Colonial life for early Americans was not what they originally anticipated. For a long time, they had to struggle to survive. When they came to America they were looking to be free from religious persecution. They wanted to be able to start a new life in this New World. They eventually created a thriving group of colonies, but their success did not come easy. Their ideals of settlement directly contrasted with the disease, death, slavery, rebellion, and inner-betrayal and rebellion that they struggled with. In seventeenth-century Virginia, land was plentiful but people were needed to work the fields. They found poor English adults who agreed to sign indentures, which stated that they would provide labor to till the fields in exchange for a passage into America. Those chosen were excited to gain entry into present-day America, because they wanted to be free of the religious persecution they faced in England, and escape the plagues and sicknesses …show more content…
They wanted to be able to practice their faith however, whenever, and wherever they wanted. However, in Richard Hakluyt's Discourse of Western Planting, he stated that it was necessary for the British Empire to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. There were various approaches on how to succeed in doing this. Some were mellow, some were violent, and some were in-between. Many Native Americans refused to accept Christianity, mostly because of the examples that the only Christians they knew set. The Europeans often tried to enforce violence in order to force the acceptance of baptism. However, this violence merely provoked resistance and rejection from the Native Americans. Ironically, though they wanted to escape religious persecution, they persecuted the natives for religious reasons. Also, since they were met with so much resistance, their ideal settlement with everyone being Christian contrasted with the reality of the New
Mary Rowlandson was taken as captive by Native Americans during King Philip's War in 17th century America. Her faith and a Bible given to her by her captors got her through her 11-week captivity, and afterwards she wrote her story in a book titled The Sovereignty and Goodness of God. Her book, the first American best seller, sparked a genre of captivity narratives in American literature. But the dangers of early America were ever-present, and when war broke out between the Native Americans and the English settlers, Mary and her children were captured and taken as prisoner.
Moreover, numerous laws within the established colonies, with relation both to the Native Americans and to the settlers, disproportionately disadvantaged non-Christians. For example, in Vitoria’s writing, “On The American Indians,” there are numerous laws that create unequal rights for people, but most noticeably are the rights taken from people based on their religion: “Heretics can have no dominion, so unbelievers, who are no better than heretics, can have no dominion either.” Essentially, therefore, if a person was not a Christian, they had no right to own land or to vote.
Looking through the perspective of Native American Micmac chief, Agwachiwagan. We can see that Agwachiwagan knew that the French colonized faith is causing devastating impacts onto the Native American tribes. In his monolog, he speaks to his fellow natives of their interested in the French people faith of Christianity, warning them of the troubles it brings. However, he explains that he himself has seen and learned about it culture. Yet during his travels to Quebec and the Three Rivers Agwachiwagan did not see any good the faith had given to its people, instead the faith had changed its people into “a house full of one-eyed, lame, crippled and blind persons”.
Colonist had their reasons for coming over to the New World. For many it was for economic growth, religious freedoms, or escaping the political and social systems of their native lands. They enjoyed their freedoms and liberties as new societies while being developed, but it was not an easy accomplishment. The colonist worked hard on developing their towns on their beliefs and values far from the reach of England. As time went on, there was growing tension between the thirteen American colonies and England, their motherland.
The British hesitated to establish slavery in their new American colonies, as they largely relied on indentured servants in the 17th century. Indentured servants were men and women who signed a contract by which they agreed to work for a certain number of years in exchange for transportation to Virginia and, once they arrived, food, clothing, and a place where to live. Adults usually served for four to seven years and children sometimes for much longer, with most working in the colony’s tobacco fields. At first, the Virginia Company of London paid to transport servants across the Atlantic, but with the institution of the headright system in 1618, the company attracted planters and merchants to undertake the cost with a promise of land. At
Indians who survived the initial invasion were required to work and to accept Christianity. If they refused, they could be forced to comply. Many did resist and a system was devised to deal with them. It was known as the encomienda.
Moreover, Indentured servitude began ten years after the first colonial settlement took place in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 as a necessity for cheap labor. Although indenture servitude was fundamental for the colonies economic growth, there were changes in its function. The timing of the first British settlements in North America was ideal since the end of the Thirty-Year war had destroyed Europe’s economy leaving several skilled and unskilled laborers without employment. Point in fact, most of the poor immigrants to the New World signed contracts of servitude to migrate to the colonies. Historian David Galenson state in his research on indenture servitude that there were more than 20,000 indenture immigrants.
Native Americans’ customs and religion relies on oral transmission rather than written texts. This allows for fluidity, as the customs can change and evolve over time along side with new technology and innovations. When Europeans first came to the Americas, they force the Natives to convert to a from of Christianity, thus, creating the long struggle as Native Americans battles with their beliefs and this new world religion. In modern times, the struggles still continue and Native Americans are still fighting to protect their customs. One such ritual that many Native Americans participates in is the sweat lodges.
During the 19th century, the policy of the U.S. towards Indians was to drive them further westward, breaking several treaties. The Plains Indians did not wish to settle down in civilized communities and instead preferred the life of a hunter. However, the westward expansions of the U.S. directly conflicted these interests, settling the once open prairies. The Indians rebelled because the white men violated their treaties, took away their land, shot them, and burned their homes. On the other hand, the Catholic Church tried to convert and gain equal rights for the Indians.
The Europeans taught their ways of life to the Native Indians, and tried to get them to assimilate into the European culture. The French and the Spanish both had the Natives settle in villages along side them. The Natives, if they were not forced to convert to Christianity , would learn the European ways, as well as continuing to practise their own rituals, rather than combining the two religions together. The Natives understood Christianity, but looked at it from a Native point of view, and thought of it as foreign. However, many Natives were eventually coerced into converting, thus leading to the rise of the
They were getting away from issues they had experienced in England, which took into consideration colonists to be similar. As stated previously, the opportunities that the colonists in the New England settlements and the Chesapeake region colonies were
The early Virginia and New England colonies differed politically, socially, and economically due to the situations that the settlers faced. Throughout many of the letters written about some of the experiences of the earlier settlers, one can easily see a major difference in the way of life of the two colonies. Although many of these colonies differed in the way of life, each colony faced some similar things that they each had to overcome. These challenges made a massive difference in the way that each of the colonies started out and directly influenced the future for both colonies. When these challenges are faced, many of the settlers will create the foundations of their political, social, and economic systems.
When the white man came to America, they took on a manifest destiny attitude. Every tribe became grouped together in the minds of white businessmen regardless of how different the numerous tribes were. The belief was that the native people needed to be Christianized by God’s chosen people. Even though there was plenty of land for everyone involved, the white businessmen
Settlers were curious about the land to the west, they wanted to spread their religion and express themselves freely. It was all sunshine and rainbows for the settlers, but they were pushing the Natives off their homeland and forcing them to find new land. When the Natives came into contact with the settlers diseases were spread throughout their tribe, killing off many of the Natives. These are sources that I have read telling me how the Native Americans were treated.
The Non-Indigenous people perceived this hostility was due to the natives being uncultured. The new pioneers believed it their right