"The Tempest in the Wilderness"

This chapter initially details the reaction of the natives when confronted with the scene of the arrival of the settlers to the new world. They saw the white bearded men as ugly and deformed yet as gods or “Mannittowock.” The chapter describes accounts of prophetic dreams had by natives foreseeing the coming of the white men. The article then transitions into correlating the discovery of the new world to Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” which was first presented in London in 1611, around the same time as the discovery of “Strange inhabitants in new lands.” The chapter clearly defines the play as a fascinating tale that served as a masquerade for the creation of a new society in America. It gives way to not only the age old concept of imperialism but to the development of this “new English-American identity as based on race.” The play’s perfectly timed release further enforced English perception of the American natives as uncivilized savages. Not only were these people categorized but as a main character in the play resembled an Irishman and the English were also colonizing in Ireland, the people of that culture were also labeled “wild.” They were thought to be nomadic and simple people “living outside of civilization.” They were portrayed as lazy and idle because their society was not set up like the typical English living environment. As they were being conquered, the English put it out there that the Irish were controllable only through force. The English were portrayed as the disciplinarian that the Irish needed. Their villages and crops were burned and the people were forced onto reservations. Others were savagely murdered and their heads kept as trophies. The intolerance merely boiled down to difference in culture. And so both the Indian cultures and the Irish were lumped into one mass of seemingly uncivilized savages in need of structure and reform. “Initially ‘savagery’ was defined in relationship to the Irish, and the Indians were incorporated into this definition.” The goal of the English overall was to expand their way of life by any means necessary, violent or not.
The only question drawn to mind in reference to this piece is how would the world have progressed without these expansions and this brutality? It blows my mind that the world is even as stable as it is today if this is how certain events were brought about. And it makes me question human nature at that-is there no way to succeed without violence and oppression? And is the cost worth more than the end result?
This reading set my mind aback. Honestly, it seems like all that is plastered on the news today is carnage and heart break. Overexposure to this has hardened our cultures to the reality of what’s happening in society today, let alone what got us to this point. It makes me wonder about the future.