Comments on: Benjamin Franklin’s essay about Native Americans

By: E. Rush

E. Rush — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 02:56:44 +0000

I’m afraid I cannot agree with Friede Lundell. What I see is not a manual of how to exploit my ancestors, but rather a man who was extolling things that the white society of the day could learn from us. What he was doing was explaining that we were never savages and the word “savage” does not and has never been an accurate description. What I see is a man pointing out the cultural differences are not synonymous with savagery. If you want a “founding father” to hate on, try Thomas Jefferson.

By: Friede Lundell

Friede Lundell — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 15:05:23 +0000

It would seem to me that there is an unconsidered purpose to Ben's essay. If a people were both building a relationship with a native, but "technologically" lesser people, would you encourage change? Ben's tribute to these people is two fold, one to praise their tradition and nature, but to highlight the ways in which the "white man" may manipulate and exploit these "noble savages". Ben was a great thinker and leader of a nation, but never forget the cost, ambition, and history of this nation. Why encourage a people to evolve, when keeping them at the status quo would make exploitation so much easier.

By: Erich Vieth

Erich Vieth — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 10:13:49 +0000

It would seem that we would all be better off, at least occasionally, aspiring to the viewpoint of the Martian anthropologist. If only it weren't so threatening to strive for that viewpoint. You see, our perception is inextricably bound up in our elaborate system of values, which are grounded, beyond articulation, in slow-growing deep emotion. Ben Franklin's essay is a wonderful aid to giving us a glimpse.

This essay also reminds me of the value of being well-read and well-travelled. People who have stretched their minds in this way are less apt to think of their own culture as "normal" or as "the starting point" for evaluating the cultures of others.

Beware, then, those who refuse to travel or read widely of the cultures of others. Also beware of others who, when they travel, seek out only the comfort of grand hotels that offer them only the comforts of "home."