Response To America Before Columbus
“America Before Columbus” Written Response By: Elaina Farris I myself, like many others, have never heard of the Cahokia Mounds, or the civilization that created them. After reading about the people and their way of life I was quite amazed. How interesting to think that the Cahokia leader, the Great Sun, would howl at the sun every morning on top of a 15-acre ceremonial mound. I was most surprised that such a civilized and developed group of group could be completely wiped out. As I read further they discussed the coming of Columbus to the American continent and the views of the Europeans about America. Some of their views include the belief that America, “had never been settled, much less civilized” and it was “inhabited only by wandering tribes who had np thought of profiting by the natural riches of the soil”. Not long after, these views would be proven as misconceptions. In reality the New World was filled with people, several million more than Europe. “More than 1,000 tribes still inhabited the northern forests, prairies, and mesa when whites arrived”. The Native Americans, even though seen as savages by the whites, were very civilized in aspects …show more content…
Many voyages to American to retrieve goods, caused the trade of goods, animals, plants, and ideas. This movement is known as the Columbian Exchange. Although goods, animals, and such are harmless the most important thing that was brought to America was “Old World” diseases. Just like the redwood forest, that once stretched from the Rockies to the Pacific, and the once numerous bison, the Native Americans almost disappeared. When new diseases were introduced to the Natives, their bodies weren’t able to fight them off. Tribes such as California’s Chumash shrank from 70,000 to 15,000 and over time the tribe ceased to exist. Just as the people, their culture and heritage, if not protected, can have a similar fate, almost cease to
500 Nations Attack On Culture Summary
658 Words | 3 PagesAfter viewing “500 Nations- Attack On Cultures”, the “white man” stripped the Indians of everything that would identify them as Indians. Many traditions that Indians shared with each other were banished and forbidden to be practiced. Objects that Indians owned were taken and they were left living in poverty and depending on the “white man” to live. They were forced to change their way of life and become more like white farmers because that was “normal”. Many Indians were forced to learn new ways of life and there wasn’t any turning back.
Tony Horwitz's A Voyage Long And Strange
1577 Words | 7 PagesAs the goal of the writer was to educate, the book achieved success in both ways as the reader is left much more informed about early America than when they began reading the novel. The book covers the its main topics in three sections, Discovery, Conquest and Settlement. Each section includes information from various geographical regions in America with information pertaining to one of the specific sections above. Each section gave a comprehensive look at the main topic in a way that was easy to understand as well as
Pre-Columbian American Impact
608 Words | 3 PagesThe word pre-Columbian is used to discuss the history of the Americas in the era before European impact. Pre-Columbian was frequently used in discussing the abundant civilizations of the Americas. During pre-Columbian America, there was nothing, but wilderness and Indians. There were about thirty thousand square miles of desert. The Indians set fires to the trees to kill the area.
Native American 1491 Summary
711 Words | 3 Pages“1491” Questions 1. Two scholars, Erikson and William Balée believe that almost all aspects of Native American life have been perceived wrong. Although some refuse to believe this, it has been proven to be the truth. Throughout Charles C. Mann’s article from The Atlantic, “1491”, he discusses three main points: how many things that are viewed as facts about the natives are actually not true, the dispute between the high and low counters, and the importance of the role disease played in the history of the Americas. When the term “Native American” is heard, the average person tends to often relate that to a savage hunter who tries to minimize their impact on their surrounding environment.
Negative Effects Of The Columbian Exchange
453 Words | 2 PagesHowever, trade and commerce had a negative effect on both sides as well, namely disease. Disease killed a lot of Native Americans as well as gave syphilis to the Old World. The Old World exchanged a vast amount of diseases, for example, smallpox, measles, malaria, yellow fever, influenza, and chick pox. In the New World, the diseases that were exchanged with the Old World were syphilis, polio, hepatitis, and encephalitis (“The Columbian Exchange Introduction”). Due to the fact that both Old and New Worlds had all those illnesses that were crossing the ocean, the Native American population was diminished.
How Did Columbus View North America
331 Words | 2 PagesEven before Christopher Columbus set sail on his voyage to what would eventually become the Americas, European countries had envisioned a land that was an empty wilderness filled with vast amounts of unlimited resources and riches. It was not until the early fifteenth century that Europeans finally stumbled across this envisioned land. Contrary to what many Europeans believed, the New World was in no way an uninhabited land. When Christopher Columbus first arrived in the Bahamas in 1492, right away, he encountered the Taíno native tribe.
