1CREATING THE RACIAL STATE: INDIGENOUS AMERICANS CONFRONT EUROPEAN CONQUEST AND GENOCIDEPamela Oliver Sociology 220Review of previous slidesGeneral Theoretical Orientation Groups are in conflict, one group wants what belongs to another. European colonial expansion, in our story Resources and capacities are crucial Inequalities in military, economic resources lead to political inequalities Weaker groups can resist domination and still lose Legacies of history Past struggles create today’s structures Today’s conflicts are defined & constrained by the pastAbout “Americanism” and “Anti-Americanism” All large countries have invasion, conquest of minorities and horror in their history There are class, race, ethnic, religious, linguistic conflicts and inequalities in most countries To talk honestly about the unpleasant aspects of our ypphistory is not to imply that the US is worse than other countries and certainly not to imply that only the US has problems This course is about OUR history, about the U.S. This is not about “good” and “bad” people, it is about what happenedUSA as a Racial State Early formation of US was a government of, for, and by White people (people from Europe) American Indians were “foreign nations” to be fought, negotiated with. Not citizens of US.Af i l li itl l d d f iti hi i African slaves explicitly excluded from citizenship in Constitution of 1789; citizenship rights of free Africans attacked after 1790s 1790 Immigration and Naturalization Act. Migrants from Europe can become citizens in relatively easy process of "naturalization." Only "Whites" can be naturalized. (Restrictions not removed until 1940s)Act of March 26, 1790 (1 Stat 103-104) (Excerpts)Act of March 26, 1790 (1 Stat 103-104) (Excerpts)That any alien, being a free white person, who shall have resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for the term of two years, may be admitted to become a citizen thereof, on application to any common law court of record,in any one of the States wherein he shall have resided for the term of one year at least, and making proof to the satisfaction of such court, that he is a person of good character, and taking the oath or affirmation prescribed by law to support the Constitution oftaking the oath or affirmation prescribed by law, to support the Constitution of the United States, which oath or affirmation such court shall administer; and the clerk of such court shall record such application, and the proceedings thereon; and thereupon such person shall be considered as a citizen of the United States. And the children of such persons so naturalized, dwelling within the United States, being under the age of twenty-one years at the time of such naturalization, shall also be considered as citizens of the United States. And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens: Provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States: . . .2Before 1492Human migrationSource: www.pbs.org “Race the Power of an Illusion”C15,000-30,000BCEC30,000BCEHuman migration (re-pictured)Agriculture invented ~ 8000-10,000 BCEIndigenous Americans Before 1492 (1) Arrived 12,000 – 30,000 years ago (before agricultural settlements in Europe) Some hunter/gatherers, some settled agriculture, some cities, some empires Long history of civilizations rising & falling, wars etc. before Europeans. Thousands of years! Archeological evidence of groups of traders & immigrants from Africa, Europe, Asia. Either blended in or disappeared. America remained in control of the Americans.Indigenous North Americans before 1492 (2) Estimates 2-10 million in what is now US Relatively low population density, relatively abundant resources for the populationSome agricultural communities some nomadicSome agricultural communities, some nomadic No horses [horses introduced by the Spanish]Indigenous North Americans before 1492 (3) 300+ languages/dialects spoken (grouped into larger language groups) Self-governing nations with governments, some were formal democracies, others monarchies or theocracies Influence of indigenous American democratic forms on Influence of indigenous American democratic forms on European American ideas Inter-cultural contact Significant trade and “trade languages” Wars, raids, kidnapping Not paradise: real people living real lives, doing both good and bad things3Specific indigenous American groups in eastern part of what became the US (lines divide political units; colors mark linguistic groups)European Political boundaries in 1400 (for comparison)What happened? Where are the Americans, the indigenous Americans? Why is this country predominantly White? What happened? What do you think?pp yExtermination & Genocide Americans: From 2-10 million before 1500 to 500,000 in 1800 (down to 200,000 in 1900) Military battles, especially Spanish (less so English, French early on)y) Disease: killed 90%+ of many American populations, weakened others, made European settlements possible Economic disruption: Fur trade, Horses, plains cultureIndigenous American responses varied Early contacts ambiguous: coexistence & conflict; intermarriage, contact between cultures. Some places a multicultural vision: different ethnicities in separate villages but with positive relations between themthem Some American groups adopt European ways, even own slaves. Some try to fight the invaders, resist encroachment, try to drive them out Others retreat west, regroup in the face of disruptionEuropean ideologies of justification Tiny proportion of colonists were Pilgrims & Puritans arriving 1620s, but they became icons of the national myth. Most Europeans arrived after 1800. Most colonists immigrated for economic advancement Religious self-views. The Promised Land. The New Canaan, New Israel enter Canaan & kill all the inhabitants Saw New Israel. enter Canaan & kill all the inhabitants. Saw disease and deaths of natives as a sign from God. Hostile reactions from natives increased European hostility to the locals. Some thought they should live peacefully with native Americans and share the land. Some did.
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