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Difference Between Columbus And Mary Rowlandson

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Englishmen and women from centuries ago had very different characteristics and mindsets from both you and I. Being strict believers of God, they ran interesting thought processes in their head that can be very difficult to understand unless one takes the time and effort to learn about the difference between these two time periods and then attempt to think as one who lived 600 years ago. There are two documents being Christopher Columbus’ letter back to the king and queen of England describing the natives and Mary Rowlandson’s story of captivity during King Philip’s war. They will help in learning these two types of mindsets as well as some differences that 200 years can bring. Many factors such as gender and time-frame play a major role in …show more content…

With Columbus’ first description of the “Indians,” he makes it clear that they are a weird society in which they walked around naked and had the females do all the work instead of the males. “...not because they be not a well-formed people and of fair stature, but that they are most wondrously timorous” (Columbus 7). He sees the natives as primitive and could easily be persuaded into the form of Christianity. Ms. Rowlandson begins with this strong mentality as well, presenting claims such as “I should choose rather to be killed by them than taken alive, but when it came to the trial my mind changed” (Rowlandson 73). During King Philip’s war, the town where Rowlandson resided was attacked by the Wampanoag and as she was faced with death, she gave in. She decided that she would rather be taken by the “ravenous beasts” than have her life taken from her showing that the women aren’t as strong as the men …show more content…

The Natives learned how much of a threat the Englishman can be causing two major rebellions to take action. Because of these actions, Englishman grew more hatred and fear toward the Natives causing different opinions to be formed. This can be seen in Rowlandson’s description of captivity showing some fear toward the enemies which had yet to be established when Columbus first encountered the Natives. Alongside the roles of gender causing slight differences in perspective. Though after learning the mentalities and differences between these two timeframes, it should be easier to understand how the mind 600 years ago made

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