During the seventeenth century four European countries—France, England, Netherlands, and Spain–established permanent colonies in the Americas. The European colonists invaded North America driven by dreams of wealth: wealth from gold, silver, and perhaps rare gems; wealth from farmlands; wealth from trade with the indigenous nations; and, finally, wealth from slaves. As the European colonies expanded, the conflicts with the Native Americans over land increased in frequency and intensity. Briefly described below is the English approach to governing American Indians in the seventeenth century.
The perceived right—and some felt, obligation—of European nations to extend their rule over the indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australia is based the legal notion of the Discovery Doctrine which was first established in 1452 by the Catholic Pope. Among other things, this doctrine laid the foundation for assuming that government comes only from the Christian god and therefore Christian nations have a legal right to rule over non-Christian nations. While non-Christian Indian nations might be able to own the land, the European nations, as Christian nations, had the right and even the obligation to rule Indian nations. If the Indian nations failed to recognize this right, then the Christian nations could wage a just war against them.
(See Indians 201: The Doctrine of Discovery for a more complete background.)
Prior to the establishment of English colonies in North America, the only English experience with colonialization had been their invasion, conquest, and occupation of Ireland. The English therefore brought their experience with the Irish to America and treated Indians in a manner similar to the way in which they had treated the Irish. While the Spanish debated about the moral and legal rights of the Indians, the English had no interest in Indian rights: Indian people were simply inconvenient occupants of land desired by the English.
The English claimed sovereignty over parts of the Americas, including New England and Virginia and thus the right to govern all people there, whether European or Native American. Historian William Cronon, in his book Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England, explains:
“The Crown derived its own claim to the region from several sources: Cabot’s ‘discovery’ of New England in 1497-98; the failure of Indians to adequately subdue the soil as Genesis 1:38 required; and from the King’s status—initially a decidedly speculative one—as the first Christian monarch to establish colonies there.”
In 1606, a Royal Charter was given to the Virginia Company to develop a market in the New World for English commerce and for “propagating of Christian Religion to such people, as yet live in darkness.” In this charter, Indians were characterized as living “in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God.” In addition to bringing Christianity to the Indians, the Company was also assigned the task of searching for gold, silver, and copper.
In 1609, the British Crown’s advocate, Robert Johnson, gave a speech entitled “Nova Britannia” in which he argued that the English conquest of pagans in foreign lands was the solemn duty of civilized people. In his book Savages and Scoundrels: The Untold Story of America’s Road to Empire Through Indian Territory, Paul VanDevelder writes:
“That a Christian king may lawfully make war upon a barbarous and savage people to save them from their wickedness was seen as more a duty than a right.”
From the viewpoint of British clerics, it was a sin to allow blasphemous idolaters and savages to claim the earth, which was to be viewed as God’s creation.
Regarding the English right to rule, historian Francis Jennings, in his book The Creation of America: Through Revolution to Empire, writes:
“It decreed that Indian peoples were subject to the king of England because earlier subjects had ‘discovered’ Indian territories—had looked at their coasts from shipboard. (I am not inventing this; American courts still appeal to this rationale.)”
With regard to the English colonists, historian Francis Jennings reports:
“From their day of first arrival, every single colonial desired and worked to expand English rule over more territory and more people.”
Colonialization meant the expansion of the English legal system over the Indians. Historian Michael Oberg, in his biography Uncas: First of the Mohegans, writes:
“English authorities, through their legislation defined Indians as outsiders, living within the jurisdiction of the province but without full membership in the commonwealth.”
Among other things, this often meant that Indians could be punished for labor or play on the Sabbath, as well as other offenses toward the English religion.
One example of English attitudes toward American Indians can be seen in the 1620 charter forming the Council of New England. The chief function of the Council was to make land grants to its members and others. In their introduction to American Beginnings: Exploration, Culture, and Cartography in the Land of Norumbega, Edwin Churchill and Emerson Baker note:
“The charter completely ignored the existence of a native population that already occupied the land.”
Indians 101
Twice each week—on Tuesdays and Thursdays—this series presents various American Indian topics. More seventeenth century histories from this series—
Indians 101: English religion and American Indians in the 17th century
Indians 101: The English and Indian land in the 17th century
Indians 101: The Dutch and American Indians in the 17th century
Indians 101: The French and American Indians in the 17th century
Indians 101: French missionaries and American Indians in the 17th century
Indians 101: The Spanish and the Indians in the Seventeenth century
Indians 101: The Timucua and the Spanish
Indians 101: New Sweden and the Indians
