Savage Rights

Why is it that we consider ourselves so superior to other men? What gives us the right to strip land from others simply because we can? Are we so determined to become as Rome once was, to dominate over all men with the grip of what we deem justice? Fickleness cannot be tolerated here; this New World will not allow it. To survive here, we cannot be daunted by every story, horrified by every whisper, and emasculated by every danger. Did we not come here for freedom? Let us not prove ourselves to feeble to hold on to it, or to weak to allow others that same freedom.

These natives, called savages by many, have just as much right to this land as any other men; truly, they have more. Why should we simply come here and take for ourselves the land that they have held for hundreds of years? Is this what an American shall be, a dirty thief with the force of a power hungry king? God help us, no! Let us grant freedom and rights with as much vigor as we would fight for them.

Are not all men created equal? Who are we to declare these people simply “creatures of the wilderness?” They surely have the same rights as we; and is that not why we are planning war? Let us not be the savages we claim them to be, attacking without reason and stripping them of all they hold as their own.

But what of the horrors they inflict, you say? Welcome to life in a new world! Most of these “attacks” are merely stories invented to paint these natives as evil. But the true attacks have been few indeed; and most of them were caused by our own fault to start with. Why should it surprise us that people would fight when their rights are taken from them? Is that not what we ourselves are preparing to do? Are we also then savages and inhuman creatures of the wilderness?

Not only ought we treat these Indians as equals, we truly can learn from them. They have been in this world long enough, why should we be so haughty as to believe we can do it all on our own. Are we so proud that we will die before asking for their help? They have learned how to work the land here, let us be grateful God has even given us these people to help us. Look at Jamestown, has no one heard how the Indian princess helped save them from starvation and is even now a Christian? Why must we try to conquer the wilderness, why should we not come to live with it? Do we truly think we can even survive, much less conquer, this New World without learning from those who have done it before? We are foolish men indeed to attempt such a mastery.

Indeed, is this the only way we can think to gain land in this world? Conquest? What happened to justice and living honestly? Are we incapable of trading with these Indians, or earning the land, instead of stealing it? What right have we to that very land if we live in such a way? Surely we have something to offer the Indians; are we so poor that we must steal to survive? Let us not be too proud to think we must die without asking for guidance.

God help us, we have been given a chance to create a new world, let us not sabotage it with such vain conquests. We want a free world do we not, then let it be truly free, not merely free for some. God has called all men to Himself, ought we not seek to love and convert these Indians, not annihilate them!