We must remember, however, that with nearly all the
aborigines of America, at least north of Mexico, the
attempt to utilize the materials and forces supplied by
nature had made only slight and painful progress. We are
apt to think that it was the mere laziness of the Indians
which prevented more rapid advance. It may be that we do
not realize their difficulties. When the white men first
came these rude peoples were so backward and so little
trained in using their faculties that any advance towards
art and industry was inevitably slow and difficult. This
was also true, no doubt, of the peoples who, long centuries
before, had been in the same degree of development in
Europe, and had begun the intricate tasks which a growth
towards civilization involved. The historian Robertson
describes in a vivid passage the backward state of the
savage tribes of America. 'The most simple operation,'
he says, 'was to them an undertaking of immense difficulty
and labour. To fell a tree with no other implements than
hatchets of stone was employment for a month. ...Their
operations in agriculture were equally slow and defective.
In a country covered with woods of the hardest timber,
the clearing of a small field destined for culture required
the united efforts of a tribe, and was a work of much
time and great toil.
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