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Understanding Motivations of Economic Gain and Cultural Values Through the Lens of Religion from Pre-Colonial to Antebellum America

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Understanding Motivations of Economic Gain and Cultural Values Through the Lens of Religion from Pre-Colonial to Antebellum America

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How were people in pre-colonial, colonial, early republic, and antebellum America motivated by economic interest or cultural values up until the Civil War?

Americans from the pre-colonial era up until the Civil War were heavily motivated by economic interest and cultural values, specifically religion.
Religion, specifically Christianity, was used as a justification for colonization as well as a guiding set of values for political and social systems of the time. However, resistance to the permeation of Christian values into daily life existed among marginalized groups during all four time periods, including Chinese-American immigrants during the early republic era and indigenous societies in the pre-colonial era.

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1400s: Religion as a unifying factor among indigenous peoples

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1400s: Religion as a unifying factor among indigenous peoples

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In the pre-colonial era, religion acted as a unifying factor among tribes and functioned as a center for a civilization. The Mayans of present-day Central America, for example, cultivated a religion which revolved around corn, a key food source of its people. Although directly motivated by economic gain, traders from Mexico also carried aspects of culture, such as the Sun Dance religion, in the North Americas.

Source:
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. "Follow the Corn." In An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, 15-31. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2014. file:///Users/ruthiecollett/Downloads/Indigenous%20Peoples'%20History%20Follow%20the%20Corn.pdf.

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1542: Spanish Explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca's account of his interactions with indigenous peoples in the Gulf South

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1542: Spanish Explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca's account of his interactions with indigenous peoples in the Gulf South

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This 1542 account by explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca's account of his interactions with indigenous peoples in the Gulf South. In this unreliable account, the explorer describes a native population enthusiastic about conversion to Christianity. This source reveals a greater truth about the motivation of Spain, in its colonization of North America, to establish comprehensive religious dominance during this time.

Source:
Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, The journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and his companions from Florida to the Pacific, 1528-1536, Fanny Bandelier, trans. Ad. F. Bandelier, ed. (New York: 1922), 99-108. https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/the-new-world/alvar-nunez-cabeza-de-vaca-travels-through-north-america-1542/

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Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca Travels through North America, 1542
Spanish explorer, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, traveled across the Gulf South, from Florida to Mexico. As he traveled, Cabeza de Vaca developed a reputation as a faith healer. In his account he claimed several instances of performing miracles, illustrating his spiritual beliefs as well as offering a rare, if perhaps unreliable, glimpse at the life of Native Americans in the area.
... At sunset we came in sight of the lodges, and two crossbow shots before reaching them met four Indians waiting for us, and they received us well. We told them in the language of the Mariames that we had come to see them. They appeared to be pleased with our company and took us to their homes. They lodged Dorantes and the negro at the house of a medicine man and me and Castillo at that of another. These Indians speak another language and are called Avavares .... Forthwith they offered us many tunas [cactus fruit], because they had heard of us and of how we cured and of the miracles Our Lord worked through us...

On the night we arrived there some Indians came to Castillo complaining that their heads felt very sore and begging him for relief. As soon as he had made the sign of the cross over them and recommended them to God, at that very moment the Indians said that all the pain was gone. They went back to their abodes and brought us many tunas and a piece of venison, something we did not know any more what it was, and as the news spread that same night there came many other sick people for him to cure, and each brought a piece of venison, and so many there were that we did not know where to store the meat. We thanked God for His daily increasing mercy and kindness, and after they were all well they began to dance and celebrate and feast until sunrise of the day following.

They celebrated our coming for three days, at the end of which we asked them about the land further on, the people and the food that there might be obtained. They replied there were plenty of tunas all through that country, but that the season was over and nobody there, because all had gone to their abodes after gathering tunas; also that the country was very cold and very few hides in it. Hearing this, and as winter and cold weather were setting in, we determined to spend it with those Indians. Five days after our arrival they left to get more tunas at a place where people of a different nation and language lived, and having travelled five days, suffering greatly from hunger, as on the way there were neither tunas nor any kind of fruit, we came to a river, where we pitched our lodges....

