Essay On Europeans And Native Americans

Before Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World, the Native Americans knew it as their home. Soon after Columbus reported back to let all of Europe know that he successfully found land, European settlers quickly followed. Every tribe was one of it 's kind, yet their cultures shared the importance of their religious practices, beliefs, and values . The Native Americans were generally very peaceful people, that is, until the Europeans invaded their land and forced them to fight back. Two very different worlds contrasted and clashed into eachother. Although, every tribe was unique in it 's own way, they were not as drastically different from each other as

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. Davis

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. English women, on the other hand, were seen as nothing more than caretakers. Concerning property, the English saw this new land as an unclaimed opportunity for economic gain and individual ownership.

Europe, such as Spain, France, and England, have had different language, culture, political system, religion and more, which they developed by themselves in their civilization. In the late 1400s to 1500s, Europeans started the colonization and economic competitions each other between countries to get more assets since their resources and lands were limited and not enough. At that time, Spaniards and French had the same purpose for exploring the New World such as pursuing wealth, winning the economic competition, but they approached to Native Americans in different ways. The difference between these two countries when they encounter with Indians was the relationship with Native Americans.

Upon the first colonial establishments, the Europeans viewed Native Americans as uncultured, unintelligent, and uncivilized. The first colonizers found themselves ultimately superior to the perceived rudimentary cultural and societal customs that were observed. Native Americans viewed Europeans as a strictly one sided cultural mass enforcement foreign establishment, stopping at nothing to enforce their perceived superiority in all forms of cultural and societal aspects. Differences in land use, gender roles, and societal history added to the wedging and hostility between the Native Americans and European people.

When the Europeans began colonizing the New World, they had a problematic relationship with the Native Americans. The Europeans sought to control a land that the Natives inhabited all their lives. They came and decided to take whatever they wanted regardless of how it affected the Native Americans. They legislated several laws, such as the Indian Removal Act, to establish their authority. The Indian Removal Act had a negative impact on the Native Americans because they were driven away from their ancestral homes, forced to adopt a different lifestyle, and their journey westwards caused the deaths of many Native Americans.

The development of agriculture and the rise of industrialization generated new cultures and innovations in the new world. Native people in early America developed cultural distinct , men were in charge of the fishing, hunting, jobs that were more exposed to violence, and the women stayed closed to the village, farming, and child bearing. The way of life possessed by natives Americans did not compel them to conquer and transform new land. As opposed to European colonizers, Native Americans subscribed to a more “animistic” understanding of nature. In which they believed that plants and animals are not commodities, they are something to be respected rather than used. This ideal way of life clashed with the worldview of Europeans. Early European colonizers believed that because Native Americans were not using the vast amount of land which included forest to maximize their profits, then they were justified for colonizing North American land. This settlement led to the enslavement of people, worldwide distribution of diseases, and transfer of goods that shaped America to what it is today.

Native Americans have a really diverse culture and one report is not enough to talk about all of their cultures. They have fourteen tribes so it is obvious that they will have a lot of different cultures and traditions between all fourteen tribes. It is impossible to have fourteen tribes with different people and expect them to all believe in the same things so some of them have different beliefs and different traditions. They worshipped a lot of gods and even some of the gods had dolls made for them. Some tribes worshipped the sun or fire or some serpents. Buckle your seatbelts boys and girls because today the topic is going to be about those three things.

Throughout the late 1400’s and the 1500’s, the world experienced many changes due to the discoveries of new lands and peoples that had been never been visited before. The new-found lands of the Americas and exploration of Africa by the Europeans led to new colonies and discoveries in both areas. It also brought different societies and cultures together that had never before communicated, causing conflict in many of these places. While the Europeans treated both the Native Americans and West Africans as inferior people, the early effects they had on the Native Americans were much worse.

Before Europeans even knew of the Americas there were Indians. The Indians had diverse cultures and conflicts with each other. There were hundreds of different groups of Indians. Most hated each other and killed each other. Some sought to get beyond murder and cannibalism. Deganawida was one such man. He sought for peace among Indians. He helped found the Iroquois confederacy through his desire for peace. He did this with the help of a Onandaga who was living among Mohawk Indians named Hiawatha. The Iroquois were also known as the Five Nations. It became known as the six nations after the Tuscarora joined in 1722. The Iroquois Confederacy was in New York closer to the Great Lakes. Deganawida and the Iroquois had an significant impact on tribal relations in

Before Europeans came to North America, It was populated by many different tribes of Indigenous peoples. These tribes, for the most part had their own political, economic, and military systems that were eventually changed and manipulated because of the invading nations. In the books A land so Strange and Jacksonland, we see through the eyes of Cabeza de Vaca and Andrew Jackson exactly how Indigenous people were at the very beginning, and the changes they had to undertake. Obviously the books show us the view of the Europeans rather than the Indigenous people themselves, but in certain recollections from people like John Ross we see their viewpoints and why they did certain things. From the information presented in both these books, it’s clear

Indeed, from their first arrival in the New World, the European explorers treated the native people, and the slaves that they brought, as barbarous heathens, incapable of higher thought or civilized behavior. For example, Christopher Columbus’s letter to the King of Spain from his first voyage intricately shows these original encounters. In this letter, he carefully describes the people of the island, pointing out that they “all go naked, men and women, as their mothers bore them” and that they “are very marvelously timorous.” He then adds that he “gave them a thousand handsome good things, which [he] had brought, in order that they might conceive affection for us and, more than that, might become Christians and be inclined to the love and service of Your Highness.” Though he is not describing forced religious conversion, he is undoubtedly showing how the Europeans treated people with religions that were different from their own. 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.

The native Americans lived in the U.S. before and during our colonization. They believed in many different gods. They typically believed that animals were important and that because they once took care of the land, the humans would have to do it too. They believed in many legends and stories. They were very artistic, and very musical, too. They were taught to be kind, have respect for people (especially Elders) and to share. The most important thing I learned about the native Americans was about their literature and stories. They wrote about how they believed the earth was made, how the animals contributed to it, and

In 1550, Emporer Charles V summoned a debate to determine how Spain would deal with the Native Americans. Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda and Bartolomé de Las Casas engaged in discourse about this topic: Sepúlveda denigrated the Natives while de Las Casas defended them. Sepúlveda felt that the Native Americans were basically barbaric sub-humans, and that the Europeans were greatly superior to them. He felt that Christianity was far more altruistic than the Natives’ religions. However, Las Casas felt that the Natives should be treated equally, since he believed Jesus died for the Natives just like he died for the Europeans. He noted their sophisticated, very well-developed societies. When Europeans came into contact with Native Americans, they tried to spread Christianity and force Natives to convert to their religion. This is because people who sided with Sepúlveda felt that their religion was superior and wouldn’t ever fathom that they could adopt any of the Natives’ religions. Places in the “new world” that were under Spanish rule often were exceedingly religiously intolerant. As the Europeans gained more and more power religiously, Native American religions were silenced. As more settlers came to the new world from Europe, they brought Christianity with them, and Christianity’s popularity from Europe continued on in the new world. European contact with Native Americans deteriorated the Natives’ religions while strengthening the Europeans’

The Europeans who have long since been referred to as “explorers” were conquerors. Although conquering may not have been what the Europeans had in mind when they set off, they did take over new lands and people. They took lands that they did not own, and had no real right to take, essentially stealing them. They went as merchants, but decided to stay because they could make profits off the new land. Europeans wanted the glory of discovering and claiming a place not already claimed or known to the other European countries, not just for themselves, but for their country. Claiming and owning meant the most glory for the Europeans. They also thought that the Native peoples would be easy to convert to Christianity and would do as they were told.