Marxism in Relation to Native Americans

Throughout his whole life, Karl Marx believed that society should work together to better the country. Everyone would work unconditionally in order to support the country and make sure that no citizen was left behind without reservations. One of Karl Marx’s beliefs was that private property was the destruction of capitalism. Native Americans did not have a political structure in place when the Europeans first came the new world. They did not own private property, and everyone worked to make the tribe/succeed.

The material wealth was distributed among each other. Native Americans did not have social classes within the tribe. Hence without even knowing it, one could argue they practiced “Marxism” before Marxism even started. Marxism and Native Americans were in direct correlation with each other which would clash with Christopher Columbus’s own beliefs when he first “discovered” them.

Karl Heinrich Marx (1818-1883) was a Prussian-German philosopher and revolutionary socialist who established the basis of Communist ideology. Karl Marx’s firm ideas played a significant role in the establishment of the social sciences and the development of the socialist movement that disregarded the notion that private property was the greatest threat to Capitalism. One of his best-known ideas is the concept that history is driven by struggles between social classes. He believed that the adaptation of socialism was necessary to supply people with things they need instead of desire. The major idea behind Karl Marx’s theory was that a worker’s revolution was unavoidable and when it did it would destroy Capitalism. Material wealth would be distributed equally among all workers for their own personal well being or contribute to any cause they supported. Marx’s Ideals and his lifelong work, "Das Kapital" was indirectly converted into what is called Communism. This is due to how Marx described the history of the four epochs in different parts. These epochs were the Asiatic, ancient, feudal and the then current bourgeois modes of production. What Karl Marx wasn’t aware however, was that his ideals were not the first he adopted.

Native Americans prior to the 20th century have shown some qualities of being Communist long before Marx founded it. They all praise and adore their tribe leaders, the men and women do the jobs that are assigned to their gender, and the food they gather is shared among the people of the tribe. At the same time, the weapons they used have been consistent throughout history which were bows and arrows, spears, war clubs, tomahawks, axes, knives, swords, coup sticks, bolas, blowguns, darts, shields, and armor of various materials. The Native Americans all lived in the same specific types of houses which were wigwams, longhouses, tepees, grass houses, wattle daub houses, chickees, adobe houses, earthen houses, among many others. For the majority of for Native Americans, meat was the most important part of their diet which includes buffalos, rabbits, deer, and turkeys. It seemed that the natives were living a peaceful and wonderful way of life, but Christopher Columbus would soon change that.

Christopher Columbus (1451- 1506) was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonist who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean under the orders of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. He was the first to lead the European expeditions to South and Central America, along with the Caribbean, which initiated Europe’s colonization into America permanently. This was due to Columbus believing that that sailing across the Atlantic instead of around the massive African continent was the best way to reach Asia without encountering enemy armies. Columbus’s common sense was logical, but his math was not. He incorrectly claimed that the shape of the Earth, at the time believed to have been flat, was much smaller than his superiors stated. Columbus thought that doing this made not only reaching Asia possible but also easy. Columbus . However, Columbus would find himself supporters in the Spanish Monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. Columbus wanted fame and fortune more than anything which Ferdinand and Isabella also wanted, along with the opportunity to export Catholicism to places across the globe. Columbus’ contract stated that the Spanish rulers promise that he could keep 10 percent of whatever riches he found in these lands, along with a noble title of his choosing and the governorship of said lands he should encounter.

Works Cited

1. Churchill, Ward. “Marxism and Native Americans : Ward Churchill : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Full Text of "Passing", London : F. Warne ; New York : Scribner, Welford, and Armstrong, archive.org/details/MarxismAndNativeAmericans.
2. Editors, History.com. “Christopher Columbus.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/exploration/christopher-columbus.
3. Stone, Edward T. “Columbus And Genocide.” AMERICAN HERITAGE, www.americanheritage.com/columbus-and-genocide.

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