Summary of Michael Bronski's A Queer History of the United States

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 To understand the history of the United States, you must understand the lives and cultures of the people who were here before the European colonists arrived. The Europeans came to the Americas with a rigorous sense of how gender and sexuality should be organized, and they attempted to eradicate non-European gender-normative customs through violence. #2 The European invaders of America saw the gender norms and behaviors of the indigenous peoples as radically different from their own, even though these cultures were completely different from one another. The Europeans found the native peoples alarmingly innocent and dangerously sexual. #3 The European colonization of America brought violence against all native people, not just those who violated European gender norms. #4 The European Christian view was that people who did not adhere to Christian concepts of sexual behavior, gender affect, or modesty were less than human. They were like animals.