I think that there has been too much emotional handwringing over the 400th as 
far as people tripping over themselves cast the the colony in different 
lights to suit their agendas.

I am really getting tired of the colony being portrayed as a bunch of evil 
white Europeans whose presence in the New World is to rob the natives of 
their lands and lives as part of some genocidal masterplan. I am all in favor 
of examining this history, warts and all, but the judgmental attitudes of 
those weighing in from their various cultural perspectives is getting really 
old. 

There is ample documentation available that in a general sense, the English 
wanted to deal fairly with the Indians. Granted it didn't always come out 
that way in practice but there was some acknowledgement of the rights of the 
Indians.  

I think the Lawes Divine, Moral, and Martial first instituted by Sir Thomas 
Gates in May of 1610, amply illustrates this.

Some excerpts:

article 1.9
...No man shall ravish or force any woman, maid or Indian, or other, upon 
pain of death,...

article 1.16
No man shall rifle or despoil, by force or violence, take away any thing from 
any Indian coming to trade, or otherwise, upon pain of death.

article 2.44
Whosoever shall give offence to the Indians in that nature, which truly 
examined, shall found to have been cause of breach of their league, and 
friendship, which with so great travail, desire, and circumspection, we have 
or shall at any time obtain from them without commission so to do , from him 
that has authority for the same, shall be punished with death.

article 2.45
Whosoever shall wilfully, or negligently set fire on any Indian dwelling 
house, or Quioquisock house or temple, or upon any storehouse, or garner of 
grain , or provision of what quality soever, or disvaledge, ransack , or ill 
intreat the people of the country, where any war, or where through any march 
shall be made except it be proclaimed, or without commandment of the chief 
officers shall be punished with death.




On Mon, 21 May 2007 12:52:34 -0400, Lyle E. Browning wrote
> The end result of being overly PC, apart from cultural emasculation, 
>  seems to be a sort of acontextual Yassir Arafat variant of "Never 
>  missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity" for fear of the  
> possibility of offenses real or imagined.
> 
> Two cultures collided in VA. One dominated the other after years of  
> struggle and opportunity to do otherwise. To negate that also 
> negates  what we became later as in the United States of America. 
> The end  result of had we been PC way back then was that we don't 
> now exist.  Now that's a nice image and one I find to be rather pathetic.
> 
> Lyle Browning