Ann Marie Plane example essay topic
They feared that Native practices such as premarital sex, polygyny and easy divorce imposed a threat to destabilize the orderly communities central to the Puritan agenda. I assume that Plane wants to reveal how intimate relationships "not only reflected the influence of European colonialism in southeastern New England but actually shaped the progress of colonial dominance, helping to make and remake the region's cultures" (pp. 11-12). De facto divisions between the marriages of Indians and the colonists "tended to heighten cultural barriers separating whites from others, laying the groundwork for racial rather than cultural meanings of Indianness" (p. 151). Since Indians appeared lacking family governance and household ideology which were closely linked to marriage for the English minds, they were seen as inferior, un assimilable people who should be subordinated.
Sources This book is made up of many stories of interactions between Native Indians and European colonists. Plane uses an unusual set of Nantucket court records to show the impact of new marriage laws on the daily lives of Indian men and women. Unfortunately no written records from the Indian courts survived. Furthermore travel narratives, missionary writings, diarists' musings, sermons and early histories complement the legal records that make up the backbone of her studies. Ann Marie Plane demonstrates a great skill in her elucidation of specific court cases. By doing so, she shows us the real tensions that existed within families, and between families and communities, in the different populations of early New England.
Scholarly reaction Melanie Perreault criticizes that written records made by the English form the basis for her primary research. She states that "these cannot be seen as objective sources on an Indian perspective". The review written by Nancy Shoemaker for the "Journal of American History" emphasizes that "marriage is used as a metaphor to naturalize political relationships, with New England cast as the husband taking Indian America for a wife". She zings that "Indians appear in the book more peripherally and dimly than the book's subtitle would suggest". Finally, the review in the "American Historical Review" stresses that Plane only focuses on Massachusetts, thus omitting Rhode Island and Connecticut. I enjoyed reading the book because it highlights so many stories of interactions between Native people and the Europeans.
Thereby it seems to be lively and gives a good insight into the intimate lives of people at that time.
Bibliography
The American Historical Review: web Vol. 106, No. 5, December 2001;
03.10. 03 - The Journal of American History: web Vol. 88, No. 3, December 2001;
03.10. 03 - The William and Mary Quarterly: web Vol. 59, No. 1, January 2002;