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Savages: The Dehumanization Of Native Americans

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Savages: The Dehumanization Of Native Americans
Paper One When Europeans first came into contact with Native Americans, they viewed them as murderous savages, because of the many horrendous acts they have committed. Their leader, Powhatan, showed many barbaric acts by brutally killing his own people, as well as Englishmen. One of these violent acts includes the annihilation of over 300 Virginians. These crimes led the English to believe that all Native Americans were savages, ready to kill anyone without any empathy. Several Englishmen who came to early Virginia mentioned the leader of Native Americans, Powhatan. Most Englishmen did not have anything positive to say about their “king” but instead, he was labeled a savage. An Englishman, Waterhouse, writes, “…because he is very terrible, …show more content…
Not only did they kill unarmed women and children, but they ripped off their faces and cut them into pieces. What the Natives did was just sickening, and the feelings that European-Americans could be summarized by, “ … there fell vnder the bloudy and barbarous hands of that perfidious and inhumane people… three hundred forty feuen men, women, children… a frefh murder, defacing, dragging, and mangling the dead carkaffes into many pieces.” As mentioned in many writings done previously by Englishmen, Native Americans were consistently labeled as “barbaric” or “savages”. Crimes, such as the murder of hundreds of Virginians, brought an increased hatred to Native …show more content…
They saw them as savages because they have killed many Englishmen in the first few years of living in Virginia. Their ruthless leader, Powhatan, showcased traits that Virginians assumed were true to all Native Americans. He was willing and able to torture, or kill anyone who came in his way or offended him. He and also other Natives massacred civilians in Virginia, which included unarmed women and children. Only savages were capable to commit such acts in the eyes of the English settlers. With all of the crimes committed, the English had a firm belief that all Native Americans are barbaric, murderous,
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