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American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World
For four hundred years - from the first Spanish assaults against the Arawak people of Hispaniola in the 1490s to the U.S. Army's massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee in the 1890s - the indigenous inhabitants of North and South America endured an unending firestorm of violence. During that time the native population of the Western Hemisphere declined by as many as one hundred million people. Indeed, as historian David E. Stannard argues in this stunning new book, the European and white American destruction of the native peoples of the Americas was the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world.
Stannard begins with a portrait of the enormous richness and diversity of life in the Americas prior to Columbus's fateful voyage in 1492. He then follows the path of genocide from the Indies to Mexico and Central and South America, then north to Florida, Virginia, and New England, and finally out across the Great Plains and Southwest to California and the North Pacific Coast. Stannard reveals that wherever Europeans or white Americans went, the native people were caught between imported plagues and barbarous atrocities, typically resulting in the annihilation of 95 percent of their populations. What kind of people, he asks, do such horrendous things to others? His highly provocative answer: Christians.
Digging deeply into ancient European and Christian attitudes toward sex, race, and war, he finds the cultural ground well prepared by the end of the Middle Ages for the centuries-long genocide campaign that Europeans and their descendants launched - and in places continue to wage - against the New World's original inhabitants. Advancing a thesis that is sure to create muchcontroversy, Stannard contends that the perpetrators of the American Holocaust drew on the same ideological wellspring as did the later architects of the Nazi Holocaust. It is an ideology that remains dangerously alive today, he adds, and one that in recent years has surfaced in American justifications for large-scale military intervention in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
At once sweeping in scope and meticulously detailed, American Holocaust is a work of impassioned scholarship that is certain to ignite intense historical and moral debate.
Stannard begins with a portrait of the enormous richness and diversity of life in the Americas prior to Columbus's fateful voyage in 1492. He then follows the path of genocide from the Indies to Mexico and Central and South America, then north to Florida, Virginia, and New England, and finally out across the Great Plains and Southwest to California and the North Pacific Coast. Stannard reveals that wherever Europeans or white Americans went, the native people were caught between imported plagues and barbarous atrocities, typically resulting in the annihilation of 95 percent of their populations. What kind of people, he asks, do such horrendous things to others? His highly provocative answer: Christians.
Digging deeply into ancient European and Christian attitudes toward sex, race, and war, he finds the cultural ground well prepared by the end of the Middle Ages for the centuries-long genocide campaign that Europeans and their descendants launched - and in places continue to wage - against the New World's original inhabitants. Advancing a thesis that is sure to create muchcontroversy, Stannard contends that the perpetrators of the American Holocaust drew on the same ideological wellspring as did the later architects of the Nazi Holocaust. It is an ideology that remains dangerously alive today, he adds, and one that in recent years has surfaced in American justifications for large-scale military intervention in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
At once sweeping in scope and meticulously detailed, American Holocaust is a work of impassioned scholarship that is certain to ignite intense historical and moral debate.
408 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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October 12, 2015
THE HOLOCAUST IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
David Stannard's "American Holocaust", aptly published during the ahistorical hoo-hah that marked the 500th year since Columbus "discovered" the Americas, takes as its subject the genocidal destruction of the Native Americans in north, south and central America in the aftermath of the western European invasion.
The book is split into three parts, the first and shortest of which provides remarkable insight into the great variety of indigenous peoples that populated the continent on the eve of being invaded by the Europeans. The second part is a description of various atrocities that occurred subsequent to 1492, by the Spannish and English, and the devestating effect of European diseases on the indigenous population. The final part looks into what it was, within European culture, religion and institutions that allowed, condoned, celebrated and facilitated this genocide; comparison is also made with future genocides, and its hardly a suprise to learn that Hitler was an admirer of what the British and subsequently the United States achieved vis-a-vis the Native Americans, and referred to Jews, Slavs and others he was slaughtering on a industrial scale at industrial speed as "Red Indians".
Overall "American Holocaust" is a remarkable achievement; it's well researched, well written and with particular regard to the third part, well argued. The picture of the numerous vibrant and vital human societies in the Americas pre-1492 is vividly presented to the reader. Stannard deals with the question of the diseases the Europeans inadvertently brought with them (though eventually a few enterprising pioneers of Biological warfare hit on the idea of giving Native Americans blankets which had previously been used by small pox victims) for which Native Americans had no immunity. My own feeling is that apologists for the American Holocaust use this as an alibi for the genocide- it just kinda happened... nothing to do with me mate. Stannard cites ample evidence that the good Christians from Europe viewed it as a gift from God that aided their efforts to colonise the Americas; for some Spanish Catholics (perhaps because they needed Indians for labour in the gold and silver mines, the largest of which at Potosì was the Auschwitz of its day) losing their indigenous labourers was viewed as a punishment from God for their own religious shortcomings! But the colonisers didn't just view the diseases that carried away millions upon millions of the Natives as a gift. The hostility, violence, massacres, displacement and brutal labouring conditions that they visited upon the Natives increased the already appaling death rate, and even those Native groups left undisturbed to recover from the deadly European diseases were subsequently destroyed and displaced by European violence alone.
A short review can hardly give a sense of the scope and quality of this work that I'd thoroughly recommend reading, especially by those who are sceptical or even offended by the use of the term Holocaust for other victims apart from the Jews (and Slavs, gypsies, etc) subjected to the horrific and murderous extermination policies of the Nazis during World War 2.
Other books of interest would include Dee Browns classic history of the United States late 19th century war against the Great Plains Indians "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee"; Ronald Wrights "Stolen Continents" focuses on telling the story of several communities of Native Americans and their confrontations with the Europeans at specific points in time during the five centuries after 1492. For anyone wishing to go off on a slight tangent Domenico Losurdo's "Liberalism: A Counter History" shows the dark side of Liberalism, and more than a few Liberals were cheerleaders for the genocide against Native Americans.
David Stannard's "American Holocaust", aptly published during the ahistorical hoo-hah that marked the 500th year since Columbus "discovered" the Americas, takes as its subject the genocidal destruction of the Native Americans in north, south and central America in the aftermath of the western European invasion.
The book is split into three parts, the first and shortest of which provides remarkable insight into the great variety of indigenous peoples that populated the continent on the eve of being invaded by the Europeans. The second part is a description of various atrocities that occurred subsequent to 1492, by the Spannish and English, and the devestating effect of European diseases on the indigenous population. The final part looks into what it was, within European culture, religion and institutions that allowed, condoned, celebrated and facilitated this genocide; comparison is also made with future genocides, and its hardly a suprise to learn that Hitler was an admirer of what the British and subsequently the United States achieved vis-a-vis the Native Americans, and referred to Jews, Slavs and others he was slaughtering on a industrial scale at industrial speed as "Red Indians".
