December 15th, 2011 Throughout colonial history in the Americas
and Oceania, many Portuguese, Spanish, and English colonists and
leaders compared Indigenous Peoples to animals. See Robert J.
Miller, The International Law of Colonialism: A Comparative
Analysis, 15 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 101, 161-69 (forthcoming
2012). (available now at
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1920009)
George Washington, the father of the United States, was no
different. In a letter to the U.S. Congress in 1783, then-
General George Washington analogized Indians to animals when he
foresaw that “the gradual extension of our Settlements will as
certainly cause the Savage as the Wolf to retire; both being
beasts of prey tho’ they differ in shape.” Letter to James Duane
(Sept. 7, 1783), in 27 The Writings of George Washington,
1745–1799, at 133, 140 (John C. Fitzpatrick ed., 1938). It's
easy to see the future that Washington and most American
Founding Fathers and political leaders over the years envisioned
for American Indi