Early the next day many Indians came and brought five people who were paralyzed and very ill, and they came for Castillo to cure them. Every one of the patients offered him his bow and arrows, which he accepted, and by sunset he made the sign of the cross over each of the sick, recommending them to God, Our Lord, and we all prayed to Him as well as we could to restore them to health. And He, seeing there was no other way of getting those people to help us so that we might be saved from our miserable existence, had mercy upon us, and in the morning all woke up well and hearty and went away in such good health as if they never had had any ailment whatever. This caused them great admiration and moved us to thanks to Our Lord and to greater faith in His goodness and the hope that He would save us, guiding us to where we could serve Him. For myself I may say that I always had full faith in His mercy and in that He would liberate me from captivity, and always told my companions so.

When the Indians had gone and taken along those recently cured, we removed to others that were eating tunas also, called Cultalchuches and Malicones, which speak a different language, and with them were others, called Coayos and Susolas, and on another side those called Atayos, who were at war with the Susolas, and exchanging arrow shots with them every day.

Nothing was talked about in this whole country but of the wonderful cures which God, Our Lord, performed through us, and so they came from many places to be cured, and after having been with us two days some Indians of the Susolas begged Castillo to go and attend to a man who had been wounded, as well as to others that were sick and among whom, they said, was one on the point of death. Castillo was very timid, especially in difficult and dangerous cases, and always afraid that his sins might interfere and prevent the cures from being effective. Therefore the Indians told me to go and perform the cure. They liked me, remembering that I had relieved them while they were out gathering nuts, for which they had given us nuts and hides. This had happened at the time I was coming to join the Christians. So I had to go, and Dorantes and Estevanico went with me.

When I came close to their ranches I saw that the dying man we had been called to cure was dead, for there were many people around him weeping and his lodge was torn down, which is a sign that the owner has died. I found the Indian with eyes up turned, without pulse and with all the marks of lifelessness. At least so it seemed to me, and Dorantes said the same. I removed a mat with which he was covered, and as best I could prayed to Our Lord to restore his health, as well as that of all the others who might be in need of it, and after having made the sign of the cross and breathed on him many times they brought his bow and presented it to me, and a basket of ground tunas, and took me to many others who were suffering from vertigo. They gave me two more baskets of tunas, which I left to the Indians that had come with us. Then we returned to our quarters.

Our Indians to whom I had given the tunas remained there, and at night returned telling, that the dead man whom I attended to in their presence had resuscitated, rising from his bed, had walked about, eaten and talked to them, and that all those treated by me were well and in very good spirits. This caused great surprise and awe, and all over the land nothing else was spoken of. All who heard it came to us that we might cure them and bless their children, and when the Indians in our company (who were the Cultalchulches) had to return to their country, before parting they offered us all the tunas they had for their journey, not keeping a single one, and gave us flint stones as long as one and a-half palms, with which they cut and that are greatly prized among them. They begged us to remember them and pray to God to keep them always healthy, which we promised to do, and so they left, the happiest people upon earth, having given us the very best they had.

We remained with the Avavares Indians for eight months, according to our reckoning of the moons. During that time they came for us from many places and said that verily we were children of the sun. Until then Dorantes and the negro had not made any cures, but we found ourselves so pressed by the Indians coming from all sides, that all of us had to become medicine men. I was the most daring and reckless of all in undertaking cures. We never treated anyone that did not afterwards say he was well, and they had such confidence in our skill as to believe that none of them would die as long as we were among them.

Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, The journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and his companions from Florida to the Pacific, 1528-1536, Fanny Bandelier, trans. Ad. F. Bandelier, ed. (New York: 1922), 99-108
Available through HathiTrust

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Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca Travels through North America, 1542

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Spanish explorer, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, traveled across the Gulf South, from Florida to Mexico. As he traveled, Cabeza de Vaca developed a reputation as a faith healer. In his account he claimed several instances of performing miracles, illustrating his spiritual beliefs as well as offering a rare, if perhaps unreliable, glimpse at the life of Native Americans in the area.

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1580s: Beginning of major English colonization in North America

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1580s: Beginning of major English colonization in North America

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English colonization began in North America during the 1580s and would continue until the fight for American independence in the 18th century.
To some extent, these colonizers were motivated by their own religious values and wished to fight back against the perceived "heresy" of the Spanish. Although the British were hoping to bring Protestantism to North America, the colonizers were mainly motivated by economic gain. The English wished to both establish systems of trade and extract resources from its colonies.

Sources:
"Colliding Cultures." In The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook, edited by Joseph L. Locke and Ben Wright, 28-53. Vol. 1. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2019.

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1641: Chrestien Le Clercq's account of an indigenous Gaspian man's way of life

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1641: Chrestien Le Clercq's account of an indigenous Gaspian man's way of life

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This account by an indigenous Gaspian man evidences the resistance to Christian cultural domination voiced by some groups during these four time periods. The indigenous man acknowledges the French colonizers' view of his people as "the most miserable and most unhappy of all men, living without religion, without manners, without honour, without social order..." He goes on to rebuke the French for their imposition of cultural values on indigenous peoples, identifying their true motivation as the "comfort [of their] misery and the poverty which oppresses [them]. As to us, we find all our riches and all our conveniences among ourselves, without trouble and without exposing our lives to the dangers in which you find yourselves constantly through your long voyages."

Source:
Crestien Le Clercq, New Relation of Gaspesia: With the Customs and Religion of the Gaspesian Indians, William F. Ganong, ed. and trans. (Toronto: 1910), 103-106. https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/colliding-cultures/a-gaspesian-indian-defends-his-way-of-life-1641/

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A Gaspesian Man Defends His Way of Life, 1641
Chrestien Le Clercq traveled to New France as a missionary, but found that many Native Americans were not interested in adopting European cultural practices. In this document, LeClercq records the words of a Gaspesian man who explained why he believed that his way of life was superior to Le Clercq's.
... the Indians esteem their camps as much as, and even more than, they do the most superb and commodious of our houses. To this they testified one day to some of our gentlemen of Isle Percée, who, having asked me to serve them as interpreter in a visit which they wished to make to these Indians in order to make the latter understand that it would be very much more advantageous for them to live and to build in our fashion, were extremely surprised when the leading Indian, who had listened with great patience to everything I had said to him on behalf of these gentlemen, answered me in these words :

