Differences Between Native American And Ethnocentric Settlers

When European explorers first discovered the “New World”, both the newly founded land,and the Native Americans that were effected in good and bad ways. When the Europeans first discovered the Natives, the explorers automatically assumed that they were superior or top class compared to them. Christopher Columbias states,(doc 4) “ Very handsome bodies and very fine faces. They ought to be good servants and of skill, for I see that they repeat very quickly whatever is said to them.” As you can tell from this quote, Columbias clearly thought thought of the Native American culture as a joke, and treated them as if they were animals.

In the 16th Century, Spain became one of the European forces to reckon with. To expand even further globally, Spanish conquistadors were sent abroad to discover lands, riches, and North America and its civilizations. When the Spanish and Native American groups met one another, they judged each other, as they were both unfamiliar with the people that stood before them. The Native American and Spanish views and opinions of one another are more similar than different because when meeting and getting to know each other, neither the Spaniards nor the Native Americans saw the other group of people as human. Both groups of people thought of one another as barbaric monsters and were confused and amazed by each other’s cultures.

The Indians and Europeans are divided but together in terms of how Europeans viewed Indians. In New World for All and in Dawnland Encounters, Calloway uses European writer Hector St John De Crevecoeur, to describe how Europeans thought of the Indians. De Crevecoeur said the Indians society had a “imperceptible charm for Europeans and offered qualities lacking in European society” (Calloway. 155). In other words, the Indians offered a new take on life for the Europeans as well as give them a new insight to a clear majority of things in the Indian society. In contrast to how Europeans viewed Indians, when a European “went native” they were looked at as a traitor and would receive cruel and unusual punishment for that crime they committed.

European exploration of the West began in 1500 and continued to flourish for over three centuries. While colonizing this new land, Europeans first came into contact with the native peoples. European religious views, gender roles, and land ownership shaped their interactions with Native Americans. The English, for example, practiced Christianity, while the Native Americans possessed a more spiritual and animalistic religion. Native American societies were heavily reliant on women for not only household duties, but also agricultural responsibilities.

New technologies, Different religions, and different lifestyle techniques caused tensions between the European Explorers and the American Indians, which often lead to war and enslavement. However, forming trading systems and slowly absorbing one another 's language allowed for a short time of safer coexistence between both peoples. Disease played a critical factor in the adaptation of the two groups as well striking fear in the Indians while giving Europeans a sense of empowerment. Around this time period, Europeans were experiencing a Renaissance, which produced several new technologies and ideologies. Advanced ships, precise maps, and the compass allowed the Europeans to begin exploring around the world, initiating the age of exploration.

Imagine someone going up to you and saying " hey American person", even though the fact may be that you don 't wan to be called that. Throughout North American History, we have been labeling many different Native Americann groups by the same title and name, even though they may be completely differnt from each other. Each and every Native groups have their own history, culture, and way of life. It isn 't fair to call and label every ethnic Native group as simply Native Americans. Their are hundreds of different Native ethnic groups out there, with competly differnt lifestyles.

Quite simply put, Europeans viewed Africans and Native Americans as inferior to themselves. They were considered to be heathens and barbarians by the Europeans. And, at least initially, they were not Christian. It was believed that Europeans could save both Native Americans and Africans not only spiritually but also economically and socially. This type of attitude also most likely made it much easier for the Europeans to discriminate and exploit them.

I am writing this letter to tell you that me and couple of the men of the ship are doing fine, some of our men have died from hunger and from the ship crash that we’ve had recently, and here I am with the men in an island being welcomed by the native indians that helped us through. The native indians are extremely welcoming people in my point of view, they helped us when the ship crashed, they gave us food, water, and shelters for us to live in since we didn't have anything anymore. The native americans are the opposite of what I thought, when I saw them after the crash I thought they would kill us and sacrifice us to their gods, when actually they are celebrating and trying to fill us with happiness, instead of thinking about our lost of the ship. They are emotionally understanding people of what I've seen, they felt our sorrow and sadness of losing our ship from the recent occurring hurricane that led us to this island.

Since their initial encounter with the Europeans in the late fifteenth century, Native Americans have lost a tremendous amount of their beliefs, values, and tribal practices. This loss in social cohesion has been the outcome of the cultural clash, or conflict between cultures, with the colonization of the Americas by the Europeans. The social distinction between the members of indigenous populations and the Spaniards resulted in the formation of new races and religion, which is accounted to be part of the reason for the diversity of culture in the Americas today. Articles such as: “Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico,” “Body and Soul Among the Maya,” “Indigenous Eroticism and Colonial Morality in Mexico,” and “Art and Society in Highland

As the violence between the Native Americans and the miners escalated, governor John Evans sent a Voluntary Militia commander named Colonel John Chivington to resolve the conflict with the Indians. The chiefs had pursued to maintain the peace despite burdens brought on by the soldiers and settlers. This encounter involved welcoming those who were pleasant to meet at a happy medium at Fort Lyon in the eastern plains, where their native people would be given requirements and protection by the United States army.

Native Americans flourished in North America, but over time white settlers came and started invading their territory. Native Americans were constantly being thrown and pushed off their land. Sorrowfully this continued as the Americans looked for new opportunities and land in the West. When the whites came to the west, it changed the Native American’s lives forever. The Native Americans had to adapt to the whites, which was difficult for them.

When the English settlers came over to the Americas they were not expecting to find indigenous people already there. These people were the Native Americans. Over time the English settlers formed one of two relationships with the Native Americans that they encountered. Some of the English and indigenous people became allies and worked together in hopes of benefiting their own society. Other groups of English and Native Americans did not get along and conflict broke out.