Society in the Late Colonial Era

After the war colleges had expanded their dramatic activities, introducing plays and dialogues to society. Not only are these works different than Rowlandson’s narrative in size, but also style. These works were written in old english dialect that provided informative short stories on different aspects of American society.

In A Dialogue Between an Englishman and an Indian the author, John Smith, acknowledges that Indians weren’t as different as other Europeans had claimed. Not all Indians were cruel savages. In fact, some Indians were educated by Puritan charity schools. In this dialogue the reader is shown the general mistreatment of Indians through a negative interaction between an Englishman and an Indian. Based on common misconceptions the Englishman discriminates against the Indian, calling the minority a ”vile, barbarous race!” (Smith, 7). Unaware of the Indian’s background, the Englishmen is proven wrong with his assumptions. In the Indian’s defense, he shows that the Spaniards also engaged in such acts of cruelty and highlights that the Christian’s temper had impaired his judgment. This dialogue reveals that the Indian was more educated than the Englishmen and that Indians were intelligent too. Generalizations of Indian populations depicted the community to be violent savages, however, in reality Indians and Europeans weren’t so different after all.

In The Candidates the reader is given a glimpse of politics back in the late colonial era in Virginia. At this point in history, the elections were more personal then nowadays. In the play the reader is shown how in the end, the worthiest candidates, Mr. Woud’be and Mr. Worthy, were elected. Instead of lying to gain votes and popularity, Mr. Woud’be was honest with his neighbors. Although at first the towns people weren’t fond of him, they quickly changed their opinions. Woud’be was a just character and rightful for the position. No matter what, he respected everyone equally. He even had mutual respect for his servant Ralpho. For example, in the beginning of the play Mr. Woud’be gave Ralph his old suit because he was “pleased with [Ralpho’s] diligence and fidelity, and [was] ever ready to reward it.”(Smith, 15). In general, elections should bring justice for the American people by electing the best candidate. The best candidate should have all the right characteristics for the job in order to help the people. Although this election was minuscule compared to other elections, it depicted the ideal voting system which brought justice for Virginia.

4 thoughts on “Society in the Late Colonial Era

  1. Pretty cool stuff James, interesting point about an “ideal voting system” which brought “justice”. This is certainly a far cry from the voting system today which has a turn out rate of less than 50% which cannot possibly represent the interests of the country at large. Also, in this play, the personalities and lives of the candidates are known for certain which is very much unlike today.

    • It worth noticing the different attitudes about civic participation shown in The Candidates as compared to how we feel about government today. The characters in The Candidates show a pride in civic involvement and have trust in their government. Compare this to today where it is impossible to envision a politician as anything other than a complete monster in a cheap suit and almost everyone distrusts the state in one way or another.

  2. Agreed! There appears a certain level of “warmth” between the people and politicians, which diminishes this distinction. So much of elections now for politicians rests on interest groups, rather than the people themselves. James Madison theorized that the newly created United States would be too large to fall into the hands of factions. It appears Madison might have been a little too optimistic!

    • It is truly a shame to see how the political system functions today after reading “The Candidates.” The American government in the 21st century has become more and more impersonal and detached from the common people. The politics described in this dialogue are much more personal and up front. Granted, the United States was much smaller at this time compared to today.

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