I think you can see Apess’ intelligence and rhetorical ability early on in this piece. While describing what is thought of as uncivilized warfare he says it “is an agreement according to the pure laws of nature, growing out of natural consequences.” This is brilliant because Apess appears to be playing with the Puritan belief that nature was a sacred text, and the word of God could be seen through nature. I think the suggestion here is that the pure laws of nature would have been God’s laws, and that the natives were obeying these laws well before missionaries tried to teach them otherwise.
Apess shows his intelligence and understanding of Puritanism later on in the piece as well. While talking about a chief who turned the other cheek and forgave the Pilgrims for certain transgressions, Apess writes, “It might well be said he was a pattern for Christians themselves.” In other words, this chief shows Christian values and could be looked at the same way Cotton Mather looked at people such as William Bradford, using typology.
Apess plays with the nature theme in other parts of the sermon as well. He says, “How inhuman it was in those wretches, to come into a country where nature shone in beauty, spreading her wings over the vast continent, sheltering beneath her shades those natural sons of an Almighty Being, that shone in grandeur and luster like the stars of the first magnitude in the heavenly world; whose virtues far surpassed their more enlightened foes, notwithstanding their pretended zeal for religion and virtue.” First of all, this sentence parallels Ann Bradstreet’s poem about the beauty of the sun. In this sentence, Apess seems to be suggesting a similar image, that the natural beauty of this country was awe inspiring, and that it would stand to reason that the real Heavenly Kingdom would be even better. At the same time, he is also saying that this was only the case before the Pilgrims, who he labels as pretenders, came over. The sentence also starts with Apess calling the Pilgrims inhuman, a characterization that is suggested by the word the Pilgrims used for Native-Americans, “savage.”
Apess continues a theme of humanity later on in the sermon. At one point he ponders what the natives should do in order to get some sort of revenge. He comes to the conclusion, “we sincerely hope there is more humanity in us than that.” Again he is characterizing the Pilgrims as being less than human, and using a widely held belief about the natives against the Pilgrims.
Who the "real savage" was is one of the first things that Apess wants to make very apparent. He keeps bringing up instances where their Christian ideals are in conflict with their actions; that they are in fact more savage than the Indians could even dream of being. He grounds the actions of the Indians in a way that is honorable, if not merciful, such as wanting to punish an old man for stealing corn instead of the athletic twenty-something who is an asset to the community (p281). He gives us all this information that shows how the Indians could have easily wiped out the Pilgrims community (had an order by the chief simply been given) and points out the extreme hypocrisy of the "civilized man" thinking himself above the "honorable warrior" simply because he can pass legislation, legislation that leaves "fields covered in blood...and ten thousand children orphan," (p278). He certainly doesn't leave it up for the reader to decide who the real savage is: he makes it clear that the Pilgrims should have modelled their actions on those of the Indians, as Eric mentions above.
ReplyDeleteNikki I think this post brings up some very important points. I too believe that the Puritans were not the best people in the world and they, in my opinion, were not very much like Christians but rather controlling and manipulating people that were stuck up on their high horse. The theme of nature and the respect given to nature because it really does express the glory of God, is important to the way that Apess thinks about the Puritans. Nature does possess so many amazing things that the Puritans missed because they were so set on creating an entirely pure society that they didnt realize that the most pure thing in the world is nature. It is untouched yet still incredible and uncontrolled. When you mentioned Bradstreet I totally knew what you were talking about and how nature has a way of just being what it is and that nothing in nature should change for it is steady and everlasting. The word savage makes me think about “The Last of the Mohicans” and how the 'savage' is a noble savage, defending the world in which they exist because no one wants to take the time to understand and realize the existence of such purity in nature.
ReplyDeleteI think that Apess was way ahead of his time. He looked beyond the fact that the Indians were not as advanced in technology and saw them for the human beings they were. If we look at the Indians they did in fact have a lot of similar beliefs as Christianity and some of them were converting. The "golden rule" of Christianity is to treat your neighbor how you would like to be treated. Did the Puritans or the Indians follow this rule more closely. I would argue that the Indians did. Of course, all Indians were not friendly helpful tribes but some were. They did help with farming and as mentioned could have wiped out the Puritans. Instead they let them be in hopes that there would be peace. I think it's funny how Apess mentions that he hopes they don't get treated the same as they have treated the Indians because once again that is a founding rule of Christianity. Also, in the reading it mentions that Apess was not white. I think this is something to take into consideration as he could relate to being judged.
ReplyDeleteApess is clearly an extraordinary man. It was not common to find a Native man of his intelligence during this time. His writings are well thought out and mature. While he does seem to give some accusation, many can see that his accusations were well deserved. Clearly, however indirect, Apess calls the Pilgrams savages. I do believe this can be seen as harsh, but I do understand the emotion involved in Apess' writings. Being a Indian dealing with the Pilgrims was obviously frustrating time. Apess proves to have peaceful morals with many parallels to many of the Pilgrims beliefs. However, the remaining differences lead to disagreements and unjust acts. Even through these struggles Apess was able to write such a powerful piece that remains for our viewing today, leaving us with a rare documentation of a native american perspective.
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