American Indians 2
"'Indians': Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History", an essay written by Jane Tompkins, a professor of English at Duke University, outlines Tompkins dissatisfaction on how American Indians are portrayed throughout history. As children, we are taught that in "1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue", and that Peter Minuet bought all of Manhattan Island from the Indians for only twenty-four dollars worth of trinkets. In high school, we were taught that in World War II, the Germans were all heartless savages, and that the best course of action to end the war was to use the atomic bomb on Japan. It is seen that "the victor writes the history books." In other words, the dominant cultures and societies that conquer and overshadow lesser societies have the privilege of writing history. For example, if Germany won World War II, would the history books have mentioned the holocaust of the Jews? The problem with history is that history is defined in terms of the author's point of view. There is no scientific process by which history is written; therefore we must discern what is the real tr
Tompkins has identified two major problems in the interpretive practices of historians, and illustrates these problems in the works of Miller and Vaughan. The first major problem is found in Miller's essay. Miller's own point of view and his own experiences cloud his portrayal of history. The second major problem is found in Vaughan's book. For the most part, Vaughan remained unbiased, however Vaughan's account was inaccurate. Inaccuracy and biased points of reference are the two major problems that Tompkins finds are detrimental to truthful historical accounts. Tompkins researched several historians' works, and in her research, she identified several problems in the interpretive practices of these historians. Tompkins began her research of the misrepresentation of American Indians with Perry Miller's book Errand into the Wilderness. In his book, Miller writes, "the massive narrative of the movement of European culture into the vacant wilderness of America." This passage from Miller's book provokes a shocking response from Tompkins. Tompkins is shocked that Miller referred to Am
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 739
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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