Overall "American Holocaust" is a remarkable achievement; it's well researched, well written and with particular regard to the third part, well argued. The picture of the numerous vibrant and vital human societies in the Americas pre-1492 is vividly presented to the reader. Stannard deals with the question of the diseases the Europeans inadvertently brought with them (though eventually a few enterprising pioneers of Biological warfare hit on the idea of giving Native Americans blankets which had previously been used by small pox victims) for which Native Americans had no immunity. My own feeling is that apologists for the American Holocaust use this as an alibi for the genocide- it just kinda happened... nothing to do with me mate. Stannard cites ample evidence that the good Christians from Europe viewed it as a gift from God that aided their efforts to colonise the Americas; for some Spanish Catholics (perhaps because they needed Indians for labour in the gold and silver mines, the largest of which at Potosì was the Auschwitz of its day) losing their indigenous labourers was viewed as a punishment from God for their own religious shortcomings! But the colonisers didn't just view the diseases that carried away millions upon millions of the Natives as a gift. The hostility, violence, massacres, displacement and brutal labouring conditions that they visited upon the Natives increased the already appaling death rate, and even those Native groups left undisturbed to recover from the deadly European diseases were subsequently destroyed and displaced by European violence alone.
A short review can hardly give a sense of the scope and quality of this work that I'd thoroughly recommend reading, especially by those who are sceptical or even offended by the use of the term Holocaust for other victims apart from the Jews (and Slavs, gypsies, etc) subjected to the horrific and murderous extermination policies of the Nazis during World War 2.
Other books of interest would include Dee Browns classic history of the United States late 19th century war against the Great Plains Indians "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee"; Ronald Wrights "Stolen Continents" focuses on telling the story of several communities of Native Americans and their confrontations with the Europeans at specific points in time during the five centuries after 1492. For anyone wishing to go off on a slight tangent Domenico Losurdo's "Liberalism: A Counter History" shows the dark side of Liberalism, and more than a few Liberals were cheerleaders for the genocide against Native Americans.
April 10, 2011
Don't know how I could possible express in a few words, this books effect on me. It's a not like any holocaust that ever happened since. You won't find this in your high school history books, because it's too gruesome.
April 22, 2013
This book will open your eyes to the atrocities done to Native Americans from 1492 to the present. The conquerers of North and South America brutally carried out genocide on the native people in the name of God and the search for gold. In the course of five hundred years, 95 percent of the Native American population was dead (over 100 million people mudered). Every school should have to teach this book to children alonside with the first Thanksgiving to give some much needed perspective. I wasn't even involved with these horrible acts of cruelty, but as a white person I can feel the blood on my hands nonetheless.
June 28, 2010
The tale of not just who discovered and conquered America, but how they did it. A story of extreme violence, genocide, and biological warfare perpetretated against people because they occupied a land the Europeans wanted. Tons of references and some lithographs of the conquerers in action. Letters from witnesses. Not for the squeamish.
September 3, 2021
1492 l'Occidente scopre "il Paradiso Terrestre". Ben presto pero', gli indigeni che lo abitano e che accolgono i nuovi arrivati colmandoli di doni e attenzioni, divengono agli occhi dei "civilizzati" cristiani, la summa dell'abbiezione, simboli malefici di quella selvaggia e lussuriosa esistenza deplorata dalla loro religione. E' l'inizio di un genocidio senza pari nella storia intera. La copertura culturale del massacro non cela gli interessi piu' materiali: gli spagnoli, iniziatori dello sterminio, con il loro parossistico bisogno di imponenti quantita' di lavoro servile da utilizzare per drenare le immense ricchezze del Nuovo Mondo e rimpinguare cosi' le casse disastrate di un impero dai piedi d'argilla, gli inglesi e statunitensi che non hanno bisogno di beni e di braccia ma di terre per espandersi, provocano la morte di 150 milioni di persone. E' incredibile leggere di quali e quanto autorevoli pensatori, in diverse epoche, abbiano dato copertura o promosso il genocidio: dai venerabili francescani implacabili tagliagole, a padri della patria statunitense come Washington e Jefferson (con i loro discorsi para-nazisti), dai Padri della Chiesa a rispettabili filosofi come Locke. Non ci si stupisce che un personaggio come Hitler abbia poi preso ammirato spunto da questa storia e da questi predecessori per il suo delirante costrutto. Piu' prosaicamente mi chiedo: ripensando ai film western, con quei catttivoni di indiani contro giacche blu e cowboy, che ci hanno accompagnato fin dalla culla e fatto il lavaggio del cervello (peraltro molti sono dei capolavori), cosa sarebbe successo a seguito di una malaugurata vittoria del Nazismo? Avremmo avuto una filmografia sull'epopea dei baldi ariani alla conquista del selvaggio est slavo? Meglio non avere risposta!
January 14, 2018
In his Prologue, Stannard points out that ever since the Columbian land fall, there has been a prevailing blissful ignorance of the genocidal extermination of Indian peoples in America. By focusing on the ravages of European diseases, the blame is taken off of the perpetrators of this horrible crime. His book will be a necessary corrective. Divided in two basic parts, the book carries forward the arguments made by Francis Jennings approximately one quarter century earlier. The first part of the book, in sections called "Before Columbus" and "Pestilence and Genocide," deals with the native world that Europeans encountered and the devastation that the unleashed upon the natives. The second division, encompassing the section entitled "Sex, Race and Holy War," deals with the elements in Christianity which fed the ideology of genocide and made possible this horrifying history. Interspersed in the sections are starkly contrasting photo galleries of "Native Peoples" and "Genocide". The former shows the diversity and beauty of the native people and the second shows the carnage visited upon them by the European "Civilizers". Here, I will focus here on the first two sections of the book.
Part I: Before Columbus
Chapter 1
Stannard opens his first chapter with an account of the cities of the Aztec empire before their conquest by Cortez. The conquistadors themselves marveled at the feats of engineering performed by the natives, their cleanliness and the health of the population. All this was soon to be destroyed.
After a brief discussion of Berengia and the assumed origins of native populations in this hemisphere, he gives a nod to the diversity of native peoples and then turns his ire against Oscar Handlin and Bernard Bailyn for their ethnocentrism. Recognizing his debt to Francis Jennings, he ends the chapter with a note on Jennings' demographic demographic revelations and a tilt of the hat to Edward Said's critique of Orientalism.
