Year in year out, an increasing number of people throughout the world including Americans forget that the USA, before becoming one of the leading countries, underwent a series of significant historic events, which not always had positive aftermaths and even caused such a tragedy as the establishment of the Institute of slavery for a couple of centuries; this country underwent a painful procedure of colonization; the native population was treated inappropriately. Historical truth about things that happened in the back of the New World is written in detail by professors Winthrop D. Jordan and Charles Johnson, who in their works show their views on the process of America’s colonization and its results.
The New World was always interesting for Europeans. Several attempts to conquer the unknown land were undertaken by the Spanish, the Portuguese, and others. Columbus with his crew made a successful attempt in conquering the New World. After this, millions of people left Europe for America to look for a better life there. Though in the Europeans opinion the conquest was made with good intentions, it had disastrous aftermaths for the native population. The process of colonization was accompanied by mass deaths of the locals because they were isolated from the rest of the world for centuries and their immune systems simply could not resist diseases brought to the continent by the Europeans. Mass deaths of local tribes resulted in an eruption of an unknown disease that took even more lives, both Native Americans and Europeans. People who managed to survive and tried to rebel against the invaders were turned into slaves. As the native population drastically declined in its number, the Spanish started the so-called forced immigration. They brought Africans to the continent and enslaved them. This, later, caused the establishment of the Institute of slavery and formed the pattern for the slaves’ mistreatment. The native population was limited in its rights, and new landowners, overall, neglected their presence. When people in Europe came to know about rich discoveries, a new way of immigration started. The newcomers established their religious communities, represented by Roman Catholics, puritans, Protestants, and others.
To sum it up, professors Winthrop D. Jordan and Charles Johnson in their works “The White Man’s Burden” and “Africans in America: America’s Journey Through Slavery” touch upon events that took place at the time of America’s colonization. They pictured in detail the price the Native Americans had to pay so that the Europeans could build in America the country they dreamt about. These works are also a reminder for us that the back then methods to find a better life are extremely unacceptable in modern society. As it is shown in the books, mistreatment, and disrespect towards other nations may cause grave consequences, for instance, the establishment of the Institute of slavery, infringement upon other people interests, formation of a false statement in the mentality of white people that they are superior over the people of color. The bitter lesson should be learned once and for all and never implemented into real life again.
Works Cited
Charles Richard Johnson, Patricia Smith. Africans in America : America’s Journey Through Slavery. USA: Harcourt Books, 1999.
Winthrop D. Jordan. The White Man’s Burden. Historical Origins of Racism in the United States. USA: Oxford University Press, 1974.