Query 11 -- Notes on the State of Virginia

Upon reading Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, I was most intrigued by his Query 11 regarding the Native Americans. From the beginning of this selection, he makes it quite evident that he holds Native Americans in a higher regard than others such as Byrd. Byrd doesn't necessarily speak harshly of the Indians; however, he takes it upon himself to mock them and attempt to change, or "Americanize" them. On the other hand, I was under the impression that Jefferson didn't form an opinion, at least from an author's stance, of the Natives. There are no harsh, or derogatory, words such as "heathen" within Jefferson's text; and, in his opening he even provides for the assumption of Indians being civilized individuals capable of alliances. From what I understand, it was a popular belief in Jefferson's day that Indians were solely war-faring savages. Jefferson contradicts this with his listing of various tribes and then mentioning their "amity with one another" (219). Not to be mistaken, he doesn't take a favorable tone in his writing; nonetheless, it is not commonly perceived that he begrudges the Native Americans.
When I reached page 220 I was initially confused, prior to being extremely intrigued. At this point, Jefferson refers to the warfare of tribes such as Monacans and the Powhatans. He also mentions their lack of "laws, coercive power, and any shadow of government," (220). He continued with his neutral tone, but I was left questioning this change of view. I contribute this to being part of his scheme to prove his ultimate point. "Imperfect as this species of coercion may seem, crimes are very rare among them: insomuch that were it made a question, whether no law, as among the savage Americans, or too much law, as among the civilized Europeans, submits man to the greatest evil," (220). Although this was a mere sentence in the entire Query, it spoke volumes. Jefferson possessed the gall to not only compare the Colonists to the Indians, but to go so far as to say that the Colonists faltered in light to their Native counterparts. Notes on the State of Virginia was originally written for a Frenchman inquiring about the colonies; and, I think it is a subtle, yet obvious, hint that "too much law" would do worse things to a society than a lack of law. With only this one sentence Jefferson manages to inform the Frenchman that even though they had no common language, no American mannerisms, and no laws or government, they still managed to control their peoples better than the European nations. I love Jefferson for this one point that he makes while chastising his own governing body.