Prymaat summoning Beldar,

  

    I am enjoying my period of relaxation here on Earth. I decided to aquire some ultraviolet rays on my cone, so I went for a walk. While out on my walk I met the strangest Conehead acquiring ultraviolet rays on his cone as well. We decided to consume mass quantities together. Afterwards he gave me many books containing writings which he was very excited about. The books are filled with the personal stories of Earthlings. I am not sure why this Conehead showed so much feelings of happiness toward these writings, except to say that he must have been dropped on his cone as a child, because his cone is very flat. This must have affected his health as well, because he only had six beers and ten cigarettes and then rapidly returned the mass quantities through is oral passageway. Here is an image I created of him on light sensitive film paper.

    Beldar, you would be intrigued by the actions of the Early American Earthlings. After reading all of the written works provided by the flat Conehead, I believe the most important concepts to the North Americans Earthlings are the domination of religion, and European supremacy over other races and cultures. Early American writing from the 1500’s though the 1700’s show how prolific these concepts were. Beginning with the first Spanish explorers who were still just discovering the uncharted lands of North America through the second and third generation settlers who were making the continent their home, the struggles to abolish slavery and cruelty, or condemn people to it was justified on both sides by different writer’s interpretation of God’s will. Though out this two hundred year period Earthling writers beg, berate, cajole, and compel their audiences to see the world as they saw it.

     I call my first experience in Early American Earthling Literature, “What a Massacre; The tales of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and Bartolomé De las Casas."  This was the time period of the early Spanish explorers. The first writer I will tell you about is De las Casas. He wrote a book called, Historia General de las Indias, which was a graphic account of all the brutal travesties he witnessed during his time in the Americas. He was extremely well educated and through letters, sermons, and public appearances made his life's work halting these unspeakable crimes against the natives. The haunting imagery of his writing may be upsetting even to Coneheads. Even though De las Casas was one of the first Europeans to address the atrocities happening in North America, his work probably reached more people than any of the other writers. He deeply and fervorently believed in God and used his education and position in the Catholic Church to defend the Natives. De Vaca, on the other hand, was not as religious, but came to care for the Native Americans and fought for them passionately. De Vaca was shipwrecked on an island off the coast of modern day Texas and forced to wander all over Texas and Mexico. At first he was taken as slave by a Native American tribe. Later he formed a deep, mutual affection for the native people and became a healer moving freely amongst all the tribes. , After many hardships he was reunited with his countrymen, who then enslaved the natives he had been living with. De las Casas was extremely upset and tried very hard to keep this from happening. I found a great PBS website detailing his journeys and life, as well as this map of his travels. De las Casas and De Vaca both held religious positions and were two of the earliest Europeans to recognize the cruelty of the invading Europeans and use their written word to defend the unknowing natives.

    The second time period I read about reminded me of home. I call this time period, “Ahh! I think it’s your male parental unit,” because I think this was written about him. However, it was really written by a man named Captain John Smith. John Smith genuinely believed he was the savior of a new colony. Just like your male parental unit, John Smith was a legend in his own mind. He was a brutal, callus, self-righteous mercenary. He perpetually hunted the native inhabitants of North America making it impossible for them to live in peace or form alliances with the rest of the European settlers. During this period John Smith’s antithesis was an Indian chief named Powhattan. Powhattan wanted to live in peace with John Smith and the other Europeans. One of the works from the flat Conehead I read was a speech made by this chief. The Chief was not happy about John Smith. In the speech to Captain Smith found on the flat Conehead’s AMLIT website, Chief Powhattan said, "But this bruit from Nandsamund, that you are come to destroy my Country, so much affrighteth all my people as they dare not visity you" (Creel). John Smith was a tyrant. In his writing he claims he was a hero, but in reality he was the opposite. A quote from the Smith Powhatan discussion posting makes this point well, “John Smith paints himself as a paragon of virtue (xxvi). However, his own words paint a vulgar picture. He shows himself to be callow (149), paranoid, and perhaps a despot” (Worth, “Smith Powhatan”). Captain Smith personified the brutal Europeans who saw the Natives as less than human. Strangely, John Smith is now the present day hero of a children's movie created by an extremely large, evil rodent who lives in a castle surrounded by old people.

