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How the Spanish treated the Native Americans

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The economic system which was used by the Spanish colonists incorporated the Native American population but also repressed it. Native Americans worked a plot of land called a encomienda, which was granted to a colonist by the governor. Indian laborers worked without pay at tasks such as tanning hides and were required to provide the owner of the encomienda with an annual tribute of goods. The Spanish economic system created a society of extremes. Owners of land were profiting from the labor of native peoples. The tributes and labor were expected even in times of crisis such as drought, further oppressing the natives.

In colonial Spain's economic system, a person's race determined their place in society. Only peninsulares, who were Spaniards born in Spain, could hold the highest colonial government position of viceroy. Creoles, people of European descent but who were born in the colonies, had access to offices such as archbishop. Mestizos, or people of Spanish and Indian origin, could not hold any public offices and worked only in crafts. On the lowest rung were the Indians who worked on the encomiendas for the Spanish. By making race a factor in a person's economic status, colonial Spain succeeded in oppressing the natives.

Even colonial Spain's missionaries eventually became hostile to the Native Americans. When New Mexico was founded in 1598, the Spanish monarchy felt that it had a duty to convert the natives. In the beginning the number of religious conversions was more important to the Catholic friars than strict doctrine. Similarities between native and Catholic religions such as the belief in a higher power also aided the process of blending the cultures together. The tolerance of the friars for the natives ended after the drought of the 1670s. Since the English god was unable to provide the Native American tribe of the Pueblo with much needed rain, the Pueblo rejected Catholicism and went back to their old religion. In response, friars destroyed altars and forbade dances which the Pueblo used in their religious ceremonies. Also, 47 ceremonial leaders were arrested, three of whom were killed by the Spanish. Clearly both religion and economics were used to subjugate the Indians.  

Franklin Roosevelt’s Early Experiences with the Poor

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From an early age, Franklin Roosevelt was taught to help others. As a teenager, his mother encouraged him to join the Missionary Society at his boarding school. The society sponsored a summer camp for poor city children. Franklin taught campers to swim, canoe, and sail. He also heard prominent reformers of the time period speak at his school. They included Jacob Riis, who championed the cause of the poor, and Booker T. Washington who sought to help African-Americans improve their social status. Moved by the words of these men and others, Franklin wanted to contribute to their causes. Though he did not have money of his own, he wrote home for permission to donate to these reformers.

Even when he left for Harvard, Franklin still found time to serve the Missionary Society at his former school. Since he was older, he could teach classes to the children and oversee games at the St. Andrew’s Boys Club in Boston. At Harvard, he joined the Social Service Society. He was genuine in his desire to help the poor but he did not have much contact with them outside of classroom or camp settings. After meeting his future wife Eleanor, however, he would learn more about the daily life of the poor.

Eleanor taught dancing at a school for immigrant girls. Franklin came to pick her up after work and they helped one of Eleanor’s students return home at night. When he came out of the girl’s apartment, Franklin was appalled by the condition in which the girl lived. The hallway was greasy and unlit and the plumbing was bad. He said to Eleanor, “My God, I didn’t know anyone lived like that.” Eleanor thought Franklin’s visits to her school helped shape his career. She often asked him to pick her up at the school because “I wanted him to see how people lived…And it worked. He saw how people lived, and he never forgot.”

His early experiences with the poor made Franklin determined to help people who lost their jobs during the Great Depression. As president, he helped the unemployed find work by creating a variety of government programs. For example, the Works Progress Administration put people to work building roads, bridges, airports, schools, and other buildings. Although the programs could not employ everyone who needed a job, they had a positive impact on millions of jobless Americans.   

Slavery and the American Revolution

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The democratic ideals of the American Revolution probably caused African American slaves to hope that their status in society might improve. Slaves took part in the revolutionary movement and assumed new roles in the process. Slaves served the British and American armies and received bounties, land, or freedom in return. After the war a movement to abolish slavery began in the North. Various Northern states called for a gradual abolition of slavery so that slaves born after a certain date would be set free.

Although the American Revolution caused slaves to assume new roles and gave some their freedom, in general African Americans did not achieve the freedoms which the Declaration of Independence claimed for all men. It was one thing to limit slavery in the North, but slavery was most common in the South where it was an important part of the economic system. Plantation owners felt they needed slaves to work in the fields, and they did not want to lose their cheap labor. To southerners, the principles of liberty established in the Declaration of Independence did not apply to African Americans. Slaves were thought of as property and not as men so they could not be considered equal. Despite America’s promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all, slavery remained a fact of life for most African Americans, depriving them of each of these rights.

