The Invasion Within: The Contest of Cultures in Colonial North America

AMERICAN COLONIAL HISTORY: BOOK REVIEW
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The book in review is one the very first of James Axtell's trilogies aimed at offering a glimpse of how the French, English, and Indian cultures related during the foundation of America. In this renowned volume, Axtell provides a moderately clear and fresh ethnohistorical perception of North American history that contributes to building transparent descriptions of the events and patterns that permeated the cultural boundaries of the French, English and Indian cultures in the colonial era.
Even though the English boasted a diversified economy rich in resources and a sizeable superior population, they did not create a remarkable record of cultural richness. Even after forcefully attempting to transform Indians from their traditional way of life, they did not showcase any cultural conversion. According to Axtell, the English eventually aborted a more significant part of their activities in the 18th century after enjoying some success in the previous century.
On the other hand, the French, in Axtell's narrative, exerted more effort in an attempt to transform the minds and emotions of the Indians. As a result, they realized more success than the English. Perhaps this is why Axtell devotes much of his book to themes relating to French missionary activities. In his chronicles, he maintains that Jesuit missionaries eventually accepted the traditional Indian heritage while at the same time advancing their Christian religious views. Before then, they had only adopted catholic and protestant philosophies. According to Axtell, the willingness of the Jesuits to embrace the housing, dressing codes, language, and culture of the Indians is one of the reasons they exp...