No Genocide in Early America

Michael Medved is right. There was absolutely no systematic policy on the part of British colonists and/or early US settlers that resembled genocide against the native inhabitants of the New World.

It's a shame that there's so much rage and emotion on matters regarding race relations that this point can't be made without resulting in savage rebukes from those offended. Yet the truth remains. There was no systematic genocide on the part of white settlers or colonists in early American history.

There WERE incidents of savage brutality, to be sure. Indeed, greed, corruption, tragedy, and violence are fair descriptions which can be associated with the settlement and growth of white populations in North America during the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s. However, to use the term "genocide" is to overstate the case. What's more, it ignores atrocities committed by the native inhabitants against white settlers.

To read more on this issue, see Michael Medved's op-ed.