David E. Stannard's "American Holocaust"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that David E. Stannard's "American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World" describes the nature of European society prior to the end of the fifteenth century as well as how this society was able to manufacture the stereotypes necessary to justify the subjugation and annihilation of the native populations they encountered in the Western Hemisphere. The paper also relates numerous horrific instances of brutality, as presented by Stannard, in North and South America. The paper concludes, however that the academic credibility of this book is weakened by Stannard's repeated use of hyperbole.

From the Paper:

"A second example occurred a century and a half later in 1637 between the British colonists and the Pequot Indians, when the Connecticut troops, under the command of John Mason, attacked the main Pequot village while they were sleeping, "slashing and shooting at anything that moved," and eventually setting the whole village on fire. Mason's own account of the massacre numbers the Pequot dead at a minimum of six hundred, and most of those were women, children and old men. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Stannard, David E. American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.

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