Compare And Contrast Europeans And The Castaways

The Europeans and the Native American’s come from very different customs and cultures. The colonists had very

From the very first interaction, the social and political relations between the Native Americans and the Europeans had begun with much tension. Many Europeans came to the Americas with the intention of discovery. However, when it became apparent that these new lands were inhibited the motives changed, and then the natives were colonized, abused, and in many cases killed. From then and throughout the impending periods of time, the relations between the natives and the Europeans had a few points of mutual peacefulness, but were overall negative.

Beginning in the sixteenth century, Europeans made the voyage to a “new world” in order to achieve dreams of opportunity and riches. In this other world the Europeans came upon another people, which naturally led to a cultural exchange between different groups of people. Although we commonly refer to European and Indian relations as being between just two very different groups of people, it is important to recognize this is not entirely true. Although the settlers of the new world are singularly referred to as Europeans, each group of people came from a different nation and with different motives and expectations of the new world. Similarly, the Indians were neither a united group nor necessarily friendly with each other. Due to the

The long history between Native American and Europeans are a strained and bloody one. For the time of Columbus’s subsequent visits to the new world, native culture has

This paper will argue that the Native cultures had significant differences between them, as well as differences with the European colonists. Europeans also greatly differed in their encounters with, and treatment of these Native Americans.

To better understand the conflict between the Europeans and the Native Americans, one must closely examine the state of Europe’s economy at the time. Europe struggled with difficult conditions. This included poverty, violence and diseases like typhus, smallpox, influenza and measles. There were widespread famines which caused the prices of products to vary and made life very difficult in Europe. Street crimes and violence were prevalent in cities: “Other eruption of bizarre torture, murder, and ritual cannibalism were not uncommon”.2 Europeans

For many years’ native people live quietly and peacefully in their homelands of America. That was until June 1540, Hernando De Soto, a Spanish explorer, came in contact with

In early 16th century, European countries send out sailors to explore the world to obtain more resources, such as gold, territories, and food. Christopher Columbus is probably the most famous person when the discovery of America is being brought out. He and Cabeza de Vaca both sail to America ─called Cathay or Indies in the documents because they think they were sailing to Asia─ and meet the local people, Indian, in person. According to their diary and letters, they have some different perspectives and some similar thoughts about Native American. These literatures hold drastic impact in learning about Native American for future generations. (specifics)

While trade and exchange between the two worlds was essential to the existence of both Europeans and the Native Americans, it was the unforeseen circumstances and unseen biology that inevitably doomed the population of the Native American tribes. What was a source of commerce and trade was also a source of “misunderstanding and mistrust”. (1)

The Native Americans also believed in a communal use of things. “As the Indians saw it, unused items should be free for anyone who needed them, and hospitality required owners to yield them to those without.” (Iroquois P4) The European views clashed heavily with those of Native Americans. They didn’t give things to build relationships or show leadership and gain power.

The birth of America was rather dark than golden. At an early age, kids are taught in school about the great hero, Christopher Columbus, who claimed to have discovered this country. People have been deceived by false information given through textbooks and online sources, but under a thin layer of American history is the tragedy of Native Americans, who lived on this land hundreds of years before the “discovery”. The arrival of the settlers were the main turning points of change in lifestyle for the Native Americans, affecting the daily lives and traditions of the Native Americans in the past and today.

“How shall we know when to believe, being so often deceived by the white people?” said by the Seneca Chief, Red Jacket. The faith in the colonist was lost, but what occurred between these groups that led to their differences? The history between the early Europeans and the Native Americans had different conflicts as in religion, manners, way of life, and inequality.

From a European stand point, altering the lives of the Native Americans was a perfectly justifiable action. They were uncivilized, and thus must be welcoming of their attempts to convert them to a more advanced manner of living. At the same time, however, they must have notions of owning land, of claiming sections of the Earth as their own, of trade and association of certain objects with high value. This, however, was a paradoxical viewpoint. The main problem that resulted from the intermixing of European and Native American populations was a misunderstanding of what each culture maintained as important within their lives. To the natives, mourning wars, gods who were part of the Earth itself, sacrifices, and any other number of various traditions were natural to who they were. The Europeans, in contrast, valued war as a means of gaining territory, not people; they often were monotheistic, with odd customs all their own, such as self-torture or confession. The differences between the two cultures could have been overcome, perhaps, if there had been some attempt to understand one another’s values. However, as evidenced, Europeans did not attempt to understand without an ultimate aspiration to change.

Throughout history, American settlers, explorers, military personnel, and governmental entities have come into contact with Native American people as America sought to expand its control over claimed and unclaimed territories. These interactions ranged from developing strong and amicable relations with Native populations, to armed conflict. As relations progressed, both Indian and non-Indians developed positive and negative perspectives and opinions of one another that impacted relations and communications between the two sides in different ways. Unfortunately, more often than not, fighting ensued and armed conflict resulted in the seizure of Indian territories and the forced removal of Indian tribes to reservations as America expanded its foothold in North America. Furthermore, such conflict at times created prominent events that to this

1. The Americas began as the “New World”, where European settlers arrived to the foreign land carrying their beliefs, religion and philosophy. They called it the new beginning, despite Natives already occupying the land. People from Europe hoped to move into the colonies in the Americas for religious freedom and to better their lives through promises of more land, property, and profitability. However, the settlers’ ignorance of the land and its environment led them to be faced with many trials and tribulations upon their arrival, weakening the idea of the promising “New World”. This did not deter the settlers, so, through the misfortunes, struggles of slavery, battle for political power and force of