    You will receive extreme feelings of wry humor from the next bunch of writers. I call this period time from the late 1500's through the late 1600's, "Here come the zealots; Respectively, Pilgrims and Puritans." These writers were among the first generation European settlers in North America. They fled religious persecution in their homeland and tried to establish a new life in the New England colonies. Ironically, they were very intolerant of anyone else’s religious views. The first two authors, William Bradford and John Winthrop, were very similar. They both were governors and therefore were in a position of authority over their audiences. They used a writing style popular back then called typology. According to the tenets of typology, a writer illuminates their descriptions of events by comparing them to similar events in the Bible. Bradford and Winthrop’s written works centered on condemning other people for what they believed were immoral actions and trying to convince people to follow their ideas about a combined form of religion and government. They were not tolerant of other people’s religious beliefs, and so I believe that they basically believed the Europeans were justified in their actions toward the Indians because the Indians were not Christians. The third writer, Roger Williams, was different from the first two in his beliefs and tone. He did not believe people should be punished civilly for their personal religious beliefs, and he actually fought for the rights of Indians. In his work, A key into the Language of America, he discusses the conversion of the Indians to Christianity, “Therefore fourthly, to that great point of their conversion, so much to be longed for” (Williams 177). I believe that this was something that was important to him. His tone was much kinder and in his writing, The Letter to the Town of Providence, he used a poetic device called an extended metaphor about people in a ship to illuminate his idea. The works of all three of these writers were similar because they all were written in the typological style, which by definition glorifies God, but they differed in their tone and message.

    Continuing with the pervasive god and slavery theme the next three writers are Anne Bradstreet, Edward Taylor, and Mary Rowlandson. All three of these authors were poets and they lived in the time period of the early English colonists. The author I enjoyed most was Anne Bradstreet. The slavery she encountered was of the gilded cage variety. As a Puritan wife she had very limited choices in life and was expected to meet and except cultural expectations and restrictions. But, like a one woman feminist rebellion, Bradstreet used her pen to rebel against her captors. Her poetry was beautiful, sincere, and sometimes satirical. In her poem “The Prologue” she writes, “To sing of wars, of captains, and of kings,/ Of cities founded, commonwealth begun,/ For my mean pen are too superior things”(ll. 1-3). This is a clever way of saying her pen, which is really an outlet for her thoughts, is superior as well. She is basically saying that she is as intelligent as men are.  The idea that Bradford was a captive of her own society perpetuates the common slavery theme. Edward Taylor was a very important poet. He was a minister all his life and, as stated in the Perspectives in American Literature website, wrote poetry that placed, “emphasis on self-examination, particularly in an individual's relations to God” (Stanford). Through Taylor’s work we can see examples of metaphysical conceits and imagery as well as the ever pervasive god theme. The third author is Mary Rowlandson .I call her work, “So much god, so little time.” Mary Rowlandson’s story is called a captivity narrative. She was captured by Indians and forced into slavery for several months. During this time all she could talk about was how great God was and how much she deserved her punishment. In a Discussion Forum I found a quote that sums her up, “But she seems to give thanks and make note to every little thing that's positive as being from God. She didn't get her feet wet on the raft…This happened several times.”(Wiley, “Rowlandson”).  One hundred years after Cabeza and De las Casas, people are still inextricably intertwined with god and slavery.

     The next two writers I read are John Woolman and Samson Occom. These two men were champions of freedom. John Woolman was a Quaker who felt so appalled by the institution of slavery that he wrote an amazing letter illustrating why it was wrong. He used many strong examples from the Bible to emphasize his points, most prominently “The Golden Rule.” The thing about his writing style was that he did not talk down to his audience. Woolman showed that he himself was a flawed human being and therefore not judgmental. The tone that he used in his writing made a huge difference in how it was received. Samson Occom had an entirely different background and tone. Occom was an Indian who became a Christian. He was educated by a white man at a school that is now present day Dartmouth University. Occom was employed by white men to work with the Indians, educating them and ministering to them. He was not paid the same wage as his white counterparts, and understandably, was upset about this. Woolman and Occom were both deeply devout men who used their passion for God to make life better for enslaved and oppressed people.

     Finally, I came across a group of writings from Indians. The Indians were incredulous at the Europeans’ sense of superiority. They felt that if one race was better it would have to be them because they did not seek out new land as the Europeans did. The Indians felt that their gods and lifestyle were better as evidenced by their hundreds of years of sustained happiness. Unfortunately for the Indians, logic did not apply to the Europeans. The Europeans killed and hunted all the Indian tribes until they were almost extinct. The Europeans believed they had the power of their god and their guns on their side so they felt divinely justified in their pursuits. Unfortunately, it only takes looking at a few current newspapers to realize this same philosophy stills holds true today. 

    In closing, I am glad I ran into the sickly, misshapened Conehead. His pile of Early American Earthling readings has been enlightening. The Earthlings who settled in North America from Europe were en mass a group of religious zealots who struggled with the morality of enslaving their fellow Earthlings. While I see that there are still some of those types of Earthlings today, I was glad to learn that after all these years of struggles America has become a melting pot of all the cultures that clashed so hard at its inception. Here is a picture which the flat Conehead showed me of the present day Earthlings showing all cultures standing as equals side by side. I hope while I am away you are being an acceptable parental unit to Connie and providing the daily recommended portions of mass quantities. As always, I feel great affection for you,

 

Prymaat

 

P.S. - I am going to capture the sickly Conehead and sell him for peanuts on the flight back to Remulak.

 

 

                                                                                                              I hope this wasn't too tedious for you,

 

                                                                                                               Lisa Drew