Chapter 2
In an introductory account that covers the pre-contact Indians that ranges from a treatment of Mississippian to Anasazi cultures and up to California, Stannard impresses the reader with the diversity of native civilizations. He is also at pains to show how "advanced" Indian civilizations were in their child rearing techniques and in the empowerment of women. He then moves south to Mesoamerica and recounts the history of Mayans and later Aztecs. Next in line are the great accomplishments of Incan civilization and finally a discussion of the Arawaks of Northern Brazil, which provides a lead in to the discussion of the Arawaks of Hispaniola, which Columbus encountered on his voyages. In concluding his account, Stannard wants to strike a note of balance. He insists that it would be wrong to idealize the native populations, for they did indeed perform human sacrifices and in some cases practice ritualistic cannibalism. But, we must keep in mind the brutality of Medieval and even Reformation and Renaissance Europe.
Pestilence and Genocide
Chapter 3
Relying largely upon the work of Lawrence Stone regarding conditions in Early Modern Europe, Stannard paints a horrific picture of life in Europe at the time when Columbus sailed for the Indies. Dirty, disease and crime ridden and full of class antagonisms, the cities of Europe were breeding grounds for the plagues. Poverty, starvation and warfare were the lot of many and wealth the lot of a very few. Great quote on p. 58!
From the perspective of this world, it is not surprising that Columbus and other explorers viewed this "new" world as a paradise of edenic proportions. When combined with their massive greed, the belief that the peoples of these regions were savages lead the explorers to commit atrocities of gargantuan proportions. This all began with Columbus kidnapping Arawaks and taking them back to Europe as slaves. Most died on the way.
With the second voyage of Columbus, the true conquest began. Columbus himself soon fell ill, but his troops committed huge atrocities. Forcing the natives to hunt for gold and cutting off their hands if they returned with any. Las Casas recorded sickening scenes of wanton cruelty. Failing to find gold, the Iberians instead set up encomienda plantations on Hispaniola and enslaved the natives to provide a labor force. By 1535, the native population (which at 1492 may have numbered as many as 8 million) had been exterminated.
Next he recounts Cortez's conquest of the Aztec's city of Tenochtitlan. Tricking Montezuma into believing they came in peace, Cortez and his soldier's killed the ruler and attacked the city. Though initially driven out of the city, they regrouped and attacked again. By this time smallpox was taking its toll. The fighting, dubbed pacification, went on for months. Once the city was taken, the cruelties and depredations did not cease. Survivors were made into slaves and the city was burned and all the gold looted. The same pattern of behavior was repeated throughout Mesoamerica.
Moving further south to the kingdom of the Incas, the Conquistadors continued their search for gold and other precious metals. Some were enslaved to work as beasts of burden as the Spaniards pushed into the Amazon in search of the gold of Eldorado, while others were forced to labor in the Andean silver mines. In these regions, as with that north of the Rio Grande, Stannard points to an overall population reduction of 90-95%.
Chapter 4
In this chapter, Stannard takes on the Black Legend. He shows that the barbarity and cruelty of other Europeans was as bad as the Spaniards. Turning first to the English in Virginia, he recounts the ways in which the members of the new Jamestown colony made war on the local Indians, destroying men, women and children. Describing the differences between the ceremonial warfare of the Indians, with its limited casualties, and the total warfare of the Europeans, he then turns to the examples of New England's Puritan leaders warfare with the local Indians, first on Block Island to avenge John Oldham's murder and then in a war declared on the Pequots. The Pequot War witnessed the massacre of women and children and the virtual obliteration of the Pequot tribe. The Pequot War was followed shortly thereafter by King Philip's War in 1675-6, in which thousands of Indians were killed, their crops and villages burned to the ground.
Stannard argues that by targeting women and children, the Europeans were conducting genocidal warfare. He follows this charge up with discussion of the Cherokee Wars in the American Southeast, which were eventually followed up by Cherokee Removal west of the Mississippi. This was the "Trail of Tears" which Stannard refers to as a "death march." Then came the massacre of the Lakota people at Wounded Knee, South Dakota and the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado. Colonel Chivington, commander at the Sand Creek Massacre, was the subject of an inquiry from the federal government - but nothing came of it. Indeed, Teddy Roosevelt was to speak approvingly of the Sand Creek Massacre calling it a "righteous" and "beneficial" deed. The story of California's Indians proves instructive in denying the Black Legend. Spanish missions were cruel and inhuman places, but so too were the settlements set up by the U.S. once California became a US possession. Indians we hunted down, killed or sold into slavery with government sanction. The carnage finally began to slow down in California as the 19th C wore on. There was simply no one left to kill.
Part I: Before Columbus
Chapter 1
Stannard opens his first chapter with an account of the cities of the Aztec empire before their conquest by Cortez. The conquistadors themselves marveled at the feats of engineering performed by the natives, their cleanliness and the health of the population. All this was soon to be destroyed.
After a brief discussion of Berengia and the assumed origins of native populations in this hemisphere, he gives a nod to the diversity of native peoples and then turns his ire against Oscar Handlin and Bernard Bailyn for their ethnocentrism. Recognizing his debt to Francis Jennings, he ends the chapter with a note on Jennings' demographic demographic revelations and a tilt of the hat to Edward Said's critique of Orientalism.
Chapter 2
In an introductory account that covers the pre-contact Indians that ranges from a treatment of Mississippian to Anasazi cultures and up to California, Stannard impresses the reader with the diversity of native civilizations. He is also at pains to show how "advanced" Indian civilizations were in their child rearing techniques and in the empowerment of women. He then moves south to Mesoamerica and recounts the history of Mayans and later Aztecs. Next in line are the great accomplishments of Incan civilization and finally a discussion of the Arawaks of Northern Brazil, which provides a lead in to the discussion of the Arawaks of Hispaniola, which Columbus encountered on his voyages. In concluding his account, Stannard wants to strike a note of balance. He insists that it would be wrong to idealize the native populations, for they did indeed perform human sacrifices and in some cases practice ritualistic cannibalism. But, we must keep in mind the brutality of Medieval and even Reformation and Renaissance Europe.
Pestilence and Genocide
Chapter 3
Relying largely upon the work of Lawrence Stone regarding conditions in Early Modern Europe, Stannard paints a horrific picture of life in Europe at the time when Columbus sailed for the Indies. Dirty, disease and crime ridden and full of class antagonisms, the cities of Europe were breeding grounds for the plagues. Poverty, starvation and warfare were the lot of many and wealth the lot of a very few. Great quote on p. 58!
