In William Howitt’s book Colonization and Christianity: a popular history of the treatment of the natives by the Europeans in all their colonies, he presents an original view point for the 1830s (the book was published in 1838) which sees the Indians as ‘men’ rather than beasts. Howitt agrees with William Penn’s earlier view that the human nature of these men and the power of Christianity can bring the continents together.
Howitt agrees again with Penn, believe that their embracing of the Bible would persuade those at home that the Indians were not obsessed with ‘bloodshed and violence’.
Howitt’s sympathising with the Indians goes to revolutionary lengths, referencing the high number of votes for scalping Indians. He thus presents the impression that the Indians are harmless victims of British propaganda and fear monger. The figures detailed (left) show a steady increase in the number of votes for scalping and its placing before the details of William Penn’s work demonstrates Howitt’s belief in needing to quell these rumours that lead to unchristian actions.
For further information, go to:
W. Howitt, Colonization and Christianity: a popular history of the treatment of the natives by the Europeans in all their colonies (Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1838), in The Making of the Modern World:
http://gdc.galegroup.com.liverpool.idm.oclc.org/gdc/artemis/MonographsDetailsPage/MonographsDetailsWindow?disableHighlighting=false&displayGroupName=DVI- [accessed 27 February 2019], p. 348-58
