Beginnings of Anthropology.

Western imperialism of the nineteenth century brought Americans and Europeans into contact with a diverse array of global cultures, all with varying social systems and levels of technology. While few whites at the time questioned their "superiority" over other peoples, they nonetheless approached the nonindustrialized world with immense curiosity. In the United States constant warfare with Western tribes over land rights accompanied a nearly carnivalistic fascination with Native Americans. Some hoped that by studying indigenous societies whites could find evidence that supported the progress of their own culture. Thus, though missionaries and government agents who worked most closely with Indians encouraged natives to abandon ancestral ways and to dress, work, and behave like Euro- Americans, some natural scientists wondered if such assimilationist strategies destroyed valuable components of traditional Indian cultures. American anthropology emerged in the mid nineteenth century from an...