Sunday, 21 October 2012

Week 4: Accounts From Early Settlers In America

Description of  Pennsylvania of the 1690s: Francis Daniel Pastorius’s

"I herewith present to you the province of Pennsylvania, lately discovered by means of the expeditions sent out under Charles Stuart the First of England, and likewise its inhabitants, the Christians as well as the native savages, together with the laws, form of government, customs and habits of both of these, and also the towns which have already been settled, and the commerce which has been established . . . . And it is worthy of remark that this province, as early as the year 1684, contained four thousand Christian souls; therefore, at the present time, at the end of sixteen years, it must necessarily have a much greater population, both because of the yearly arrival of settlers, and because of the natural increase of the Christian colonists, and must also have attained to a state of greater prosperity in agriculture, in dwellings, and in trade."
 Here provided is an extract from Francis Pastorious about the origins or Pennsylvania and how it came about to be discovered, and with it its early history. The extract provides knowledge on what the state consisted of before expeditions to its land. Interestingly enough it acknowledges that there was indeed inhabitants already living in Pennsylvania, thus questioning the notion of whether it was actual being 'discovered'. This piece of extract continues on to include chapters about how Francis Pastorious saw Pennsylvania as an ever changing and prosperous state that is always progressing.

The chapter which is of relative importance is that of chapter eleven whereby he talks about the concerns of the inhabitants with the province. Specifically he categorises them into three groups the natives (however notes they are so-called savages), the Christians (old-settlers) and newly arrived associations and companies. He talks about how each of them live and how it differs from his as well as emphasising the difference in the way the look at religion and talk of God.
"So far as concerns the first, the savages, they are, in general, strong, agile, and supple people, with blackish bodies; they went about naked at first and wore only a cloth about the loins. Now they are beginning to wear shirts. They have, usually, coal-black hair, shave the head, smear the same with grease, and allow a long lock to grow on the right side. They also besmear the children with grease and let them creep about in the heat of the sun, so that they become the color of a nut, although they were at first white enough by Nature."
The above quote is specified to the Natives.

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/becomingamer/growth/text1/pennsylvaniapastorius.pdf




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