ABSTRACT
English observers in North America before 1640 found much to praise in the character of the Indians. They were a cheerful people, sharing what they possessed with each other, and especially loving as parents. Churlishness was a great crime among them. The picture of the Indians varied in detail from writer to writer, but the basic elements were the same throughout the period, regardless of the colony represented or the background and beliefs of the writer. Philip Vincent and John Underhill admitted, when writing of their burning an Indian 'palizado' with its four hundred inhabitants of both sexes and all ages, that conditions in America had caused them to do things which are outside their own code. The expectation of treachery was a product of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century Englishman's view of human relations at all times and in all places.