I am greatly astonished that the French have so little cleverness, as they seem to exhibit in the matter of which thou hast just told me on their behalf, in the effort to persuade us to convert our poles, our barks, and our wigwams into those houses of stone and of wood which are tall and lofty, according to their account, as these trees. Very well! But why now, do men of five to six feet in height need houses which are sixty to eighty? For, in fact, as thou knowest very well thyself, Patriarch-do we not find in our own all the conveniences and the advantages that you have with yours, such as reposing, drinking, sleeping, eating, and amusing ourselves with our friends when we wish? This is not all, my brother, hast thou as much ingenuity and cleverness as the Indians, who carry their houses and their wigwams with them so that they may lodge wheresoever they please, independently of any seignior whatsoever? Thou art not as bold nor as stout as we, because when thou goest on a voyage thou canst not carry upon thy shoulders thy buildings and thy edifices. Therefore it is necessary that thou prepares as many lodgings as thou makest changes of residence, or else thou lodgest in a hired house which does not belong to thee. As for us, we find ourselves secure from all these inconveniences, and we can always say, more truly than thou, that we are at home everywhere, because we set up our wigwams with ease wheresoever we go, and without asking permission of anybody. Thou reproachest us, very inappropriately, that our country is a little hell in contrast with France, which thou comparest to a terrestrial paradise, inasmuch as it yields thee, so thou safest, every kind of provision in abundance. Thou sayest of us also that we are the most miserable and most unhappy of all men, living without religion, without manners, without honour, without social order, and, in a word, without any rules, like the beasts in our woods and our forests, lacking bread, wine, and a thousand other comforts which thou hast in superfluity in Europe. Well, my brother, if thou dost not yet know the real feelings which our Indians have towards thy country and towards all thy nation, it is proper that I inform thee at once. I beg thee now to believe that, all miserable as we seem in thine eyes, we consider ourselves nevertheless much happier than thou in this, that we are very content with the little that we have; and believe also once for all, I pray, that thou deceivest thyself greatly if thou thinkest to persuade us that thy country is better than ours. For if France, as thou sayest, is a little terrestrial paradise, art thou sensible to leave it? And why abandon wives, children, relatives, and friends? Why risk thy life and thy property every year, and why venture thyself with such risk, in any season whatsoever, to the storms and tempests of the sea in order to come to a strange and barbarous country which thou considerest the poorest and least fortunate of the world? Besides, since we are wholly convinced of the contrary, we scarcely take the trouble to go to France, because we fear, with good reason, lest we find little satisfaction there, seeing, in our own experience, that those who are natives thereof leave it every year in order to enrich themselves on our shores. We believe, further, that you are also incomparably poorer than we, and that you are only simple journeymen, valets, servants, and slaves, all masters and grand captains though you may appear, seeing that you glory in our old rags and in our miserable suits of beaver which can no longer be of use to us, and that you find among us, in the fishery for cod which you make in these parts, the wherewithal to comfort your misery and the poverty which oppresses you. As to us, we find all our riches and all our conveniences among ourselves, without trouble and without exposing our lives to the dangers in which you find yourselves constantly through your long voyages. And, whilst feeling compassion for you in the sweetness of our repose, we wonder at the anxieties and cares which you give yourselves night and day in order to load your ship. We see also that all your people live, as a rule, only upon cod which you catch among us. It is everlastingly nothing but cod-cod in the morning, cod at midday, cod at evening, and always cod, until things come to such a pass that if you wish some good morsels, it is at our expense; and you are obliged to have recourse to the Indians, whom you despise so much, and to beg them to go a-hunting that you may be regaled. Now tell me this one little thing, if thou hast any sense: Which of these two is the wisest and happiest-he who labours without ceasing and only obtains, and that with great trouble, enough to live on, or he who rests in comfort and finds all that he needs in the pleasure of hunting and fishing? It is true, that we have not always had the use of bread and of wine which your France produces; but, in fact, before the arrival of the French in these parts, did not the Gaspesians live much longer than now? And if we have not any longer among us any of those old men of a hundred and thirty to forty years, it is only because we are gradually adopting your manner of living, for experience is making it very plain that those of us live longest who, despising your bread, your wine, and your brandy, are content with their natural food of beaver, of moose, of waterfowl, and fish, in accord with the custom of our ancestors and of all the Gaspesian nation. Learn now, my brother, once for all, because I must open to thee my heart: there is no Indian who does not consider himself infinitely more happy and more powerful than the French.

Crestien Le Clercq, New Relation of Gaspesia: With the Customs and Religion of the Gaspesian Indians, William F. Ganong, ed. and trans. (Toronto: 1910), 103-106.
Available through the Internet Archive

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A Gaspesian Man Defends His Way of Life, 1641

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Chrestien Le Clercq traveled to New France as a missionary, but found that many Native Americans were not interested in adopting European cultural practices. In this document, LeClercq records the words of a Gaspesian man who explained why he believed that his way of life was superior to Le Clercq's.

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During the colonial era, the American colonies saw a broad resurgence in religious spirit among everyday people. Sermons from the time provide insight into the cultural and social norms perpetuated by religious leaders. Evangelist George Whitefield preached to his congregation about the importance of maintaining godly Christian ideals in the home, asserting "every governor ought with his household to serve the Lord, catechizing and instructing their children and servants, and bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."

