the merciless Indian Savages

[RedCloud]

This is in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

http://www.wfu.edu/~zulick/340/Declaration.html

I realize that they are "only" Native Americans who have long since been disinivited and nationally forgotten at the Thanksgiving Day table in exchange for more football and talks of Black Friday pre-dawn raids...

http://www.christianpost.com/news/native-americans-and-thanksgiving-85363/

But couldn't we as a people do something about that "merciless Indian Savages" part of the preamble?

[gollygee]

1. Can you be more specific about what should be done?

I agree that is horribly offensive and wrong. I just don't know how you can alter a letter of declaration someone wrote to someone else a long time ago.

I'd like "all men are created equal" changed to "all people are created equal" too, if there's some way to change it. I just always have thought about it as something that was written by one group of people to another group of people in 1776. Like you can't edit letters or a diary or anything. You can edit and release a new edition of a book. You can make an amendment to the Constitution. What would be done here?

Interested and curious.

[AngryAmish]

2. Maybe we can edit out all those nasty Carthage comments from Cato the Elder

from the Senate's transcript...

[Catherina]

3. Let it stand as a testament to the savage attitudes of the colonizers

I agree with you that it's horrible but so is the entire conquest of the Americas. Maybe one day we'll hang our heads in shame instead of celebrating these crimes.