FREE ESSAY ON SLAVERY AND EVOLUTION OF THE CHEROKEE

SLAVERY AND EVOLUTION OF THE CHEROKEE

ENC3240
A Review of
Slavery and Evolution of the Cherokee
Society 1540-1866
by Theda Perdue
In this well-written book by Theda Perdue, he discloses much of the history of slavery
among the Cherokee people and their evolution during this 326 year period. He begins with
their abduction by the Spanish. Perdue gives a remarkable
comparison of the two very different views of slavery experienced by two very different
cultures. He states that even though the Spaniards captured the Cherokee for use as
slaves, they misunderstood that the Indians had an egalitarian social
system. The Cherokee system also included distribution of power and labor. Thus, the
Cherokee accepted their slavery as a natural part of domination by the strongest. The
Cherokee misunderstood the Spanish form of slavery which was one of
cruelty.
During the first years of contact with the Europeans and the African people, the Cherokee
were only peacefully inquisitive. The Indians need for European trading goods grew.
Because of this need, the Cherokee began waging war to supply
slaves to the Europeans in return. Thus, corrupting the Cherokee lifestyle.
Theda Perdue tells of the destruction of tribal ways due to the embracing of a belief
foreign to the Native American way of life. According to Perdue, the U.S. government,
after the Civil War, decided that cheating the Cherokee for any
reason was justified because of genuine or imagined betrayals.