Source:
Whitefield, George. "The Great Duty of Family Religion," in The Great Awakening: Spiritual Revival in Colonial America, Item #42, http://greatawakeningdocumentary.com/items/show/42. Accessed November 15, 2022.

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1776: American Declaration of Independence

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1776: American Declaration of Independence

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Penned right before the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence established the United States as a sovereign nation free from British control. Though not centered around Christian ideals, the Declaration uses religious language multiple times. The last line of the document, for example, creates a strong connection between political independence and divine will: "Free and Independent States...have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace... And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives..."

Source:
Jefferson, Thomas, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. "Declaration of Independence." Course pack for US History 300A, compiled by Dr. Miriam Villanueva, Fall 2022, Phillips Academy Andover.

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1812: Cultural values, specifically religion, as support for pro and anti-conflict sentiments during the War of 1812

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1812: Cultural values, specifically religion, as support for pro and anti-conflict sentiments during the War of 1812

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Against the backdrop of the brutal War of 1812, religious sects became increasingly politicized. Both pro- and anti-war religious leaders preached sermons in support of their given side, using religious arguments to justify their views. Pro-war army chaplain Samuel Knox, for example, delivered an address to Maryland volunteers urging them to trust in God when fighting this "righteous" war: "Go then ye citizen soldiers, and the God of those armies that fight in a righteous cause—and a righteous cause only, go with you. But, allow me, to beseech you to remember... that the most pious are generally the most valiant...the most courageous heart, can lose none of their strength..."

Knox, S. "A discourse, delivered in the 2d. Presbyterian church in the city of Baltimore, on Thursday, the 20th of August, 1812." Baltimore: Printed by William Warner. https://www.classicapologetics.com/k/Knox.Presby.pdf

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1820s-1860s: The Market Revolution and ideals of success influenced by cultural values, including religion

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1820s-1860s: The Market Revolution and ideals of success influenced by cultural values, including religion

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Starting in the 1820s, the American public saw enormous economic expansion with the rise of commercialism and mass production. During this time, a new ideal of success arose in private life, as the American middle class man "aspired to own a comfortable home and to marry a woman of strong morals and religious conviction who would take responsibility for raising virtuous, well-behaved children..." This aspirational life was heavily motivated by widely held cultural values, in this case religious devotion.

Sources:
"The Market Revolution." In The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook, edited by Joseph L. Locke and Ben Wright, 198-226. Vol. 1. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2019.

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1830: Andrew Jackson's State of the Union Address on the 1830 Indian Removal Act

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1830: Andrew Jackson's State of the Union Address on the 1830 Indian Removal Act

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Religion, specifically Christianity, was used during the early republic era as a justification for the poor treatment of indigenous peoples. In Andrew Jackson's State of Union in 1830, the president spoke on the recently instated Indian Removal Act, which enforced the forced removal of  indigenous people from their lands. Jackson argued that this removal would, "under the protection of the Government and through the influence of good counsels, [allow native peoples] to cast off their savage habits and become an interesting, civilized, and Christian community." This statement reflects the standard of Christian values and lifestyle as the ideal state, while also insinuating that the absence of Christianity in these communities categorizes them as subhuman "savages."

Source:
"Manifest Destiny and Indian Removal." Smithsonian American Art Museum. Last modified February 2015. Accessed November 15, 2022. https://americanexperience.si.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Manifest-Destiny-and-Indian-Removal.pdf.

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1850s: Chinese Americans reject dominant cultural ideals in favor of retaining traditional systems

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1850s: Chinese Americans reject dominant cultural ideals in favor of retaining traditional systems

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Although frequently motivated by economic gain - that is, the hope for a better life upon immigration to the United States - Chinese American displayed notable deviation from the "ideal" Christian lifestyle which existed during the antebellum era.  During the second half of the 19th century, Chinese communities were created in America that retained traditional systems and customs. In Chinatowns across the American West, Chinese Americans celebrated cultural holidays and practiced traditional religions.

