Robinson Crusoe the American Continent

Robinson Crusoe

The American continent had changed dramatically after the arrival of the European colonists. Hundreds of thousands and even millions of people immigrated to the new continent in hope of finding a better living and unlimited areas of land. News traveled around the world about those that went to America and about their adventures. As a result, numerous books have been written on the topic in order to further promote the events.

Daniel Defoe's book "Robinson Crusoe" had been first published in 1719 and it described the life of the adventurous and ill-fated Robinson Crusoe. After having read the story of Robinson Crusoe, many Europeans decided to leave their countries in favor of America where they expected to become wealthy planters, or, at least, lead an exploratory life.

As Robinson Crusoe, Christopher Columbus reached the new continent through a coincidence, as the finding of an unknown continent had not been his objective from the start. Normally, at the time, white people considered themselves as the masters of the world. Colonialism as it had been practiced during the 17th and the 18th centuries is represented throughout Daniel Dafoe's novel.

On the island that he inhabits, Crusoe behaves similarly to how Europeans did when they conquered America. He literary colonizes the island by commanding every man that he encounters and he exploits the resources found on the island. Moreover, Crusoe also exploits Friday, the native that he saves from the cannibals, as he gives him a new name and a new language. He acts like a colonizer who imposes his superior culture and language to the conquered people. All in all, Crusoe considers the island as being his and all of the resources on the island as his property. After departing from the island, Crusoe leaves the newly arrived English and Spanish men to further colonize the land.

For later colonists Crusoe became an icon of European conquerors, as he managed to keep a newly discovered territory and to turn it into a hospitable place. As Crusoe stands as a symbol for the conqueror race, Friday in his turn is a representative for other races that will be enslaved by the white people.

European colonists of the time believed that the color of their skin entitled them to be leaders over any other race, as they considered themselves to be the perfect race. Indeed, the typical British colonists coming to America believed that they held the upper hand because of coming from what they considered "the civilized world." Generally, Europeans felt like it had been their job to civilize the lesser fortunate nations in America. Moreover, they felt like they had every right to enslave other nations for the reason that they were savages and thus inferior.

The first Europeans to leave Europe in order to have a new life in America did so mainly to escape the persecution in their countries. Not all of the Europeans that went to America had been persecuted in their home countries, and there had been several reasons for why people chose to leave. While some merely wanted a life of adventure on an unknown continent, others searched to take the word of God further by Christianizing the Native Americans. Religion is also present in Robinson Crusoe, as Crusoe converts Friday to Christianity and teaches him about God and faith.

Along with exploring the American continent, Europeans frequently interacted with the natives. The Native Americans firstly regarded white people as being Gods coming to save them after ages of misfortune. Most colonists took advantage of the kindness showed by the Indians and robbed them of their fortunes and of their land.

Similar to Crusoe, white people came and imposed their rule over the natives, as the latter did not initially show any resistance. Later on, natives had been obliged to convert to Christianity and to learn the languages spoken by whites.

A reason that contributed to the belief that the Native Americans were savages had been that they performed human sacrifices and that they had been reported of being cannibals.