One of the "must see" artifacts in the Deerfield Museum is this door. The hole in it was made by Indian tomahawks during the attack on Deerfield that is the subject of this post.
Posted on 06/15/2005 7:36:49 AM PDT by bookworm100
"In the pre-dawn hours of February 29, 1704, a force of about 300 French and Native allies launched a daring raid on the Engish settlement of Deerfield, Massachusetts, situated in the Pocumtuck homeland." So begins the introduction to a website dedicated to what is, in essence, a footnote in history - an incident that most of us have never heard of, or quickly forgot.
But the innovative approach of this online commemoration will almost certainly give the raid a higher profile than it has ever had before...Rather than follow the tradition of history being written by the eventual victors (in this case, endorsing the English position of an unprovoked attack made on a village of innocent settlers), the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association chose to examine the attack from multiple angles, and demonstrate that there is no 'one truth' about any historical event....
Raid on Deerfield: The Many Stories of 1704 can be found at http://www.1704.deerfield.history.museum/
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
For example, one of our greatest heroes, George Washington, has to be considered one of the greatest traitors in British history.
Classic post-modern full-blown relativism. Seperate webs of reality without connection to any universal truth.
Kinda sad, but not surprising.
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"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."
"What is truth?" Pilate asked.
John 18:37-38
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1 Bluegrass --"History really does have more than one side, especially on things like this and I like to see all sides looked at."
Sure, one version of history reads, 'The French & their Indian allies committed murder, rape and arson on the English village of Deerfield, Massachusetts', the other should read 'The French & their Indian allies committed murder, rape and arson on the English village of Deerfield in the Pocumtuck homeland'
And how's this for a thought-provoking question from the website:
Why did the allies take so many captives, and was the killing of some captives merciful or expedient?
So, slaughtering prisoners of war is either:
A) Merciful
B) Just good sense
No other option? Just 2 choices? All I can say is: let's ne merciful to those guys at Gitmo.
On the one hand I agree with you: this kinda stuff leads to revisionist history; touched up stories about a past that never happened, just to please a bunch of Oprah viewers.
On the other hand, history should always be examined and re-examined. The story as reported by the victor in no way invalidates the story of the loser, nor others on the sidelines. The problem, of course, is that people usually take this way too far. The same thing goes with cultural-relativism. My anthropology professor introduced us to the concepts of relativism - as a TOOL to better understand what is happening in the world. He then told us that it should remain a tool, not an ethos - ie., it should never be used to justify what the Nazis did (to use his example).
Everything in its place, and in the proper amounts I say.
I started to read a recent book on the Deerfield raid a little while ago. The opening chapters were too complex, and I didn't want to work that hard, so I returned it.
What was so hard about it was that I was completely unprepared for the complexities of inter-imperial relations. Which powers were interfering with whose trade; had feuds with which other powers; coveted trade goods or routes through enemy domains; the shifting alliance structures...
No, not the European powers. The native tribes in western Massachusetts. They were alot more complex than I thought.
taken fm one of the links on the deerfield website:
English
The region to which the English immigrated and renamed New England had been carefully stewarded by Native peoples for millennia. English settlers, however, viewed these lands as a vacant wilderness to be possessed and subdued. The seemingly insatiable English desire for new lands where they could farm, raise families, and create an ideal Protestant society, generated conflict between these newcomers and the region's indigenous inhabitants. The land was further contested as imperial wars drove the English to fight the French for possession of the continent's rich resources.
French
France's growing colonial empire included New France on the North American continent. Until the early 18th century, the vast majority of French immigrants to New France were single men, rather than family groups. French goals included maintaining friendly and profitable trade relations with Native people, converting them to Roman Catholicism, and restraining English imperial ambitions.
(My boldface, above) - Note the typical post-modernist, collectivist blah-blah-blah attack on "Whitey" - rapacious, ruthless, divide-and-conquer, yada yada yada. Note in contrast how the frogs just "wanted to get along".
It's just SOS, different day (and website).
Nothing has changed. Today, if you occupy a land and someone or some country wants that land, you had better be able to protect and hold onto the piece of real estate or walk away. Whether we like it or not, it has always been that way. The USA, Russia, Germany, etc., etc. That is why, if you want peace, "walk softly and carry a BIG stick."
To me, this is much more interesting than the dull stuff I remember from school.
What was the name of the book? My knowledge of native Americans is limited.
s,
And take it a step further. When English settlers came that far west, their leaders quickly recognized the powerplays at work between the tribes. It was not terribly difficult for the English to insert themselves into the fray; they knew what they were doing.
All of which is a far cry from the usual PC garbage we get, that the native Americans lived in their utopian state of nature, only to be corrupted by Europeans. The natives were just as complicated, corrupt, avaricious, or honorable in their relationships as the English were.
It's a homo sapiens thing, not an English, white, or European thing.
"Captors and Captives: the 1704 French and Indian raid on Deerfield"
It was well-written and seemed worthwhile, but like I said more detail than I cared to retain; I was after a more general work I guess.
One of the "must see" artifacts in the Deerfield Museum is this door. The hole in it was made by Indian tomahawks during the attack on Deerfield that is the subject of this post.
Wow!!!
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