From the perspective of this world, it is not surprising that Columbus and other explorers viewed this "new" world as a paradise of edenic proportions. When combined with their massive greed, the belief that the peoples of these regions were savages lead the explorers to commit atrocities of gargantuan proportions. This all began with Columbus kidnapping Arawaks and taking them back to Europe as slaves. Most died on the way.
With the second voyage of Columbus, the true conquest began. Columbus himself soon fell ill, but his troops committed huge atrocities. Forcing the natives to hunt for gold and cutting off their hands if they returned with any. Las Casas recorded sickening scenes of wanton cruelty. Failing to find gold, the Iberians instead set up encomienda plantations on Hispaniola and enslaved the natives to provide a labor force. By 1535, the native population (which at 1492 may have numbered as many as 8 million) had been exterminated.
Next he recounts Cortez's conquest of the Aztec's city of Tenochtitlan. Tricking Montezuma into believing they came in peace, Cortez and his soldier's killed the ruler and attacked the city. Though initially driven out of the city, they regrouped and attacked again. By this time smallpox was taking its toll. The fighting, dubbed pacification, went on for months. Once the city was taken, the cruelties and depredations did not cease. Survivors were made into slaves and the city was burned and all the gold looted. The same pattern of behavior was repeated throughout Mesoamerica.
Moving further south to the kingdom of the Incas, the Conquistadors continued their search for gold and other precious metals. Some were enslaved to work as beasts of burden as the Spaniards pushed into the Amazon in search of the gold of Eldorado, while others were forced to labor in the Andean silver mines. In these regions, as with that north of the Rio Grande, Stannard points to an overall population reduction of 90-95%.
Chapter 4
In this chapter, Stannard takes on the Black Legend. He shows that the barbarity and cruelty of other Europeans was as bad as the Spaniards. Turning first to the English in Virginia, he recounts the ways in which the members of the new Jamestown colony made war on the local Indians, destroying men, women and children. Describing the differences between the ceremonial warfare of the Indians, with its limited casualties, and the total warfare of the Europeans, he then turns to the examples of New England's Puritan leaders warfare with the local Indians, first on Block Island to avenge John Oldham's murder and then in a war declared on the Pequots. The Pequot War witnessed the massacre of women and children and the virtual obliteration of the Pequot tribe. The Pequot War was followed shortly thereafter by King Philip's War in 1675-6, in which thousands of Indians were killed, their crops and villages burned to the ground.
Stannard argues that by targeting women and children, the Europeans were conducting genocidal warfare. He follows this charge up with discussion of the Cherokee Wars in the American Southeast, which were eventually followed up by Cherokee Removal west of the Mississippi. This was the "Trail of Tears" which Stannard refers to as a "death march." Then came the massacre of the Lakota people at Wounded Knee, South Dakota and the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado. Colonel Chivington, commander at the Sand Creek Massacre, was the subject of an inquiry from the federal government - but nothing came of it. Indeed, Teddy Roosevelt was to speak approvingly of the Sand Creek Massacre calling it a "righteous" and "beneficial" deed. The story of California's Indians proves instructive in denying the Black Legend. Spanish missions were cruel and inhuman places, but so too were the settlements set up by the U.S. once California became a US possession. Indians we hunted down, killed or sold into slavery with government sanction. The carnage finally began to slow down in California as the 19th C wore on. There was simply no one left to kill.
August 3, 2022
A good counterpoint to the hagiographies of "western civilization." In excruciating detail, Stannard recounts the nearly unfathomable cruelties committed against the Indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere by first the Spanish, then every European colonial power. The wonders of the numerous complex and advanced civilizations that wete totally destroyed by the colonizers is extremely depressing and tragic to read. Its hard not to be left feeling empty and forlorn after reading about these horrors, which have continued for over 500 years. While most historians of "the West" work tirelessly to excuse the horrific crimes against humanity committed by European societies, Stannard lays them out there for all to see.
A few issues though, which place this book a couple rungs below classics like Open Veins of Latin America or Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Firstly, Standard's identification of Christianity as the root cause of the cruelty and genocidal violence of the colonizers is a classic liberal idealist lens of history. Yes Christianity was constantly invoked as a justification for the violence of the colonizers, and shaped some of their particularities, it should be obvious to any reader that this is merely a cover. Certainly most of these men did see themselves as devout Christians but the material motivations at the core of colonialism could not be more clear. Their aim was material plunder, by any means necessary. Land, slaves, gold, all made the colonists rich and freed them from the lives of toil and torment facing peasants and workers in European class society. Such wealth could also be used to finance ventures to pursue even further riches, to cement one's family fortunes for centuries to come. This was the core goal of colonialism, the extermination of the Indigenous made a necessity by the thirst for more and more wealth and the fear than those whose land this is would stand as an impediment to that. So Christianity, as the ubiquitous ideology, became the natural vehicle with which to justify their actions. This is certainly not to say the Church lies blameless in this, absolutely not, but their active participation in the slaughter was for the same material reasons, even if they covered it up with even fancier words. Otherwise why did the church end up becoming the largest foreign landowner in the hemisphere? The search for an ideological basis for violence carried out for a material reason is very understandable, but remains misguided. It is also a big problem, because if you base your analysis on that you will be led astray when you try and predict in the future where these sorts of threats will arise.
One of the core issues behind Stannard's stubborn devotion to an idealist conception of causality is his rejection of the materialist understanding of how ideology propagates. The material interest of those in power is the reason these ideologies propagate every single time, they do not precede said material interest. An understanding of this is vital for anyone fighting for a world free of these sorts of ideologies, because it shows us that the problem is not Europeans themselves or Christianity, the problem is economic systems (slave society, feudalism, capitalism) which incentivize greed over everything. This in no way excuses or apologizes for the genocidal crimes of Europe, they were and continue to be the greatest crimes against humanity in history. But if we aim to build a just society, based on true equality and freedom, we must be able to target the source of racist, xenophobic ideology so that we can overcome them. An approach which sees these attitudes as inherent within European/Christian society automatically precludes the possibility of building a free and equal society involving these groups, based on the idealist conception that ideology precedes existence.
This is still a good book, despite my critique, but the long diversions into an examination of Christian justifications for genocide is less helpful to understanding the Why of the American Holocaust than the How. On this subject I'd definitely recommend people read Open Veins of Latin America as an important counterpart.
