Thomas Harriot Brief And True Report Summary

Thomas Harriot’s Brief and True Report paints a picture for the englishman back in England of the natives residing in coastal North America. Harriot argues that that natives are not as hostile and unwelcoming as portrayed, but that they “shall have cause both to fear and love us”. Brief and True Report tells of defenceless and god fearing people who have the potential to become trade partners, civilized, and Christians. Thomas Harriot’s tone and argument seem to be a pushback against unflattering rumors about the native american population. Thankfully Harriot was of sound mind to record his interactions and observations with the natives so that he may inform his fellow Englishmen before interactions could become hostile. Harriot’s report tells us that the natives are defenseless and fearful of the colonials, even upon first contact. “If there fall out any wars between us & them, what their fight is likely to be, we having advantages against them so many manner of ways, as by our discipline, our strange weapons and devices else; especially by ordinance great and small, it may be easily imagined; by the experience we have had in some places, the turning up of their heels against us in running away was their
Harriot observes that the natives possess no concept of value of the english technology to gold, and the natives look to the Englishmen decide the value. The English were seen as gods, or messengers of god due to their equipment and ‘magical’ wonders. The natives were also responsible in keeping the colonials alive due to their help with the englishes failing crops. Harriot’s Brief and True Report tells of a symbiotic relationship instead of the hostile one that's been rumored. The benefits of friendship, trust, and trade partners to an englishman could not be insured unless the natives are creatures capable of being