The failure of the American Revolution to grant basic rights to African Americans was not changed by the Constitution which developed after the fighting stopped. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention did not attempt to abolish slavery, though some wanted to, because they knew the southern states would not accept a constitution that eliminated their labor force. Establishing a constitution that would unite the states was more important to members of the convention than African American rights. The constitution permitted Congress to limit the Atlantic slave trade in 1808, but it failed to give those slaves who were already in the U.S. any additional freedoms. The failure of the Constitutional Convention’s delegates to fully address slavery meant that African Americans would continue to struggle for equality with whites for years.

Historical Views of Torture vs. Torture Today

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Though written over two hundred years ago, Cesare Beccaria’s On Crimes and Punishments remains relevant today. Many governments still endorse torture as a form of punishment for criminal acts. In the U.S., the use of the death penalty is still a debated issue. Do these forms of punishment really prevent crime? Beccaria faced this question, but concluded that torture or killing only destroys man’s spirit and his faith in the government. 

 

History provides many instances in which torture was used. The Spanish Inquisition, for example, used torture to suppress heresy within the Catholic church. Beccaria, however, disagrees with these harsh punishments. He writes of past tortures, “Can one read history without horror and disgust at the useless barbarity of the tortures so coldly invented and inflicted by men who were reckoned wise?” Rulers inflict pain on their enemies and destroy them, but the rulers destroy the basic humanity within themselves by carrying out torture. 

 

Though Beccaria feels that those who torture others are transformed into barbarians, the punished man is even less human than his antagonist. The aggressor, though cruel, is capable of the human emotion of anger. The afflicted, however, eventually becomes indifferent after repeated torture. Beccaria states, “as punishments become more cruel, men’s minds…become increasingly hardened; and human emotion has such a lively force that after a hundred years of cruel punishment of that kind the wheel would only seem as terrifying as the prison had been earlier on.” When the punishment is constantly brutal, the punished no longer reacts to it and his human emotions disappear.

 

One of the main justifications for harsh punishments is that others will fear those punishments and stop committing crimes. Although this might be effective for a while, just as the prisoner becomes immune to his punishment the public also ceases to remain in awe if penalties are repeatedly severe. Beccaria points out that if law constantly dictates harsh punishments, that law will not last long. He warns, “If the laws are indeed cruel, either they are altered or they occasion a fatal tendency not to punish.” Instead of preventing further crime, cruelty promotes indifference to all punishments. Since no one, not even Beccaria, advocates the absence of punishments, the punishments must fit the crimes committed. Harsh punishments such as life imprisonment should be rare and reserved for the worst crimes, ensuring that the people do not become indifferent towards punishment.  

 

Just as he opposes other forms of torture, Beccaria also opposes the death penalty. The job of the government is to provide the people with laws that protect them. Beccaria comments on the difference between the laws the people are given to follow and the laws the government leaders follow. Though the people cannot commit murder, the death penalty is permitted under the law. Beccaria points out that through the cruelty of the death penalty, leaders only inspire hate for the government. 

 

To Beccaria, brutality harmed each aspect of civilization. It harmed the officials by making them cruel, the afflicted by making them indifferent, and the government through the disgust of the public. The United States maintains Beccaria’s anti-brutality stance in its prisons, yet has the death penalty in many states. Contrary to our laws, some prisoners have been beaten or mistreated to get confessions from them. According to Beccaria, until the death penalty and beatings are eliminated, civilization will continue to suffer.

 

 

 

 

Why We Celebrate Independence Day on July 4th

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In 1776 John Adams wrote to his wife: “The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival…It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other.” As we know, Adams was a couple of days off in his prediction that American independence would be celebrated on July 2nd. He did have reason to believe his prediction would come true, however. On July 2, 1776, the members of the Continental Congress first voted to declare independence from Britain.

Their decision was based on the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson. Unfortunately for Jefferson, the next two days were spent listening to Congress’ objections to certain aspects of the Declaration. Like a writer being criticized by a room full of editors, Jefferson sulked but said little as Congress chipped away at his writing. Among the passages it eliminated was one on the evils of the slave trade and another on the crimes the British people in general had committed against Americans. The most famous passage of all, however, remained untouched except for the substitution of one word:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

On July 4, 1776, Congress approved their revised version of the Declaration. No one in Congress at the time seemed to particularly note the occasion; Adams left no record of his thoughts on that date and Jefferson only wrote that he went shopping. The next day, however, broadside editions of the Declaration were available to the public and on July 6, the Pennsylvania Evening Post printed the full text on its front page. That first year that the Declaration came out American patriots celebrated on July 8th because that is when most heard the news of the break from Britain. Since then, however, Americans have celebrated the day the revised Declaration was passed, with all the pomp and parade that Adams had hoped.   

