Display Full Text | Download Full Text
4.08 MB PDF file

Degree

Master of Arts in History, Youngstown State University, Department of History, 2000.

Abstract

Taking captives was an old and established custom in the Americas long before Columbus arrived in 1492. Nevertheless, the coming of Europeans ushered in a new era in the taking of captives, since the Native Americans could use the colonists as slaves, for ransom, and for adoption, to replace their dead. The prospect of captivity placed an additional burden of fear on an already difficult life for the European colonists. Indians captured both men and women. However, because of the different roles men and women played in their society, the circumstances of their capture and captivity differed, based on their gender. Women, normally confined to the home and care of the children, were usually captured with their children, and fear for them placed an additional burden on the mothers. Men, nearly always kidnapped while hunting, farming, or soldiering, typically only had themselves to worry about. Men and women also dealt with the actual captivity and its aftermath differently. Men, without their families involved, found it easier to escape from the Indians. Women, however rarely escaped unless or until their children were all dead. After their release, men publicly profited from their experiences, while women did not.

Subject Headings

History, United States

Keywords

captivity

Advisor

Martha Pallante

Pages

vii, 125p.

Document number: ysu1004468540
Permalink: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1004468540

This ETD has been downloaded 556 times (through March 2013)