Preview

Thomas Harriot Brief And True Report Summary

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1047 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Thomas Harriot Brief And True Report Summary
Thomas Harriot’s Brief and True Report paints a picture for the englishman back in England of the natives residing in coastal North America. Harriot argues that that natives are not as hostile and unwelcoming as portrayed, but that they “shall have cause both to fear and love us”. Brief and True Report tells of defenceless and god fearing people who have the potential to become trade partners, civilized, and Christians. Thomas Harriot’s tone and argument seem to be a pushback against unflattering rumors about the native american population. Thankfully Harriot was of sound mind to record his interactions and observations with the natives so that he may inform his fellow Englishmen before interactions could become hostile. Harriot’s report tells us that the natives are defenseless and fearful of the colonials, even upon first contact. “If there fall out any wars between us & them, what their fight is likely to be, we having advantages against them so many manner of ways, as by our discipline, our strange weapons and devices else; especially by ordinance great and small, it may be easily imagined; by the experience we have had in some places, the turning up of their heels against us in running away was their …show more content…
Harriot observes that the natives possess no concept of value of the english technology to gold, and the natives look to the Englishmen decide the value. The English were seen as gods, or messengers of god due to their equipment and ‘magical’ wonders. The natives were also responsible in keeping the colonials alive due to their help with the englishes failing crops. Harriot’s Brief and True Report tells of a symbiotic relationship instead of the hostile one that's been rumored. The benefits of friendship, trust, and trade partners to an englishman could not be insured unless the natives are creatures capable of being
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Cristopher Columbus Chapter 1 Summary
    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Cristopher Columbus Chapter 1 Summary

    I am summarizing the first sub-division of chapter one, pages 1 through 7. The chapter begins talking about Christopher Columbus and how he was on the hunt for gold, so much so that he convinced the king and queen of Spain to finance an expedition for him promising to return with gold and spices from newly discovered land. However, during the voyage there, he stumbled upon The Americas where he then met the Arawak men and women, and the chapter then proceeds to explain their first encounters with Cristopher Columbus. When Columbus arrived he was greeted kindly with food, water, gifts and with amazing hospitality. Though he was greeted pleasantly one of the first things Columbus did was force the natives on ship with him, insisting they lead…

    • 372 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Under An Open Sky William Cronon Summary
    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Under An Open Sky William Cronon Summary

    Cronon notifies the reader that the earliest sources of information from the settlers are restricted to the coastline of the Northeast. This chapter also starts the narrative of the Native American and European Settler relationship. The early settlers were confused at the fact the Native Americans had so many natural resources surrounding them, but they still lived as if they were in poverty. This would only be the commencement of a difficult relationship between the Native Americans and the Settlers.…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mayflower Courage Community And War Summary
    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Mayflower Courage Community And War Summary

    If not, tension always arises, creating a recipe for conflict and war. In New England, when the English settlers came, tensions emerged among the settling communities as well as the Native American communities. Land was a key factor in the tensions, driven by increasing English settlers and inter-tribal politics; the Pequot people carried the burden of what Philbrick terms as “European-style genocide”. The devastating brutality of the resultant conflict led all sides to seek accommodation and end the conflict. In both books, the themes, ideas and the driving forces that dictate the course of actions are similar, only that they happen at different centuries (Philbrick…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    How Did William Cronon Change In New England
    • 1723 Words
    • 7 Pages

    How Did William Cronon Change In New England

    Author William Cronon, Changes in the Land is a book that gives a detailed analysis on what life was like in the New England colony when the settlers first arrived. Cronon describes many things that the settlers experienced when they arrived over into New England and how it differed from England. Cronon discusses Indian relationships and how each group had different customs. In the book Cronon describes the landscape and how everyone was able to benefit from it. Cronon’s thesis is “the shift from Indian to European dominance in New England entailed important changes--well known to historians--in the…

    • 1723 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    1491 Book Review
    • 518 Words
    • 2 Pages

    1491 Book Review

    1491, which was published in 2005 by Vintage Books, is a subversive study that immensely alters most people’s understanding and knowledge of the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans in 1492. The nonfiction historical novel by Charles C. Mann explains about a new generation of researchers’ conclusions about the history of Native Americans before the arrival of Columbus. Mann uncovered many of the untold facts that have never been taught in traditional school. The primary point Mann is trying to make known is the natives population was larger, and the societies were more cultivated than what most people believe.…

    • 518 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mary Rowlandson The Sovereignty And Goodness Of God Summary
    • 111 Words
    • 1 Page

    Mary Rowlandson The Sovereignty And Goodness Of God Summary

    Mrs. Mary Rowlandson in the excerpt, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, asserts that Native Americans are barbarous savages; only the grace of God guided the author to survival. Rowlandson supports her claim by illustrating the bloody attacks the Natives led against the colonists and the deaths of her closest family members and friends. The author’s purpose is to expose the cruelties of the Native Americans in order to persuade all educated colonists that Native Americans are cruel, not friendly, and cannot be cooperated with. Therefore, the author writes in a grieving and anguished tone for all educated white colonists with mixed knowledge and perspectives on the trustworthiness of Native Americans.…

    • 111 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Colomlubus
    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Colomlubus

    “Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress” from A People’s History of the United States. By Howard Zinn…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Similarities Between Columbus The Indians And Human Progress
    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Similarities Between Columbus The Indians And Human Progress

