Time For Change

A detailed Summary of Time For Change

"Let your manners be without covetousness, contented with such things as you have."

Covetousness, or greed, is known as one of the seven deadly sins. Thomas Aquinas, a famous theologian, says of covetousness: "it is a sin directly against one's neighbor, since one man cannot over-abound in external riches, without another man lacking in them...it is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, inasmuch as man contemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things." What does this mean when related to America in the 1600's?

Covetousness can be seen in many aspects of the European and Indian relations. The trading, while beneficial to both parties, granted a higher monetary gain for the Europeans. The land on which the Indians lived, was taken by the Europeans. The Europeans even went as far as kidnapping the Indians as property to sell them as laborers or train them as guides. In their pursuit for riches and dreams of wealth, the Europeans quickly destroyed a lifestyle long held by the peaceful natives of America.

During the earlier visits to America, the Europeans discovered a land overflowing in resources. They found an immense variety of trees larger than any they had known in Europe. They found the seas so full of fish

To the Europeans, the Native Indians were a poor and misguided people. Their communities were small and varied greatly from place to place. The people lacked the skills and knowledge held by the educated Europeans. Their weapons were far less sophisticated than those the europeans carried. If a war broke out, the Europeans were confident the Indians would not provide much of a challenge, for they did not have discipline or the weapons to compete with the Europeans. Even their beliefs were misguided. The Indians believed in a world filled with many Gods. Each having it's own specific purpose. The Europeans saw them to be so far from the truth, that conversion to the "true" religion would be an easy task. Suffice it to say, the Europeans felt far superior to the Natives they discovered in America. But then how did the Indians view the Europeans?

All in all, the Indians were slowly driven out of their homeland as America grew into what it is today. Greed continues to drive our culture. The year is 1999 and we still haven't learned to be satisfied. The Indians reservations are almost gone. Freedom is but an illusion. In the pursuit for enormous capital gains, large corporations all but control the world. When will we heed the message from Thomas Aquinas? When will we live in harmony with our neighbors? When can we say, "It's time to change!"?

To the Natives, their visitors appeared almost God-like. They had many sophisticated tools and weapons. Their knives and swords were made of steel. They had compasses and clocks such that the natives had never seen before. Add onto that, the foreign diseases brought over by the Europeans to a people who had no immunity, causing many deaths among the Indian population. Though the Indians did not see their rampantly growing deaths as caused by disease. For whenever the Europeans visited a community, shortly after, a great number of natives would die. The natives saw this as a punishment for something they had done wrong. The Europeans appeared as Gods to have the ability to kill another man without the use of any physical weapon.

In the late 17th century, a new community developed. William Penn, a strong leader of the Quakers felt all people were equal and should be free to pursue their own lives

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Approximate Word count = 1519
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History