"Noble Savage" Tentative Answer

Rousseau had a more progressive view on Native Americans than his contemporaries. Rousseau believed that Native Americans were as competent as his white counterparts but in a different way. Rousseau believed that Native Americans possessed the skills to survive without technological advancements and he respected that. Rousseau argued that Native Americans were just as capable as their white counterparts, but their ability differed. Native Americans were able to attain this good. The term “idealized” could easily infer that he witnessed Native Americans as superior to whites.

Rousseau would likely not criticize those who decided to go off on their own. Rousseau wrote “…a commonwealth who citizens, being long accustomed to a wise independence, were not only free but fit to be free” (59). Part of the independence Rousseau was concerned with is likely the ability not to participate in the government. This could also link to his ideal of wealth inequality. If the poor have the ability to leave and create a better life for themselves, they should do so. Rousseau cited following property rights as something the poor give up in a society.