Big B -> RE: OT: english language (5/9/2007 6:26:26 AM)
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ORIGINAL: Vetamur ... m10bob.. the Native Americans were defeated, but I certainly wouldnt add "fair and square" to the sentence.. making and breaking 450 treaties, many in bad faith to begin with isnt generally considered "fair and square". Well, as an American whose family landed here in 1607, in what eventually became Rhode Island, I can tell you this - in open conflict (open warfare) the concept of "fair and square" is meaningless. 'We' settlers were fighting for survival and dominance against the 'natives' who were doing the same - and there was no 'Second Place'...harsh but reality. If the Amer-Indians could have killed off all the white settlers, they would have (and they woke up and tried it a time or two in New England/Virginia in the 1600s), and we did likewise... we won. It may surprise you to know that by 1860 (before the American Civil War/War Between the States)not only were American Indians expelled to the Great Plains and West, but even there white settlers already outnumbered Indians by 10:1 in the West. Broken treaties? Yeah, by the bundle, ...perhaps not something for a modern society to by proud of, ...but 'Real Politik' trumps everything, And since my ancestors survived and I was born as a result - I'm not terribly sorry...nor do I carry a sense of guilt over it. As 'Animal Mother' said in 'Full Metal Jacket'... "better you than me".
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