A few issues though, which place this book a couple rungs below classics like Open Veins of Latin America or Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Firstly, Standard's identification of Christianity as the root cause of the cruelty and genocidal violence of the colonizers is a classic liberal idealist lens of history. Yes Christianity was constantly invoked as a justification for the violence of the colonizers, and shaped some of their particularities, it should be obvious to any reader that this is merely a cover. Certainly most of these men did see themselves as devout Christians but the material motivations at the core of colonialism could not be more clear. Their aim was material plunder, by any means necessary. Land, slaves, gold, all made the colonists rich and freed them from the lives of toil and torment facing peasants and workers in European class society. Such wealth could also be used to finance ventures to pursue even further riches, to cement one's family fortunes for centuries to come. This was the core goal of colonialism, the extermination of the Indigenous made a necessity by the thirst for more and more wealth and the fear than those whose land this is would stand as an impediment to that. So Christianity, as the ubiquitous ideology, became the natural vehicle with which to justify their actions. This is certainly not to say the Church lies blameless in this, absolutely not, but their active participation in the slaughter was for the same material reasons, even if they covered it up with even fancier words. Otherwise why did the church end up becoming the largest foreign landowner in the hemisphere? The search for an ideological basis for violence carried out for a material reason is very understandable, but remains misguided. It is also a big problem, because if you base your analysis on that you will be led astray when you try and predict in the future where these sorts of threats will arise.
One of the core issues behind Stannard's stubborn devotion to an idealist conception of causality is his rejection of the materialist understanding of how ideology propagates. The material interest of those in power is the reason these ideologies propagate every single time, they do not precede said material interest. An understanding of this is vital for anyone fighting for a world free of these sorts of ideologies, because it shows us that the problem is not Europeans themselves or Christianity, the problem is economic systems (slave society, feudalism, capitalism) which incentivize greed over everything. This in no way excuses or apologizes for the genocidal crimes of Europe, they were and continue to be the greatest crimes against humanity in history. But if we aim to build a just society, based on true equality and freedom, we must be able to target the source of racist, xenophobic ideology so that we can overcome them. An approach which sees these attitudes as inherent within European/Christian society automatically precludes the possibility of building a free and equal society involving these groups, based on the idealist conception that ideology precedes existence.
This is still a good book, despite my critique, but the long diversions into an examination of Christian justifications for genocide is less helpful to understanding the Why of the American Holocaust than the How. On this subject I'd definitely recommend people read Open Veins of Latin America as an important counterpart.
April 19, 2017
I read this years ago when it first came out. It was an eye-opener! I had no idea that disease wiped out so much of the native American population before Jamestown was settled and the Pilgrims arrived. I own a copy and always recommend it to friends who are interested in history.
August 19, 2016
A far reaching codex permeated with a means of humane thinking and rationale that shall one day serve as a bedrock for ancient and enduring knowledge regarding the human condition. An excellent and essential read for anyone wishing to better understand the preconditions, execution and perpetual extension of racist, dehumanizing and ultimately genocidal motivations.
What this book is: A thorough case study in the heinous rage of the human condition. An astute analysis of the greatest holocaust of peoples in world history - along with the conditions that have shrouded it in darkness, lies and purposely constructed illusions - in the context of brutality as a whole. A lesson in empathy and a masterwork of historiography and scholarly thinking.
I would urge everyone and anyone to read it.
What this book is: A thorough case study in the heinous rage of the human condition. An astute analysis of the greatest holocaust of peoples in world history - along with the conditions that have shrouded it in darkness, lies and purposely constructed illusions - in the context of brutality as a whole. A lesson in empathy and a masterwork of historiography and scholarly thinking.
I would urge everyone and anyone to read it.
March 28, 2007
The definitive review of what really occurred in the Americas before and after Columbus set sail. This book will point you towards the truth, but it will also make you extremely depressed. The author does not hold back when describing the horrific acts of torture and flat out slaughter that took place. There are some "good" bits too-- a nice portion of stuff about Bartolomé de Las Casas.
September 17, 2017
I have grown immensely while reading this book and I believe writing an emotionally driven review of a work of non fiction , when I do not possess the vocabulary nor the talent to do justice to it , won't be a beneficial review. So, I will stick to the pros and cons and try to justify why I gave it a 5, and if in the course of this review I realize this book does not deserve a 5 , I will change it . Let this review be a path of discovery for me as well as you , whoever is planning to read it.
So, the pros :
1. Very extensive analysis about the subject in hand.
2. Loved the second part of the book . That part is the show stopper of this book. The first part , that covers the damages done (chronologically as well as geographically) can be skimmed over and the person can directly jump into the second part of the book.
The cons:
1. The first part , where he documents the crisis can be a bit thick to trudge through. Lack of a clear plan as to how it is progressing initially confused me but by the end of that chapters , things usually fell into place. The accounts were heart wrenching and if you choose to go through it diligently, prepare for an emotional ride. I will advice you to read the first part with atleast a map of the Americas as well as markers , note books , boards etc.
2. I didnot like the obsession and comparision with the 40s holocaust. However, the writer redeems himself in the epilogue by touching into all large scale massacre, so I cannot actually keep this as a grudge against him.
Personally, this book was a learning experience. Inspite of knowing the ugliness of this world , I , call it naive, had a naive sense of justice. Having grown up seeing the criticism the holocaust has brought into the international media , my belief that at least the wrong done is acknowledged remained intact through out this two decades of my consciousness. However, this book smashed it. To realise , they (the Indians) have been prosecuted continously for the last 600 years and that it still continues was enough of a wake up call for me. I particularly loved the analyses part where the writer goes back till the beginning of Christendom and also travels till the latest Iraq war into explaining what happened , why it happened , what social and political phenomena aided it and how it has not stopped . This book has a capacity to be used as an anti-Europe as well as anti-Christian propaganda mechanism and should be read with timely check on your personal feelings. Having said that, I believe that this piece of literature should be read by everyone. Do not miss this jewel.
So, the pros :
1. Very extensive analysis about the subject in hand.
2. Loved the second part of the book . That part is the show stopper of this book. The first part , that covers the damages done (chronologically as well as geographically) can be skimmed over and the person can directly jump into the second part of the book.
The cons:
1. The first part , where he documents the crisis can be a bit thick to trudge through. Lack of a clear plan as to how it is progressing initially confused me but by the end of that chapters , things usually fell into place. The accounts were heart wrenching and if you choose to go through it diligently, prepare for an emotional ride. I will advice you to read the first part with atleast a map of the Americas as well as markers , note books , boards etc.
2. I didnot like the obsession and comparision with the 40s holocaust. However, the writer redeems himself in the epilogue by touching into all large scale massacre, so I cannot actually keep this as a grudge against him.
