Download or read book Lives of Celebrated American Indians (Classic Reprint) written by Samuel Griswold Goodrich and published by . This book was released on 2015-09-27 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Lives of Celebrated American Indians In the course of the Cabinet Library, it is proposed to give three volumes upon the Aborigines of North America, to consist of the present volume, entitled Celebrated Indians of North America, with one upon their Manners and Customs, and one upon their History. The general object of these works will be to make the reader familiar with the real character and genius of that remarkable and peculiar race of men, which, however divided into various tribes and nations, are still of one lineage, and were the masters of the American continent - the lords of the New World, in its entire length and breadth - when it was discovered by Columbus. There are several reasons why this subject has not been well understood. The conquerors and spoilers of America had strong motives for first hating, and then defaming, the Aborigines. Cortes yearned for the wealth of Mexico, and, to obtain it, he must slaughter millions of the people, and enslave the rest. Having done this, he would naturally seek to justify his conduct to his own conscience and the world at large, by representing them in the most degrading and revolting colors. Pizarro would have the gold and silver of Peru, and, to cover up the atrocities he committed in obtaining it, must represent the people he betrayed and butchered, as ungodly heathen, whom it was not only lawful, but praiseworthy, to sweep from the face of the earth. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.