The Native American Question

According to the saying, history is written by the
winners. This is also the case of American history.
The history of America was written in the spirit that everything can be explained ; the American point of
view as justifying every deed and action is not only
a few decades old, it goes back to the time of the
Puritans.

By the advent of the late 18th and early 19th
century, the early images and perceptions of the
Spanish, French, and English about the Native
Americans affected every aspect of life, science, and
society. The concepts became regarded as facts, and
the whole picture of the Natives as Indians turned
into central themes in understanding the indigenous
people of North America.

With the idea of Herbert Spencer further developed
by Charles Darwin of what was to become known as
Social Darwinism, the Native Americans were labeled
as unfit, and their downfall was explained as a
result of their unwillingness to adapt to the new ways.

Self-determination was the main goal to be achieved
by the revitalized Natives. In a way the national
historic memory was reshaped, and the Natives brought
into foreground the real, present day identity of the
Native Americans.