Another Face of Empire: Bartolome de las Casas essay
Historically, the colonization of America raised highly controversial views. On the one hand, colonists believed that they had opened the new world and they had the right to conquer it and adapt it to their needs. The colonization of America seemed to be challenging but many European colonists took the risk expecting to gain considerable benefits and wealth in the New World. On the other hand, the colonization brought the devastation for Native Americans, who had to abandon their land and to change their lifestyle. Nevertheless, even decades and centuries ago since the beginning of the colonization, Europeans still viewed America as a sort of Promised Land that made thousands of immigrants from Europe to rush in America in search of wealth and better life. In this regard, Benjamin Franklin’s Information to Those Who Would Remove to America became a warning to those Europeans, who still believed in the myth about a miraculous world of America, where could find their wealth. Nevertheless, Franklin’s pamphlet was just another view on America and the arrival of new people to the New World. At this point, Franklin’s view is, in a way, similar to that of Bartolome de las Casas, who also warned European colonists against the thoughtless colonization of the continent, and quite different from views of Captain John Smith, who encouraged Europeans to colonize America.
In fact, Benjamin Franklin debunked myths Europeans had of America in his Information to Those Who Would Remove to America. In this pamphlet, Franklin chose the critical tone and criticized the erroneous and idealized view of Europeans on America point by point. His writing style is quite effective since, at first, he states the well-known myth about America, and then he tells the truth about it uncovering the full extent to which this myth is erroneous. At this point, his writing is similar in a way to the writing of Casas, who offered the absolutely new, different view on the native population of America.
As the colonization began, European neglected needs of the native population of the continent. Instead, they viewed Native Americans as inferior and believed they had the right to rule the continent, even at cost of extinction of the native population of America. The idea of European supremacy and inferiority of Native Americans dominated in Europe at the time of Casas. However, he suggested a different view, according to which European colonization had proved to be too cruel in relation to the native population of America and Casas believed such measures to be unacceptable, even if the colonization of the continent was at stake. In such a way, both Franklin and Casas suggested views and ideas which were absolutely new and unexpected for Europeans.
Similarly, Franklin revealed the real life of Americans and prospects of newcomers, who arrive in America from Europe. Such a revelation was absolutely unexpected for Europeans, who used to think that America is the rich country, where any person could start a new life and could always become wealthy. At this point, Franklin reveals the fact that this myth about richness and easiness of life in America derives from the time of the early colonization and Europeans apparently forgot writings of Casas and maintained the idealistic view on the New World.
Franklin contrasts the idealized view of America and the severe reality of the life of people in America, many of whom have to struggle for survival or living in the wild nature. In fact, he warns European immigrants, who believed that the life in America was even easier than their life in Europe. Franklin was aware of the fact that Europeans had little idea of the true American life and true American culture. In his pamphlet, he gives insights toward the essence of American culture and life, which debunks the myth about happy and wealthy life of all people. Instead, he argued that, while arriving in the US, European immigrants should come prepared to hard work and disappointment because even the hard work may not always bring wealth and prosperity, which Europeans normally used to seek in America.
In contrast to Franklin, Captain John Smith attempted to create a positive image of America to encourage people to settle there. In fact, he viewed America as the new region, where Europeans could start their settlements and their new life, which could be different from their life in Europe. At the same time, he either underestimated or was unwilling to reveal drawbacks and dangers of the life in America, which Europeans could hardly come prepared to. For instance, he underestimated the risk of conflicts with the native population of America, probably because he attempted to maintain good relations with Native Americans but was ready to demonstrate his power to keep Native Americans respectful and fearful of Europeans.
Smith attempts to decrease the significance of conflicts with Native Americans and he, in person, encouraged co-existence with Native Americans along with the demonstration of power to keep distance between Europeans and Native Americans. He attempted to extrapolate this strategy and to make Europeans to arrive in America and settle there avoiding open conflicts with Native Americans. However, intentionally or not, he ignores difficulties European colonists could and did encounter in America. America was a new continent which had under-developed infrastructure and Europeans were not accustomed to the life in the wild nature. In addition, America was different from European culturally and they could not always adapt to the life with local Native American tribes and accept the lifestyle Americans used to.
Smith stressed that wealth is the major motive that would drive Europeans to America, while Franklin argued that the great expectations of European immigrants to find wealth and prosperity in America were, to a significant extent, erroneous (Horn, 195). Smith believed that America would open huge opportunities for Europeans, while Franklin witnessed the difficult life of many Americans and newly arrived immigrants. This is why he was more skeptical about good prospects of all Europeans in the US. Instead, he insisted that Europeans should not pursue their unrealistic dream but come prepared to the hard life in America or abandon the idea of moving to the US. In such a way, Smith and Franklin developed almost contrary ideas in their writings.
In this regard, Bartolome de las Casas was much closer to Franklin than Smith. Casas took the side of Native Americans and attempted to protect them from European colonists. He believed that the colonization should not progress too fast Unlike Smith, Casas depicts colonists as aggressive and dangerous people who exterminate Native Americans. Casas condemns cruelty of colonization and claims to respect rights of the local, native-born population. He attempted to persuade Europeans in the importance of the preservation of Christian values in the New World and treatment of Native Americans as equal or as human beings at the least. In his writings, Casas draws numerous examples of cruelties of European colonists in relation to Native Americans. He shows that the colonization was destructive for native peoples of America. Hence, he coined the idea which later supported Franklin, since he stated that European colonization should be careful and friendly in relation to the native population of the continent. He denied aggression and violence as worthy tools to reach goals of colonists in America. Franklin, in his turn, warned Europeans that their life in America could be not much better than their life in Europe.
Casas writings are, in a way, similar to Franklin’s Information to Those Who Would Remove to America, as he attempts to present America and the arrival of Europeans from the standpoint of people living in America. In such a way, both Franklin and Casas present America from the standpoint of insiders, while Smith provides the standpoint of a colonist, who is definitely an outsider in America. Casas had managed to understand the Native population of America, while Franklin was aware of problems Europeans could face in America because he lived there as well as Casas did (Boruchoff, 501). Thus, they understood the life in America from within, while Smith, even though he lived in America for some time, still viewed America as a new land for European colonization and as a source of personal enrichment.
Nevertheless, Smith encouragement of European colonists fueled the almost mythical expectation of Europeans to find wealth in the New World and, thus, stimulated the colonization of the continent. In fact, Smith writing encourages the immigration of European colonists to live in America, while Franklin and Casas suggest to consider hard the immigration to America. Franklin just warns about hardships of life in America, while Casas refers to legal and ethical issues to show that the colonization is a sheer invasion that provokes bloody extermination of the native population of America.
At the same time, Casas was different from Franklin, since he was concerned with the fate of Native Americans, while Franklin was more preoccupied by the position of Americans, who were descendants of European colonists and who actually continued the oppression of Native Americans. He viewed America, American lifestyle and European immigration to the US from the standpoint of the citizen of the US but not from the standpoint of the oppressed native population of the continent. Franklin was not actually willing to stop European arrival or influence the behavior of Europeans as Casas did. Instead, he just wanted to inform Europeans better of the real life in America.
Thus, Franklin, Cases and Smith present different perspectives on the life in America, on the America proper and arrival of Europeans to the continent. Franklin attempted to explain Euroepans that America was different from Europe. Casas attempted to stop and prevent the further colonization of the continent, while Smith encouraged Europeans to settle in America.