 

 

 

Tocqueville’s Criticism of American Democracy

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Americans who write about their country are rarely objective since they are often influenced by their feelings of patriotism for their homeland. Alexis de Tocqueville’s report Democracy in America provides an unbiased view of American society. Tocqueville is a member of the French aristocracy, yet he admires the social equality and improvements in women’s education which our democracy creates. His objectivity, however, also allows him to criticize those aspects of American society which he disapproves of, such as racial hatred. 

 

America is often considered to be the land of opportunity, a place where anyone can rise up and achieve success. Tocqueville benefits from his country’s class system, but he views the social equality of Americans as wondrous. He states that “men are there seen on a greater equality in point of fortune and intellect, or, in other words, more equal in their strength, than in any other country in the world…” The idea of a classless society amazes Tocqueville. Americans do not inherit power or influence so instead they must earn it. He is in awe of a society in which even the poor do not defer to anyone.

 

Although the education of American women in the nineteenth century seems unjust by today’s standards since women could not attend college or hold a political office, Tocqueville reminds us that European women in the 1800s were even less fortunate. He argues that in France women receive a much more sheltered education and are rarely even taught to recognize evil.  Americans, on the other hand, “far from hiding the corruptions of the world from her [woman], they prefer that she should see them at once and train herself to shun them.” Americans recognize that even women will encounter evil in their lives and must know how to avoid it.  Since they are told they have the ability to reason, American women achieve a confidence in themselves which European women cannot. They express their own opinions during conversation and think independently. Through an education which emphasizes reason, American women are allowed to reap the rewards of democracy.

 

The praise which Tocqueville gives for the education of women is absent, however, from his discussion of the injustices committed towards African Americans. The respect which he feels for American democracy is evident, but he indicates that this same democratic spirit will prevent black equality. He explains that as white individuals attain more rights, they develop racial pride. “The white citizen of the United States is proud of his race, and proud of himself.” Pride in one’s heritage is not evil, but the feeling of racial superiority which white Americans share promotes racial inequality. African Americans in the North are often treated more poorly than those in the South because whites fear their loss of authority. Tocqueville describes treatment of African Americans in the North: “The negro is free, but he can share neither the rights, nor the pleasures, nor the labor, nor the afflictions, nor the tomb of him whose equal he has been declared to be.” According to Tocqueville, until America resolves its issues of racial inequality it can never be a true democracy.  

 

American society in the nineteenth century is neither completely good nor completely evil. The country’s democracy provides class equality and education for women, yet contradicts itself by promoting racial hatred. Similarly, American society today deals with undemocratic problems such as hate crimes.

 

The History of the Ice Cream Sundae

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During summer many of us will be enjoying cool, sweet treats like ice cream sundaes. But did you ever wonder who created the first ice cream sundae? Several different towns claim the honor, but Ithaca, New York seems to have the best documentation to call itself the home of the ice cream sundae.

The story is that Reverend John Scott walked into the Platt and Colt Pharmacy in Ithaca after Sunday services on April 3, 1892. The shop’s owner, Chester Platt, decided instead of serving the minister plain vanilla ice cream, he would ask his fountain clerk to top it with cherry syrup and a candy cherry. His new creation tasted so good that the minister declared that it should be named for the day on which it was created. That is how the Cherry Sunday got its name. The name would be altered somewhat later—apparently some people thought it was inappropriate to name a decadent treat after the Sabbath—so it was eventually spelled sundae.

Ithaca high school students found documentation that proves Ithaca to be the home of the ice cream sundae. The Platt and Colt Ledger Books prove that Platt had the necessary ingredients in his store to create the sundae in the 1890s. In addition, a newspaper ad in the Ithaca Daily Journal dated April 5, 1892 advertised the Cherry Sunday. A few days later, the newspaper announced that the new creation was becoming very popular with the townspeople. Although other towns have claimed the title as the birthplace of the ice cream sundae, they do not have the same supporting documents that Ithaca, New York possesses.

