Chapter 2 "The 'Tempest' in the Wilderness: The Racialization of Savagery.

1) The author is trying to convince the reader that the English viewed many people as savages because their culture was not like the English culture.

2) The author talked about how William Shakespeare wrote a play “The Tempest” to show the people living in Europe what the savages were like. Shakespeare used his view of what they savages would do based on what the people who went to America said. The author also talked about how the Indians were the only ones not viewed to be savages. The English also viewed the Irish as being savages because the Irish were not seen as civilized as the English. The author stated on page 26 “The Irish were viewed as ‘savages,’ a people living outside of ‘civilization.’” The Indians were deemed uncivilized because they had nothing the English had. The author stated on page 31, “Indians seemed to lack everything the English identified as civilized – Christianity, cities, letters, clothing, and swords.” This caused the English settlers to think that they were better than the Indians. Even though the two different cultures tried to live in harmony, the English eventually would take everything because the English wanted to continue to expand (pg 48). The English also believed that they were favored by God because the Indians were killed by diseases.

3) Which group was considered to be less savage, the Irish or the Indians, in the eyes of the English?

Why were the Indians viewed as uncivilized when they tried to help the English in their time of need, and were also farmers working to provide for their own community?

4) I felt that this story made the English settlers seem stuck up and only thought about themselves. Throughout the article the author talked about how the English viewed themselves as better. I believe that the Indians were not savages. They helped each other out, and worked together to provide food for an entire village. They had tools and weapons that they could use to hunt, fish, harvest, and make the items that they needed to live. The Indians were able to plant, grow, harvest, and store corn that was used for the entire year. The Indians also helped the English settlers by giving the English settlers food while they were starving. As time passed the English took advantage of the Indians’ hospitality by taking their lands as their own. The Indians could have easily continued to survive if the English did not invade their lands, and tried to work with the Indians.