Benjamin Franklin and John Smith's contrasting portrayals of Native Americans

¶ … Native Americans portrayed works Ben Franklin John Smith? Do authors treat a favorable negative light? Be introduction a distinct thesis statement, a body specific supporting elements, a conclusion essay.

Many influential people in the history of the U.S. have played an active role in either improving society's relationship with Native Americans or in damaging it by portraying them as individuals who were savages. Benjamin Franklin was among the people who wanted to emphasize the fact that the masses had a tendency to discriminate natives for no actual reason. In contrast to Franklin, John Smith employed a more practical attitude in dealing with natives and primarily focused on exploiting his relationship with them. To a certain degree, one can say that Smith focused on a rational approach with the purpose of securing his position on the American continent.

Benjamin Franklin was an open-minded individual and he did not necessarily believe that natives should be discriminated on account of their particularities. By demonstrating that it all comes down to cultural values, he expected his companions to understand that every community was likely to respect values that others believed to be deviant and that behavior did not necessarily stand as a grounds for differentiation.

Franklin believed that it was essential for a person to employ an impartial attitude when trying to judge another individual. "Perhaps, if we could examine the manners of different nations with impartiality, we should find no people so rude, as to be without any rules of politeness; nor any so polite, as not to have some remains of rudeness" (Reily, Kaufman, & Bodino, 2003, 105).

Not only did Franklin consider that natives could be considered equals to him and other colonists, as he actually believed that they were superior to them when taking into account their lifestyle and the benefits that it provides. From Franklin's perspective, natives lived a very natural and satisfying lifestyle. As a consequence, he felt that it was very wrong for colonists to relate to natives as being savages simply because their customs differed from traditions generally accepted throughout the colonies or in Europe.

John Smith was not necessarily concerned about how natives lived or about their customs, as he was more interest in strategies he could use with the purpose of exploiting them. The English explorer even "advocated deception and intimidation toward Native Americans, recommending unrestrained violence to keep the tribes in line" (Rausch & Schlepp, 1994, 59). This makes it possible for someone to understand that Smith thought of the natives as being little more than tools he could use with the purpose of making profits.