Source:
Takaki, Ronald. "'Foreigners in Their Native Land' : The War Against Mexico." In A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America (Revised Edition), 155-76. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 2008.

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1852: Frederick Douglass' "What to a Slave is the 4th of July?" Address

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1852: Frederick Douglass' "What to a Slave is the 4th of July?" Address

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In a keynote address on Independence Day, Frederick Douglass addressed the hypocrisy of the system of enslavement existing in a supposedly "free" society. Douglass frequently uses religious language in this speech to attack the institution of slavery, asserting "that God did not establish it...that which is inhuman, cannot be divine!"

Source:
Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?," Course pack for US History 300A, compiled by Dr. Miriam Villanueva, Fall 2022, Phillips Academy Andover.

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1861: Address by Confederate Vice President Andrew Stephens

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1861: Address by Confederate Vice President Andrew Stephens

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This speech was given in 1861 by Confederate Vice President Andrew Stephens and details some of the core tenets upon which the seceded state was based. In the address, Stephens asserts the "new Government is founded upon... the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition." Here, Stephens appeals to prevailing Confederate cultural ideals of white supremacy as well as religious ideology, arguing Northerners were attempting to make things equal which the Creator had made unequal."

Source:
Stephens, Andrew. “Speech of A. H. Stephens,” Frank Moore, ed., Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, etc. Volume I, (New York: 1861), 45-46.

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Primary Sources:

Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca, The journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and his companions from Florida to the Pacific, 1528-1536, Fanny Bandelier, trans. Ad. F. Bandelier, ed. (New York: 1922), 99-108. https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/the-new-world/alvar-nunez-cabeza-de-vaca-travels-through-north-america-1542/

Crestien Le Clercq, New Relation of Gaspesia: With the Customs and Religion of the Gaspesian Indians, William F. Ganong, ed. and trans. (Toronto: 1910), 103-106. https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/colliding-cultures/a-gaspesian-indian-defends-his-way-of-life-1641/

Douglass, Frederick. "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?," Course pack for US History 300A, compiled by Dr. Miriam Villanueva, Fall 2022, Phillips Academy Andover.

Jefferson, Thomas, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. "Declaration of Independence." Course pack for US History 300A, compiled by Dr. Miriam Villanueva, Fall 2022, Phillips Academy Andover.

Knox, S. "A discourse, delivered in the 2d. Presbyterian church in the city of Baltimore, on Thursday, the 20th of August, 1812." Baltimore: Printed by William Warner. https://www.classicapologetics.com/k/Knox.Presby.pdf

Stephens, Andrew. “Speech of A. H. Stephens,” Frank Moore, ed., Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, etc. Volume I, (New York: 1861), 45-46.

Whitefield, George. "The Great Duty of Family Religion," in The Great Awakening: Spiritual Revival in Colonial America, Item #42, http://greatawakeningdocumentary.com/items/show/42. Accessed November 15, 2022.

Secondary Sources:

"Colliding Cultures." In The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook, edited by Joseph L. Locke and Ben Wright, 28-53. Vol. 1. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2019.

Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. "Follow the Corn." In An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, 15-31. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2014. file:///Users/ruthiecollett/Downloads/Indigenous%20Peoples'%20History%20Follow%20the%20Corn.pdf.

"Manifest Destiny and Indian Removal." Smithsonian American Art Museum. Last modified February 2015. Accessed November 15, 2022. https://americanexperience.si.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Manifest-Destiny-and-Indian-Removal.pdf.

Takaki, Ronald. "'Foreigners in Their Native Land' : The War Against Mexico." In A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America (Revised Edition), 155-76. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 2008.

"The Market Revolution." In The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook, edited by Joseph L. Locke and Ben Wright, 198-226. Vol. 1. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2019.