Timeline for What did Adam Smith mean by "wretched natives of singular colour"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
4 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 24, 2021 at 10:19 | comment | added | Nemo | Shortly before the passage quoted the author refers to "the little bits of gold with which the inhabitants ornamented their dress". | |
| Aug 24, 2021 at 9:18 | comment | added | Nemo | Just to be clear I don't think the author would have been referring - not primarily at least - to the natural skin colour of the natives, as Christopher Columbus was in a mediterranean country whose people were used to seeing great variety of natural skin colours. More likely it refers to overall appearance particularly clothing and decoration. | |
| Aug 24, 2021 at 7:46 | comment | added | Nemo | (1) The combination of the two words "colour and appearance" makes it likely that he literally meant colour IMO. (2) I agree that "singular" is used in the sense of "remarkable" as a qualifier for the whole phrase "colour and appearance". | |
| Aug 23, 2021 at 23:22 | history | answered | Greybeard | CC BY-SA 4.0 |