Personally, this book was a learning experience. Inspite of knowing the ugliness of this world , I , call it naive, had a naive sense of justice. Having grown up seeing the criticism the holocaust has brought into the international media , my belief that at least the wrong done is acknowledged remained intact through out this two decades of my consciousness. However, this book smashed it. To realise , they (the Indians) have been prosecuted continously for the last 600 years and that it still continues was enough of a wake up call for me. I particularly loved the analyses part where the writer goes back till the beginning of Christendom and also travels till the latest Iraq war into explaining what happened , why it happened , what social and political phenomena aided it and how it has not stopped . This book has a capacity to be used as an anti-Europe as well as anti-Christian propaganda mechanism and should be read with timely check on your personal feelings. Having said that, I believe that this piece of literature should be read by everyone. Do not miss this jewel.
June 2, 2015
Sometimes I wonder if there is any humanity in us humans.
July 3, 2025
why can’t we all just love each other
May 16, 2024
Been racking my brain trying to figure out what I would say in a review for this book but I got nothin. Absolutely insane read. Just like every other major atrocity you learned about in public school history classes, the genocide of the indigenous peoples of the americas was a thousand times worse than you realize.
Read
August 1, 2025actually here's my real review:
*SCREAMS THE MOST BLOOD-CURDLING PSYCHOTIC PRIMAL SCREAM*
*SCREAMS THE MOST BLOOD-CURDLING PSYCHOTIC PRIMAL SCREAM*
July 4, 2013
A sobering account of the massive destruction of life that took place in the wake of Columbus' discovery of the Americas. This book offers an important insight into the way in which European contact with American Indian's was almost inevitably doomed to end in massive loss of life for the Americans. Of particular interest were the segments that discussed the development of the religious-racial justification for the slaughter of Indians and Jews in Europe and the placing of this ideological development in the historical context which ultimately lead to the Holocaust.
While I did enjoy this book I wonder how well its facts and figures have aged. I particularly reference here the proportions of Indians killed as more recent research would seem to suggest that in reality much of the killing was already complete by the time large scale European immigration took place and was committed in the largest part by European microbes. Of course such a version of events being true does not take away from the tragedy of this narrative or negate the guilt of certain Europeans but if the case stated in more contemporary research is true then it does weaken stannards argument that the large scale loss of life was a result of systematic slaughter or Genocide.
Overall, worth a read although perhaps a little outdated in a field that has developed greatly since the initial publication of this work
While I did enjoy this book I wonder how well its facts and figures have aged. I particularly reference here the proportions of Indians killed as more recent research would seem to suggest that in reality much of the killing was already complete by the time large scale European immigration took place and was committed in the largest part by European microbes. Of course such a version of events being true does not take away from the tragedy of this narrative or negate the guilt of certain Europeans but if the case stated in more contemporary research is true then it does weaken stannards argument that the large scale loss of life was a result of systematic slaughter or Genocide.
Overall, worth a read although perhaps a little outdated in a field that has developed greatly since the initial publication of this work
June 28, 2012
Yeah - reading the TRUTH in print
December 17, 2017
It should be mandatory reading.
I'm sad and ashamed this book is not translated into Spanish - every high school kid should be reading it.
I'm sad and ashamed this book is not translated into Spanish - every high school kid should be reading it.
January 22, 2018
Very well written and meticulously researched book describing the worst genocide the world has ever known. I boiled with fury throughout for a multitude of reasons: the priceless history that was lost forever when the Spanish invaded, the tens of millions of lives lost, the whitewashed trash that is fed schoolchildren by the public education system, the plague that christianity has been on this earth since it's inception, the racism that permeates society and how easily that racism is wielded into genocide, and the fact that the genocide against Native People hasn't actually stopped - it's just slightly less outright. A must read for anyone educated in this garbage country.
March 18, 2024
Listened to on Audible. A shocking account of the greatest genocide experienced on the globe that beggars all genocides: the extermination of the native Americans from Columbus’ arrival until 1900, some 100 million persons, due to pestilence, wholesale slaughter, slavery, starvation, and maltreatment.
December 3, 2021
Best history book I have ever read changed my life
January 18, 2024
Nothing like this book to make you think about whether calling the Western civilisation a civilisation is appropriate at all.
May 20, 2023
Sobering and disturbing. This is a must read.
January 2, 2025
A ver si lo sacan pronto en español, ¡opino!
March 6, 2025
I would like to provide a "highly compressed but fully documented historical chronicle, drawn from" this book:
"At the end of the fifteenth century a huge island in the Caribbean, twice the size of Switzerland and inhabited by at least a million and perhaps as many as 8 million [native peoples], was invaded by Spanish military men in search of gold. The Spaniards also were carriers of deadly diseases that the [native peoples] had never encountered before, diseases that killed them en masse. But in their hunt for gold the Spaniards also rounded up and, under force of arms, enslaved whole communities of [native peoples], beating and torturing and working them in mines and on plantations with barely enough food to survive until they dropped. And all the while that this was happening (and the [native] population was plummeting toward zero), the Spaniards’ own documents today reveal that their soldiers took great delight in skewering [native] babies on yard-long rapiers; of hacking off the breasts of [native] women just for fun; of burning to death entire towns full of [native peoples]. And more.
After the total population of [native peoples] on this immense island— plus the hundreds of thousands of [native peoples] on neighboring islands in the Caribbean— had finally been exterminated in a matter of decades, the horrifying violence then spread to an entire continent. And now still more [native peoples], numbering by this time in the tens of millions, died from the Spanish onslaught. Scores of [native] cities were reduced to rubble. Temples beyond counting were crushed. All the religious books that could be found were burned. [Native] women and children were enslaved and branded on the face with their owners’ initials. Armies of [natives] were force-marched to labor in mountain-top silver mines where they could consider themselves lucky to survive for six months— while other whole communities of [native peoples] were driven to toil on plantations in tropical forests where the life expectancy was even shorter. In central Mexico more than 20 million [natives] died before it was over. And there, as elsewhere in Mesoand South America, those huge numbers of deaths from violence, disease, starvation, and slave labor represented the destruction of fully 90 to 95 percent of the [native] population.
Everywhere, entire [native] towns were obliterated— their residents hacked to death or burned at the stake— because their leaders did not renounce their religious traditions quickly enough. And all of this was justified by the common and often expressed belief of the murderers— including the wisest and holiest men in the Spanish realm— that the [natives] were semi-human beasts created by God to be the slaves of Christians; that it was the divine right of Christians to hunt [natives] down as animals of the forest for no other purpose than to feed their carcasses to dogs.