 

The Childhood of Malcolm X

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Malcolm X faced hardships at a very young age. His father died when Malcolm was six, the victim of white hatred for his militant preaching. The killing of his father placed Malcolm’s family at the poverty level, giving them little hope of staying together. Malcolm’s family was separated by the welfare system which decided that Malcolm’s mother was mentally unstable and could not provide for her children. The youngest children were sent to foster homes, and although they kept in touch, the family was never fully reunited.

Due to the effects of racism on his family, Malcolm X never had the opportunity to be educated by his parents. Both parents had the potential to be strong role models for young Malcolm. His father was a preacher, and if he had lived, he might have guided Malcolm at an early age toward his future profession. His mother received a superior education and could have instilled the love of learning he would eventually find in prison. Instead, his parents’ absence left Malcolm without guidance. He eventually turned to crime and gang members became his mentors, teaching him to evade the law. As Malcolm states in his autobiography, “from a Harlem point of view, I couldn’t have been in a more educational situation. Some of the ablest of New York’s black hustlers took a liking to me, and knowing that I was still green by their standards, soon began in a paternal way to ‘straighten Red [Malcolm’s nickname] out.’”

Malcolm’s schooling lasted briefly due to racism in the educational system. While attending a mostly white junior high school, he expressed his dream of becoming a lawyer. His teacher did not encourage him to pursue his ambition. Instead, he told Malcolm to study carpentry because a law degree was considered to be an unrealistic dream for African Americans. This experience made Malcolm bitter and prevented him from continuing his education. Malcolm received no further education until he was encouraged by a prison inmate to take correspondence courses.

Friends did help Malcolm find employment, but they could only give him access to jobs like shoe shining. Although he eventually got a decent job as a waiter on a train, African Americans could not advance much more than that. As a result, he was unable to resist the money he received from stealing and eventually received a prison sentence for burglary as a young man. Years later when he became the leader of the Organization of Afro-American Unity which promoted unity between blacks and whites, he barely made enough money to support his family. Despite Malcolm’s prominence in the African American community, white society still refused to give him the privileges it shared with members of its own race.

 

What Parts of White Culture did the Cherokee Adopt?

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From the time the first explorers came to America, the new arrivals had a great impact on the culture of the native people. For example, they introduced the natives to new crops such as rice, wheat, and coffee which could successfully grow and benefit the natives. Although the immigrant and native cultures influenced each other at first, as the years passed one culture, often referred to as Anglo-Saxon, eventually became dominant. The early native people chose to adopt elements of white culture which complimented their former way of life.  

After coming in contact with whites, the Cherokee gradually adopted some aspects of Christianity. The nineteenth century religious revivals and the government’s plan to make Native Americans more civilized resulted in missionaries being sent to the Cherokee Nation. In 1800 the Cherokees accepted the Christians’ desire to build a school. Apparently satisfied with their own religious beliefs, however, they remained uninterested in Christianity for many years. Missionaries eventually had more success with the younger generations which came to regard the old traditions such as singing and dancing around the fire as “unenlightened.” These later generations believed that this new religion would help them to become more civilized and would make them superior to their elders.

The Cherokee also adopted the American system of government. By 1827 the Native Americans began to centralize their government, dividing it into a bicameral legislature like our Senate and House of Representatives, several chief executives known as head chiefs, and a judiciary. Though the American system does not include more than one chief executive, the Cherokee’s new government is strikingly similar. The Native Americans did not imitate US government just because it was American. They had a specific purpose in mind when they eliminated the village meetings where everyone would argue until an agreement was reached. The Cherokees wanted to centralize their government to protect their nation whose land was in danger of being bought out by the whites. By centralizing the government and giving only officials authority to sell land, Cherokee leaders were attempting to ensure the Nation’s survival.

Native Americans also took advantage of the opportunity to learn how to read and write English through missionary schools. By 1824 Cherokee statesman John Ridge stated that one-third of the Cherokee Nation could read and write in English. Creating a fervent desire in the natives to create their own language, the introduction of the English alphabet led to the invention of the Cherokee written language by Sequoyah during the 1820s. Although the missionaries sought to civilize the Cherokee by using the English language, they unwittingly helped the Cherokee to develop their own language and sense of national pride. This pride was shown in the newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix.  The articles were printed in both English and Cherokee, and served two functions: to inform the people about US plans to relocate the tribe to Oklahoma and to bring the people together in protesting removal.  Throughout the removal crisis, the newspaper became an important factor in uniting both Cherokee and some white people against removal.