Concerning The Savages Of North America Analysis

In Benjamin Franklin writing “Concerning the Savages of North America,” he argues his disapproval of how the Native Americans were being referred to as savages in the year 1784. Throughout the entire story he talks about his very own experience’s he’s had with the Native Americans; he even compares them to his people of Great Britain and shows how different they are. He argues that the Native Americans are nowhere near Savages and he gives many examples to back his argument up throughout the story. Franklin is trying to convince the people that just because Native Americans do not follow in the same footsteps as the English and their cultures are different doesn’t mean they should be looked upon as savages. He even writes that he respects the Native Americans culture more than his people of Great Britain. An example he uses is during the Treaty of Lancaster the members of the Six Nations, the Virginia Government offered the Native Americans Education for their young boys to teach them the ways of the white people. The Native Americans thought it would be rude to give them an answer that day. So, they came back with their answer the next day politely declining they felt as though the English had no morals or values and went on to give a counter offering of taking a dozen of the white boys and bringing …show more content…
If the Indians were traveling through the white’s villages and towns they would demand money if they had none they would say “get out you Indian dog” (Franklin, 1784 pp.247). This entire story that Franklin is telling us is to show how rude and cruel the English were to the Indians during this time. It is almost as if he is ashamed of his people. They treat them like dirt when in reality it is the English who were dirt. It makes you sit and think who really was the Savages during this time