But the bloodbath didn’t stop there— and didn’t end with the Spanish. Rather, it was taken up by other Europeans, and with particular delight by the British. [Natives] were also the original inhabitants of North America in this scenario, and English adventurers and settlers, having decided that [natives] were too beast-like to deserve the land that they had cultivated for centuries, launched full-scale extermination campaigns against them— campaigns that, over and over and over again, resulted in the deaths of 19 out of every 20 [natives] who happened to live where the English wanted to live. And as the English hunted down and shot and chopped and burned to death every [native] who could not escape into the forest, pious Christian ministers celebrated what they believed to be the imminent extinction of the [native] people, routinely exclaiming (to quote just one of the most esteemed such leaders) that “it was a fearful sight to see the [native people] thus frying in the fire and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the stink and scent thereof; but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and we gave the praise thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for us.”
And, again, it didn’t stop there. For years and decades and centuries, [native people] were stalked and killed like the animals that the British— and later the Americans— said they were. All the residents of certain [native] communities, each one numbering in the thousands of people, were herded together and forced to embark on refugee death marches that commonly killed half of their victims— leading at least one hardened veteran and death march overseer to remark that “I fought through the Civil War and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by the thousands, but the [native] removal was the cruelest work I ever knew.” And even after the death marches were over typically another 50 percent and more of such violently dispossessed [native people] perished in the concentration camps that were the death marches’ established destination points.
During the nineteenth century, meanwhile, the governors of individual states, such as Colorado and California, officially urged the citizenry to exterminate all the [native people] they could find, using state funds to finance the actions of mobile killing squads; [native] children could be— and routinely were— legally taken from their parents and enslaved; and [native peoples] had no legal standing in court to protest against any horrors that were perpetrated against them or against their children. It was during this time as well that a man who was to become President of the United States proudly boasted of personally killing [native people] and mutilating their bodies, of supervising the slicing off of [native people's] noses and the stripping of flesh from [native] bodies to be tanned and turned into bridle reins. He also gave specific instructions to kill all the [native] babies that could be found, pointing out that true extermination could not be accomplished unless all the children as well as the adults were butchered.
Another President of the United States during this era referred to [native people] as “beasts of prey,” and ordered his military commanders to attack and “lay waste” all the [native] communities they could find, demanding “that they not be merely overrun but destroyed.” Still a third President of the United States instructed his Secretary of War that any [natives] who resisted the seizure of their land should be met with the “hatchet” and “exterminated” if necessary. And as time wore on other Presidents over the course of an entire century expressed similar genocidal attitudes, and ordered similar genocidal actions against the [native peoples].
Even a twentieth-century American President and winner of a Nobel Peace Prize joined the fray, describing one of the many government-launched mass murders of [native] men and women and children that had occurred during his lifetime (this particular massacre including the clubbing and shooting to death of infants and the proud public display of mutilated [native] male and female genitals) as a “righteous and beneficial deed,” because, after all, as he laughingly put it, “I don’t go so far as to think that the only good [natives] are dead [natives], but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn’t like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.”
When all the dust had settled, throughout the entire North American continent approximately 95 percent of the original [native] population had been exterminated— from the combined violence, torture, removal, disease, exhaustion, exposure, and other factors that snatched their lives away. The remaining 5 percent were then forcibly driven away to live in abject poverty and squalor on segregated encampments set up by the American government in the most inhospitable environments that could be found." (see pages 306-308 in "Uniqueness as Denial: The Politics of Genocide Scholarship" by David E. Stannard in "Is the Holocaust Unique?: Perspectives on Comparative Genocide" edited by Alan S Rosenbaum)
"At the end of the fifteenth century a huge island in the Caribbean, twice the size of Switzerland and inhabited by at least a million and perhaps as many as 8 million [native peoples], was invaded by Spanish military men in search of gold. The Spaniards also were carriers of deadly diseases that the [native peoples] had never encountered before, diseases that killed them en masse. But in their hunt for gold the Spaniards also rounded up and, under force of arms, enslaved whole communities of [native peoples], beating and torturing and working them in mines and on plantations with barely enough food to survive until they dropped. And all the while that this was happening (and the [native] population was plummeting toward zero), the Spaniards’ own documents today reveal that their soldiers took great delight in skewering [native] babies on yard-long rapiers; of hacking off the breasts of [native] women just for fun; of burning to death entire towns full of [native peoples]. And more.
After the total population of [native peoples] on this immense island— plus the hundreds of thousands of [native peoples] on neighboring islands in the Caribbean— had finally been exterminated in a matter of decades, the horrifying violence then spread to an entire continent. And now still more [native peoples], numbering by this time in the tens of millions, died from the Spanish onslaught. Scores of [native] cities were reduced to rubble. Temples beyond counting were crushed. All the religious books that could be found were burned. [Native] women and children were enslaved and branded on the face with their owners’ initials. Armies of [natives] were force-marched to labor in mountain-top silver mines where they could consider themselves lucky to survive for six months— while other whole communities of [native peoples] were driven to toil on plantations in tropical forests where the life expectancy was even shorter. In central Mexico more than 20 million [natives] died before it was over. And there, as elsewhere in Mesoand South America, those huge numbers of deaths from violence, disease, starvation, and slave labor represented the destruction of fully 90 to 95 percent of the [native] population.
Everywhere, entire [native] towns were obliterated— their residents hacked to death or burned at the stake— because their leaders did not renounce their religious traditions quickly enough. And all of this was justified by the common and often expressed belief of the murderers— including the wisest and holiest men in the Spanish realm— that the [natives] were semi-human beasts created by God to be the slaves of Christians; that it was the divine right of Christians to hunt [natives] down as animals of the forest for no other purpose than to feed their carcasses to dogs.
But the bloodbath didn’t stop there— and didn’t end with the Spanish. Rather, it was taken up by other Europeans, and with particular delight by the British. [Natives] were also the original inhabitants of North America in this scenario, and English adventurers and settlers, having decided that [natives] were too beast-like to deserve the land that they had cultivated for centuries, launched full-scale extermination campaigns against them— campaigns that, over and over and over again, resulted in the deaths of 19 out of every 20 [natives] who happened to live where the English wanted to live. And as the English hunted down and shot and chopped and burned to death every [native] who could not escape into the forest, pious Christian ministers celebrated what they believed to be the imminent extinction of the [native] people, routinely exclaiming (to quote just one of the most esteemed such leaders) that “it was a fearful sight to see the [native people] thus frying in the fire and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the stink and scent thereof; but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and we gave the praise thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for us.”
