This paper argues that a discourse of “commercial colonization” permeated the writings of early European explorers of the Pacific Northwest, which fundamentally shaped how colonizers understood the spaces and peoples with whom they interacted. In doing so, I have examined the writings of several late eighteenth century European and Creole American colonizers of the region, especially Juan Perez, James Cook, and Robert Gray. From this basis, I was able to explicate the content and function of the economic discourse in these colonial texts as well as the colonial process more broadly. The discourse of commercial colonization in this region emphasized reciprocity in all encounters yet consigned Indigenous peoples to inherently inferior status in relation to colonizers and was used to justify colonial violence. My work with these texts shows that when the idealized practice of European commerce was challenged, instead of revising their guiding ideals, colonizers relegated those who challenged their theories to subordination. I illuminate how Cook, Gray, and others portray relationships in transactional terms, motivated by profit above all else. Thus, this paper argues that the tensions in these colonial texts are examples of an emerging Capitalist worldview that links the European colonial project in the Pacific Northwest to modern theories of race, commodification, and exploration, allowing us to better understand the relationships between each

In 2016, Captain America brought comic books to the forefront of national discussion with a single phrase: “Hail Hydra.” These two words proclaimed Captain America’s allegiance to Hydra, one of Marvel Comics' most recognizable villains which has historically been used as an allegory for the Nazi Party. The moment incited a riot not only among comic book super fans, but casual onlookers as well. Many claimed that by aligning Captain America with Hydra, author Nick Spencer disregarded the character’s origin as an anti-Nazi propaganda piece and later history as a defender of American values, and gave fuel to the growing Alt-Right movement in the United States. However, this moment was not the first time that Captain America had joined the other side. In 1979, Captain America was briefly brainwashed into joining the National Force, an organization which acted as a clear allegory for the various white nationalist movements gaining power in the United States at the time. While Hydra and the National Force are comparable villains, the lenses through which the writers of both storylines present them reveal how views of white nationalism have changed in the United States. Through a comparative analysis of these two storylines, this paper examines the ways in which the Captain America comic books have reflected the shift in white nationalist movements from a largely condemned movement to a viable political force. This project provides a new lens to examine the history of white nationalism in the United States while building on the current body of scholarship arguing for the importance of comic books as a historical source.