Transcontinental Exchange Effects
718 Words | 3 PagesAll kinds of diseases spread throughout the villages like wildfires and the rare few who weren’t affected not only had to fear for those they knew who were sick, but also for themselves and the possibility of them catching any one of the many diseases drifting around. The dilemma of feeling the need to care for their family and friends who were ill but also being nervous of that result in them falling victim to the deadly illnesses as well was an overwhelming fear that circulated the minds of many citizens. All in all, any survivors during the Europeans’ invasion into the Americas were
If Christopher Columbus Didn T Discover America Essay
561 Words | 3 PagesIf Christopher Columbus didn’t discover America, then what did he discover? Christopher Columbus is mainly known as the first person to discover America. He actually discovered the Caribbean Islands and the Bahamas, and his journeys are known worldwide. His discoveries helped encourage others to start exploring all around the globe. He had a very interesting childhood, had many accomplishments, and even discovered a new group of islands that are connected to South America.
The Moral Effects Of The Columbian Exchange
830 Words | 4 PagesHistorians differ on what they think about the net result of the European arrival in the New World. Considering that the Columbian Exchange, which refers to “exchange of plants, animals, people, disease, and culture between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas after Columbus sailed to the Americas in 1492,” led to possibly tens of millions of deaths on the side of the American Indians, but also enabled agricultural and technological trade (Henretta et al. 42), I cannot help but reflect on whether the effects should be addressed as a historical or a moral question. The impact that European contact had on the indigenous populations of North America should be understood as a moral question because first, treating it as a historical question is difficult due to lack of reliable historical evidence; second, the meaning of compelling historical claims is contestable as the academic historian perspective tends to view the American Indian oral history as invalid; and finally, what happened to the native Indians is morally repulsive and must be discussed as such. The consequences of European contact should be answered as a moral question because historically, it is hard to be historically objective in the absence of valid and dependable historical evidence.
Native American Social System
110 Words | 1 PagesThe Indians living in the Western Hemisphere, prior to the exploration of the area, completed by Christopher Columbus, were far more sophisticated than we theorized. Considering the Native Americans had sophisticated societies, with large populations that displayed an assortment of cultures, their advanced social systems were clear. Extensive trade routes created by the Indians spanned across the country, and demonstrated their superior standard of living. Furthermore, Native Americans invented innovative military technology, which exceeded that of the metal armor used by their European counterparts. Europeans manipulated the image of North American savagery, which is now shown to contradict new frontier studies, that evidently prove they
Christopher Columbus And The Columbian Exchange
291 Words | 2 PagesWhen disease crossed the Atlantic many were clueless of what it exactly was. The Spanish explorers who were exploring and looking for new land traveled diseases with them that could wipe out and entire species. The Spanish on the island of Hispaniola, present day Haiti, 95% of the natives died within 25 years. When the Spanish conquistadores
Global History: Inca Civilization
1028 Words | 5 PagesIn this essay I will discuss the place of the Inca in the American Web in pre-Columbian times as well as their place after their assimilation into the Old World
The Indian New World James Merrell Analysis
696 Words | 3 PagesMerrell’s article proves the point that the lives of the Native Americans drastically changed just as the Europeans had. In order to survive, the Native Americans and Europeans had to work for the greater good. Throughout the article, these ideas are explained in more detail and uncover that the Indians were put into a new world just as the Europeans were, whether they wanted change or
Measles In The Columbian Exchange
603 Words | 3 PagesAmong the many things spread and shared in the Columbian Exchange, the trading of diseases is perhaps the most significant. The natives of the Americas had never experienced the serious diseases that European explorers carried over to the New World. From smallpox to influenza and malaria to cholera, Native American populations were drastically decreased due to their poor immunity. Between the numerous amounts of European diseases, though, measles was the most remarkable in that its effects were both widespread and enduring. Measles, also known as rubeola, is a respiratory infection caused by the measles virus.
1493 Columbus: The First Nations
216 Words | 1 PagesIn 1493 Columbus discovered a brand new totally undiscovered land, well unless you count the First Nations. The First Nations had been living there for thousands of years already making communities and building temples. The First Nations were originally thought of as noble savages by the Europeans. But the First Nations were very sophisticated some groups were able to accomplish complex communities where there would be men just for hauling dirt and producing no food. Most people would think don 't most people do this every day?
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