"American Holocaust"

Paper Summary:

The paper examines how David Stannard, in his book "American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World" describes the European settlement in America as the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world, focusing on how the native Indian population were all but wiped out by white settlement. It evaluates how the author's thesis is that the perpetrators of the American holocaust based their actions on the same Christian ideology as those of the Nazi holocaust. It looks at how Stannard uses a variety of historical evidence to argue his thesis including newspapers, Congressional records and the journal entries of European settlers. It also analyzes how the author makes a strong argument for his case and how he makes a distinct the bias against the white settlers, with their actions seeming to be emphasized more than is necessary and them being presented as racist.

From the Paper:

"While the research is thorough, it does appear that Stannard is biased towards presenting the Indian population as better than the white people. In the first part of the book, Stannard describes the rich culture and the attitude of the native Indians. Stannard argues that they are a kind and generous people. This includes the argument that the Indian population were probably open to working with the white people, but were not given the opportunity. Stannard provides anecdotes to make this point. This includes stories such as one where a tribe low on food met another tribe without food. The first tribe shared their goods with the second tribe. By using such anecdotes, the author suggests that the Indians are the better people. This anecdote also compares the Indians with the white settlers. The Indians were able to accept another tribe as their own people, while the Americans were biased against those with differences. This is a common argument the author makes, often referring to the white settlers as racist."

More papers on "American Holocaust":

• Book Review # 116684 : "David E. Stannard's "American Holocaust"
• Analytical Essay # 10864 : "American Holocaust" by David Stannard"
• Essay # 65227 : "The Holocaust and American Jewry"

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