation (362). Another example is Anne Hutchinson who was persecuted and expelled as well as proving beliefs in individual grace and criticized the dual nature of religion and the government. Puritans believed that all people were equal before God but that women were inferior to men because they were tainted by Eve’s quilt (361). Therefore, the magistrates who tried Anna Hutchinson commented upon her masculine behavior as much as they commented upon her religious
Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s culture is the centre of the world thus considering all other cultures as being inferior. This natural circumstance can be expected to emerge where a unity is established between different ethnic, racial or linguistic groups. The ethnocentric individual will judge other groups relative to his or her own particularized ethnic group or culture especially with concern to language, behavior, customs, and religion. These ethnic divergence and developments serve to define each ethnicity unique cultural identity.
According to textbook The Health Anthology of American Literature it exemplifies the term ethnocentrism that predominated during the Early Colonial period. During the time period of 1700’s one of the most prominent examples of ethnocentrism is when the Europeans first came to America and had their first initial encounters with the Native …show more content…
This became a major controversial issue which led to the Salem Witch Trials. This social upheaval resulted from the growing tensions in a land-hungry community with an overabundance of unmarried women; on the other hand it represented communal Puritan doubt turned into self-mutilation (362). Another example is Anne Hutchinson who was persecuted and expelled as well as proving beliefs in individual grace and criticized the dual nature of religion and the government. Puritans believed that all people were equal before God but that women were inferior to men because they were tainted by Eve’s quilt (361). Therefore, the magistrates who tried Anna Hutchinson commented upon her masculine behavior as much as they commented upon her religious