Compare And Contrast The Strategies Of Native Americans

In America in the early years the colonists used to criticise and describe the Native as a savages in their eating habits but they didn’t realize that they used to judge the Native Americans comparing to the european standards not their own. Even today we keep judging people from another culture the way they eat and we compare with our own standards without acknowledging their own culture and respecting it.

Throughout the course of history there have been numerous accounts regarding Native American and European interaction. From first contact to Indian removal, the interaction was somewhat of a roller coaster ride, leading from times of peace to mini wars and rebellions staged by the Native American tribes. The first part of this essay will briefly discuss the pre-Columbian Indian civilizations in North America and provide simple awareness of their cultures, while the second part of this essay will explore all major Native American contact leading up to, and through, the American Revolution while emphasizing the impact of Spanish, French, and English explorers and colonies on Native American culture and vice versa. The third, and final, part of this essay will explore Native American interaction after the American Revolution with emphasis on westward expansion and the Jacksonian Era leading into Indian removal. Furthermore, this essay will attempt to provide insight into aspects of Native American/European interaction that are often ignored such as: gender relations between European men and Native American women, slavery and captivity of native peoples, trade between Native Americans and European colonists, and the effects of religion on Native American tribes.

Whether by means of seizures or monetary acquisition, colonists procured the lands of Native Americans, which furthered their demise. With the European arrival at Jamestown, colonists simply established a settlement on Indian land without giving them any consideration. Over time, as colonists’ population

Coming from an economic standpoint, the Europeans and Indians were such total opposites, it often led to misunderstanding. Indians had very large trading routes well before the time of European colonization. Their experience in trade only made it easier to exchange goods with the Europeans. For Indians, trading was a way to acquire goods they wanted, but also a way to share the wealth of their land with other tribes that didn't have the same items to trade as they did. To the

The Englishmen were not the first settlers of the New World. Many years before both the Spanish and the French had claimed parts of North America. England was only in it for land and money. When the English settlers arrived they did not care about the Native Americans and had little desire to accept their culture. The leaders of the colonies new they would need the help of the Natives to survive. During the early years the settlers and Indians got along. The Native Americans would provide food, clothing, and shelter in exchange for knives or hatchets. The Natives also taught them to be competent. As the settlers increased their knowledge and started taking more of Natives land the relationship between them began to diminish. Cultural differences became overwhelming as the

9. Explain four factors that made Native American people vulnerable to conquest by European adventurers.

Explorers, in their attempts to survive, often stole from Native Americans in their selfishness and disregard for their helpful friends. “And took with them part of the corn and buried up the rest. And so, like the men from Eshcol, carried with them of the fruits of the land and showed their brethren;’’ (Bradford, 3). Explorers stole food from the Native Americans as part of their selfish disregard of Native Americans and attempt at survival . “By encroaching on their lands, stealing their property.” (Buckongahelas, 1). As another part of their selfishness and disregard, explorers stole land and property from Native Americans. Instead of explorers stealing from Native Americans, there could have been trade between the two peoples. They could have bought, sold, and bartered with each other for supplies. They could have made good trade partners, possibly bringing wealth to both parties and as a result, become more powerful in the Americas.

In the early 1600s many Europeans became interested in colonizing the New World. Motivated by the success of Columbus, rival countries wanted to gain land and power in the newly discovered continent. After establishing their American colonies, these Europeans eventually encountered the local Indians. Despite the Indian's attempts to make peace with the colonists, fighting broke out in various parts of North America as more settlers emigrated to the New World. The Indians were annihilated or pushed to the fringes of their territory as a result of war, disease, and slavery.

America has come a long way since Columbus began his voyage in 1492. In “Beyond 1492: Encounter in Colonial North America,” James Axtell explains that when it comes to the Indian-European encounter, there’s more to the story than what the average person grasps. Most people know of how the Natives were mistreated and killed off by the Europeans with biological warfare and that a couple thousands of years later the Pilgrims and Natives had their first feast together known as “Thanksgiving”. However, in chapter four, Axtell’s essay describes that surprisingly, there was a “variety of ways Indians responded to the Europeans that invaded their lands in the wake of Columbus.” Axtell chronologically recapitulates the history of the Indian reactions to the European encounters up until the 1700’s and categorizes them into 5 strategies.

Early European colonization of the Americas was initially marked by both exchange and conflict. When the English colonists arrived in the Americas most Indian tribes welcomed them. Many Indians believed the settling colonists would assist in protecting their tribe from other powerful tribes in the area, because the colonists had access to weapons. In exchange for this added protection, the Indians generously shared many of their belongings, supplies, food, and skills necessary for survival, since the colonists were not experienced with hunting or understanding the land. The Indians thought these newcomers were the best thing to happen

Throughout United States history, various Native American tribes responded differently to the European colonization process. The various ways that the Native American tribes responded to the Europeans coming to their land resulted in different outcomes for each of the tribes as well. When the Europeans first came to America, they did not know how to interact with the various Native American groups that were spread out all over the United States, and the Native Americans also did not know how to respond to the new settlers trying to take over their land.

When the early settlers set foot on the North American continent they introduced a new threat to Native Americans –Western civilization. Since first contact, Native Americans were faced with three challenges: assimilation, relocation, and genocide.

When the English settlers first arrived to North America, they fought the Eastern Indians in a form of self-defense; however, in the late 1700s and early 1800s, the United States government started relocating Native Americans entirely because the government wanted their land. “These Indian nations, in the view of the settlers and many other white Americans, were standing in the way of progress” (Vanderstel) and from the white Americans having that land for cotton. It seemed that the United States government would do anything to acquire the land that the Eastern Native Americans owned and they did just that with the relocation of tribes to reservations.

The arriving of the Europeans in the Americas brought new endeavors to Indian American cultures. Some of these endeavors were great and some of these endeavors led to never ending battles between the two civilizations. In order to be a functional society, the American Indians had to cope with the Europeans with the arrival on their land. To combat the repercussions of colonialism, the American Indians survived by accommodation, war, and adoption.

What are some of the diversity of Native American Indians prior to the arrival of Europeans?