The Indian Wars

It is now long forgotten, but the Native Americans did not build fences, because they had no stock animals that "needed" to be fenced in (like the pig, goat, or chicken). When the European Settlers arrived, their livestock would wantonly dig up the Native American farm fields and destroy the crops for the year. When the Settlers were asked to pay reparations for the damage their livestock caused, they told the plaintiffs to "build a fence." If the offending pig was killed, the killer was expected by the settlers to be punished and reparation paid. This difference of understanding is one major irritation that led to the Jamestown massacre and the beginning of 250 years of relentless"Indian Wars"...

copyright (c) 2016

William Schaeffer