    The stories Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress and A Patriot’s History of the United States have a greater difference than they do similarities. Each story has a different tale of how Native Americans were treated by the Europeans. One story told of gallons of bloodshed, torture, enslavement, and overworked Indians, while the other one told of glorified Europeans here to help their fellow man. Even though, both stories had their differences; they do tell of a similar time in which explorers reach the New World and start to establish colonies. The explorers also tried to convert the Indian tribes to Christianity.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Indian Relations in Chesapeake and New England
    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Indian Relations in Chesapeake and New England

    In the 1600’s English settlers came to America seeking refuge, and land. Upon coming to America the settlers crossed paths with the natives and eventually lead to a variety of relationships. There were various factors that shaped the relations in certain regions such as the Chesapeake Bay and New England. The events that lead up to tension between the natives were the settler’s lust for new land, diseases and the on-going disputes between the natives and the settlers.…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca Analysis
    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca Analysis

    Most of the beginning of American history seems like a race of conquest between the Spaniards and Europeans with Native Americans caught in the crossfire. A seemingly peaceful group of people, the Native Americans were under constant attack from the moment settlers arrived into their territory. Historians can pull from first-hand accounts and primary sources to piece together the history of this nation. One Spainard exploratory mission wrecked off the coast of Florida with about 400 men (OTP S1-6, OTP 22). After long battles and shipwrecks, the expedition was cut short and only four men survived, one an African slave and Spanish explorer named Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca. De Vaca wrote a narrative explaining his encounters with Native Americans who had never seen white or black people before. De Vaca described the Indians as “war like people…and protect themselves from their enemies as they would have if they had been raised in Italy and in continuous war” (OTP S1-6). He explains in his narrative…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    William Bradford Biography
    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages

    William Bradford Biography

    Bradford’s history dispels many myths and misinformation about Plymouth Plantation, its relationships to the Native Americans and the Virginia Colony, and the events surrounding the Pilgrims’ first years in America. When the Pilgrims first arrived, the Native Americans would try to approach them but they would just run away. But in March, a certain Indian came boldly and spoke to them in broken English. This became a start of a mutual relationship and then they decided to make peace with Squanto and it would stay intact for 24 years. The conditions were: neither he nor any of his should injure or do hurt to any of their people, that if any of his did hurt to any of their, he should send the offender, that they might punish him, that if anything were taken away from any of theirs, he should cause it to be restored,; and they should do the like to this, if any did unjustly war against him, they would aid him; if any did war against them, he should aid them, he should send to his neighbors confederates to certify them of this, that they might not wrong them, but might be likewise comprised in the conditions of peace, and lastly, that when their men came to them, they should leave their bows and arrows behind…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Native American Mistreatment
    • 1740 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Native American Mistreatment

    The first Native Americans to arrive in North America arrived twelve thousand years ago. 1 They traveled across what scientists and historians call the “land bridge” that spanned the distance between modern day Russia and Alaska. The natives separated into many different factions and fanned all over North America; some tribes became nomadic roaming wherever their food supply went while other natives learned to grow and sew crops. The Native Americans lived in mostly peaceful societies until 1492, when Columbus landed on what is now the Bahamas2 The natives greeted Columbus and his crew with open arms only to be met with harsh treatment, slavery, rape, and death. When the Europeans arrived, they forever changed the lives of Native American’s by trying to transform religion and law that violated Native American customs. When Columbus, a Roman Catholic, landed in the Bahamas in 1492, he was received amicably by the friendly Arawak tribe. The Arakwak people were a largely peaceful society; they had settled in the Caribbean hundreds of years before European explorers found them. In Columbus’ private journal he wrote of the Arawak “ they willingly traded everything they owned...they do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance...with fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want” 3. These natives were known for their hospitality and friendliness; they openly traded all of their goods with the white men. This was especially odd to the Europeans. They had just left a continent ruled by kings and popes all in a mad scramble for power and money. Columbus’ notes their hospitality as a weakness and openly writes about enslaving the natives that only wanted peace with the European explorers. Columbus’ first order of business with the natives was to take “some of the natives by force in order that they might learn…

    • 1740 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hollitz Chapter 1
    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hollitz Chapter 1

    The Indians definitely aid the settlers in many ways. First, by not aiding them right off the bat in the starvation period, gives the settlers a bit of a backbone and a realistic outlook on this venture. A view such that this place is not like Spain, they have to start from nothing and actually work to survive or they will die, surely. With this outlook on the entire journey, the Indians supply a sense of relief when they reach out to the settlers to form some sort of agreement to aid each population. The Indians gave the Englishmen food to keep them from being wiped out from famine and “hoped to acquire guns, hatchets, and swords,” (Norton 17) however this relationship did not workout properly and the Indians did not receive their weapons.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    hisory
    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages

    hisory

    A: The natives did not own any land or property, which in the English eyes were the same as not being superior. According to the English, the Natives did not take care of the land, which by the way is a misconception since they did take care of the land, just not the way that the English were used to. The Natives lacked traits of the English civilization such as religion, culture, government, education etc. The English came to North America with knowledge in technology, agriculture, trade, etc., knowledge that the natives did not have or lacked. “White” stood for purity, beauty and properness. The natives were dark, which was usual for someone working hard labor outside in the sun. All of the points above were reasons to why the English thought themselves to be superior to the Natives.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Relationship Between Native Americans And European Settlers
    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Relationship Between Native Americans And European Settlers

    Risky Relations: A closer look at the relationships between Native Americans and European settlers during the seventeenth century…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics