Actually there were three European countries that colonized North America: 
England, France, and Spain.  All three used different methods with Native 
Americans.  It was the English that enslaved, slaughtered, and destroyed the 
indigenous cultures in the Northeast and Central states.  England wanted the 
land and resources, and nothing stood in her way, not even human lives. 
France pretty much left the Native American cultures and their peoples alone 
except for trade.  The Spanish were just as vicious as the English, but they 
justified the destruction of Native American cultures because they were 
unchristian.  The Spanish destruction was to save the Native American souls 
by converting them to Christianity.  Destroy a people's religion, and you 
destroy the culture.  But it was the federal government of the United 
States, not Europeans, that finally destroyed the cultures, raped and 
massacred Native Americans, confiscated land, and sent the Five Civilized 
Tribes on the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma.  Though the federal government 
treated Native Americans with contempt, they were never enslaved and used as 
fodder to support social and economic institutions as were Blacks.

RMK

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Martinson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 10:56 AM
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Gettysburg and the Sons of Confederate Veterans


Though I personally am against slavery, it does not harm institutions such 
as museums or
schools to teach the subject.   In my graduate work, I had an excellent 
class on the
Jewish Holocaust (taught by a Jew) and was one of my most enjoyable, but 
difficult
to see the films and learn of how man treat other peoples because of 
economical,
political or religious differences.

But, let us understand * America was built on slavery, and it was not just 
in the South.

"Slavery was a legal institution in all of the 13 American colonies. A 
majority of the founding fathers owned slaves, including the author of the 
Declaration of Independence, the Father of the Constitution, and the 
commander of the Continental Army."

"Slavery during the colonial era was not a static, unchanging institution. 
It was a dynamic, evolving institution that varied radically across time and 
space. During the early seventeenth century, slavery was far different from 
what it would later become. Anthony Johnson was one of Virginia's first 
slaves. Arriving in 1621, he was put to work on a plantation along the James 
River, where he took a wife, Mary, and raised at least four children. During 
the 1630s, Johnson and his family gained their freedom, probably by 
purchasing their own freedom. Johnson subsequently acquired an estate of 250 
acres, which he farmed with the help of white indentured servants and at 
least one slave. Just as remarkably, Johnson successfully sued in court for 
the return of a slave, who he claimed had been stolen by two white 
neighbors."  Source: 
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/black_voices/voices_display.cfm?id=14

When the first Europeans arrived in the New World, they subjugated the 
Native people into
slavery, destroying their culture, religion and life ways.  We destroyed 
these people *- by
sending dogs to rip them a part, drawing and quartering them, burning them 
at the stake, and removing
them from their family and tradition home land.  We (noble white man) raided 
their villages and massacred their women and children, and sent many tribes 
and peoples on harsh Trails of Tears and into slavery.

To bring forth meaningful dialogue is the mission of a museum.  As museum 
professional, we
even may not agree with what we present, but it does bring forth means to 
discuss and talk
about sad times in our history and past.

John
Boise, ID

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