Reference no: EM133666577

Developing an accurate history and historical interpretation of the early American encounters starting with the romanticizing of the exploration and colonization of the New World. This includes showing the European explorers as almost god-like heroes. The violence, displacement, and exploitation of the Native peoples are nearly nonexistent in much of the literature. Another misconception that was harmful to developing an accurate history is the oversimplification of the many Indigenous societies. They weren't even given the respect of being societies because these were not civilized, or people, and therefore could not have had societies. Thirdly, Eurocentrism. The accounts of early encounters in the New World were told from a European point of view. This helped to erase the voices and marginalize the Indian peoples and to ignore that these people had worthy experiences, perspectives, and lives. My views changed because there was a tremendous amount of knowledge that I did not have before taking this course. I wanted to side with the natives but my orientation like most Americans was clouded by Eurocentrism and misinformation. A good amount of the literature this term was hard to read in that it was heartbreaking, but I have a clearer picture of the early American encounters now.