And, again, it didn’t stop there. For years and decades and centuries, [native people] were stalked and killed like the animals that the British— and later the Americans— said they were. All the residents of certain [native] communities, each one numbering in the thousands of people, were herded together and forced to embark on refugee death marches that commonly killed half of their victims— leading at least one hardened veteran and death march overseer to remark that “I fought through the Civil War and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by the thousands, but the [native] removal was the cruelest work I ever knew.” And even after the death marches were over typically another 50 percent and more of such violently dispossessed [native people] perished in the concentration camps that were the death marches’ established destination points.
During the nineteenth century, meanwhile, the governors of individual states, such as Colorado and California, officially urged the citizenry to exterminate all the [native people] they could find, using state funds to finance the actions of mobile killing squads; [native] children could be— and routinely were— legally taken from their parents and enslaved; and [native peoples] had no legal standing in court to protest against any horrors that were perpetrated against them or against their children. It was during this time as well that a man who was to become President of the United States proudly boasted of personally killing [native people] and mutilating their bodies, of supervising the slicing off of [native people's] noses and the stripping of flesh from [native] bodies to be tanned and turned into bridle reins. He also gave specific instructions to kill all the [native] babies that could be found, pointing out that true extermination could not be accomplished unless all the children as well as the adults were butchered.
Another President of the United States during this era referred to [native people] as “beasts of prey,” and ordered his military commanders to attack and “lay waste” all the [native] communities they could find, demanding “that they not be merely overrun but destroyed.” Still a third President of the United States instructed his Secretary of War that any [natives] who resisted the seizure of their land should be met with the “hatchet” and “exterminated” if necessary. And as time wore on other Presidents over the course of an entire century expressed similar genocidal attitudes, and ordered similar genocidal actions against the [native peoples].
Even a twentieth-century American President and winner of a Nobel Peace Prize joined the fray, describing one of the many government-launched mass murders of [native] men and women and children that had occurred during his lifetime (this particular massacre including the clubbing and shooting to death of infants and the proud public display of mutilated [native] male and female genitals) as a “righteous and beneficial deed,” because, after all, as he laughingly put it, “I don’t go so far as to think that the only good [natives] are dead [natives], but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn’t like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.”
When all the dust had settled, throughout the entire North American continent approximately 95 percent of the original [native] population had been exterminated— from the combined violence, torture, removal, disease, exhaustion, exposure, and other factors that snatched their lives away. The remaining 5 percent were then forcibly driven away to live in abject poverty and squalor on segregated encampments set up by the American government in the most inhospitable environments that could be found." (see pages 306-308 in "Uniqueness as Denial: The Politics of Genocide Scholarship" by David E. Stannard in "Is the Holocaust Unique?: Perspectives on Comparative Genocide" edited by Alan S Rosenbaum)
September 28, 2017
It's like three books in one. The first sets up a kind of "1491"—what life was like on the American continents prior to Columbus's arrival, with an emphasis on how many people would have lived there, according to the latest research. It's the least compelling section, but necessary structurally for the rest. The second part is the most emotionally gripping, dealing with the wholesale slaughter of the native peoples at the hands of the Europeans. Working from source materials (written by the Europeans themselves), it's devastating and damning, unfathomable in its violence and degradation. The third section is the most intellectually involving, studying the cultural context of what Europeans were thinking in the years before and after Columbus's "discovery," including some fascinating parallels to the treatment of Jewish peoples, from the Middle Ages to the Nazi holocaust.
The book is more academic than it is "popular history," meaning it can be dry and overly deferential to its sources, and it wades into disputes among historians that won't interest the lay reader. That is, it often isn't fun to read, subject matter aside, but its content is essential for anyone serious about knowing and confronting the European legacy in the Americas.
The book is more academic than it is "popular history," meaning it can be dry and overly deferential to its sources, and it wades into disputes among historians that won't interest the lay reader. That is, it often isn't fun to read, subject matter aside, but its content is essential for anyone serious about knowing and confronting the European legacy in the Americas.
August 27, 2020
This book is a worthy contribution to the 1992 commemoration of the 500th Columbus Day. The unstinting accounts of extermination campaigns and forced labor camps across the New World are sufficient to do the magnitude of horror some justice, and the recorded thoughts or sentiments of the perpetrators are explored in disturbing detail. In comparing the crimes of Spanish and English invaders, Stannard finds the English slightly more murderous, as they tended to massacre the Natives not just for the sake of profit, but as an end in itself. Perhaps the most thought provoking lines are the quotes from U.S. founding fathers such as George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, calling for the extermination of Native societies in words that Adolf Hitler could have easily have copied for his own ends. After all, Hitler used to say that in his people's continent-spanning empire, the Volga River would be "Germany's Mississippi."
May 30, 2021
For it's time it's an extraordinary book. The issues with it is, of course, language. While towards the end of the book the author does acknowledge the existence of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, however, he spent a great portion of the book inferring that they had all been "exterminated" (his word). Indeed, even now many white people are under the impression that the Indigenous peoples of Central and South America no longer exist. Which in itself erases the lives and heritages of the Indigenous peoples that do still exist. It would have also been of beneficial understanding for the author to have mentioned in detail how the Indigenous peoples had resisted and fought against the invaders.
April 21, 2022
Another game changer in how we view ourselves and our history. Stannard's book is not for the weak or faint of heart. It is an honest, brutal and extremely explicit account of European-Christian culture coming into contact and decimating marvelous civilizations. This is history we know about but is seldom included in textbooks. I'm particularly intrigued by the connection he makes between the Christian religious world-view (at least of the 16th century) and the blood-letting cruel treatment given to native tribes and peoples in the Americas. The hubris of white European=Christian societies still exists as we deal with an interconnected and global culture. Stannard's book will be an eye-opener.
January 27, 2025
Content is important and detailed. The flow of the book was a bit disjointed and that kept it from 5 stars.
The violent and horrific attempted extermination of the natives was not incidental or “collateral” damage. This book underlines the intentional, consistent and strategic violence against the indigenous peoples were. The level of horrific violence is the stuff of horror movies. It cannot be overstated how much evil the native Americans were subjected to, repeatedly. More than 95% of the native population of the entire western hemisphere within 100 years of first contact with Europeans.
Racism is never benign.
The violent and horrific attempted extermination of the natives was not incidental or “collateral” damage. This book underlines the intentional, consistent and strategic violence against the indigenous peoples were. The level of horrific violence is the stuff of horror movies. It cannot be overstated how much evil the native Americans were subjected to, repeatedly. More than 95% of the native population of the entire western hemisphere within 100 years of first contact with Europeans.
Racism is never benign.
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