American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World - Book Report/Review Example

American HolocaustAmerican Holocaust is a historical context that focuses on the destruction of the Native American people in what the author terms as the greatest genocide in the world history. The execution of the Native American by Europeans and the white Americans led to an almost extinct group of people as well as their culture. David Stannard the brutal historic epistle in the 1490s in which he provides examples of events of massacre by the U. S. Army where the Sioux Indians were brutally murdered at ‘Wounded Knee’ in 1890s (Stannard, 128).

The north and South American continents endured a long period of massive violence which led to an ultimate impact of the reduction in population of the Native Americans. This was estimated to more that 100million deaths of the native population. Stannard argues that America was originally rich before the voyage of Columbus in 1492 (Stannard, 197). This aspect attracted a lot of foreign interests who in turn began plotting for the invasion of America to explore the resources. The result of this approach was a massive genocide that destroyed diversity and richness of the Native Americans leaving them with an almost extinct population.

Stannard presents an ironical view point of the situation in which he argues that the horrendous actions were done by Christians (Stannard, 208). The invasion of America was as a result of the spread of Christianity outside Europe. He supports his argument by attributing the Christian current attitude towards sex and racial discriminations as well as war to the events that began in the 1490s leading to the world’s greatest genocide. He also sites an example of the recent intervention of the Middle East and Southern Asia by large-scale army personnel.

Stannard links this notion to the events in the 1890s citing that the idea is still in play. These places have a common set up as the ancient America as they are rich and diversified. This aspect acts as a convincing example as it has brought about a controversial argument about the intension of America in Middle East and Asia. The intension is not clear on whether the peace keeping mission can justify the happenings of the 1490s and 1890s in America. The issue is however dressed by political critics who focus only on the political angle rather than involving all perspectives in order to result to a logical conclusion.

The Christian attitude towards sex, race and war is however exaggerated as religious compassion is attributed to its teachings. The biblical teachings perpetuate that Christians do not condone violence, racism and killings. In this case, religious involvement in the genocide remains unclear. Stannard argues that the spread of Christianity was used as a tool for the invasion of America, a concept that can be affirmed by the chronological events in the 1400 to 1800 history. Stannard’s argument is significant as it reflects on the current events and uses the chronological events to explain the recent happenings.

I tend to agree with his argument as presented in ‘American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World’. The argument presents a harsh reality of the human socio-political culture thus condoning history from ever repeating itself. Work CitedStannard David, E. American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World: Oxford. Oxford University Press. 1993. Print