Commentary on quotations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Commentary on quotations - Essay Example Unfortunately, greed and ambition got the better of the European colonizers treating Indians, along with other â€Å"inferior† races as indentured servants. The process of colonization was necessary to give the ideas freedom, prosperity, and identity a potent reality in America as a civilization of peoples evolved. Immigration of new settlers coming from various parts of the world and migration to the west enabled cultural interactions which resulted to the conscious awareness of cultural differences. As history begins to unfold, the definition between savagery and civilization has become clear. As people of different backgrounds emerged, their motives which were easily characterized by their actions, defines what the word civilize truly means. "Twenty years ago, half our continent was an unknown land, and the Rocky Mountains were our pillars of Hercules. Five years hence, the Orient will be our next door neighbor. We shall hold the worlds granary, the worlds treasury, the worlds highway. But we shall have no West, no border, no Civilization, in line of battle, pressing back hostile savages, and conquering hostile nature.† (p.10) Richard White wrote about the frontier in American culture based on Frederick Jackson Turners academic paper entitled The Significance of the Frontier in American History. The quote is a reminiscence of the past and the prediction of what was to come in the future, seeing the how things have been going at present and for the last quarter of a century, the end of the frontier is very imminent. Immigrants have suppressed the pioneers, referred to as savages, so that the land could be theirs. As a civilization of peoples evolved, a strong, rich, and progressive America was born. Yet, being civilized ended on a superficial level because overcoming of mans hostile nature proved to be a never ending struggle. A speech by Captain Pipe, Hopocan, in 1781, a