European Attitudes Toward Native Americans

The Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida, they inherited all of these lands from their ancestors who cultivated for generations. According to Elias Boudinot the natives considered themselves to be just as equal as the Whites, he states, “What is an Indian? Is he not formed of the same materials with yourself?” (Boudinot, 1826) The natives saw themselves to be no different from the Whites, in fact they cared for one another as a whole, they lived in kinships, where there was never an Indian left alone without a family. They followed a society based off of the concept of interdependence, they had in their mind that everything is dependent of something. The Indians were very advanced, and were able to prosper in their society, although the Whites believed otherwise, and believed that the natives were uncivilized.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed west and found himself on the shores of a new world. His mission was to secure new land for Spain. Other European countries heard of his findings, they too crossed the ocean in hopes of securing new opportunities in this newly discovered land such as fur trading and gold mining. Little did they know that a community of indigenous people had already settled in this land thousands of years before. The Europeans decided to negotiate with the natives in order to set up their own communities in the land but the Native Americans held beliefs about society and religion that were far different from their European peers. Europeans thought the Indians to be “Noble Savages, gentle and friendly, but uncivilized, brutal, and barbaric” (citation). They could not see past their own

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

It is without doubt that there has been a prominent distinction between the Native Americans and the English settlers upon landing in Virginia in the early 1600s. With the prior ‘knowledge’ from previous pioneers in America, the colonist had viewed the Natives in a vilified manner as savages without proper means of civilization. These so called ‘heathens’ were said

Many European settlers have been using the term savages to refer to many indigenous people like the Yuchi, Mariames, Salinan, Cherokees, and the Puebloan. The indigenous people have always been underestimated by the Europeans settlers when being called savages due to their different mindsets and the ways of living that they had. All these tribes were called savage unjust and untrue because in the Journal of Christopher Columbus, Christopher describes them as “very well made” they look like they have very well built bodies. (qtd. in American Yawp, The Journal Of Christopher Columbus, 37-68) The Indians were really smart people but really different in many ways to the European Americans. The indigenous people are thought of as noble savages according to the article “Thanksgiving and the Myth Of Native American “Savages”” by John Horgan. Indigenous people should not be considered savages because they have were able to survive for a long time.

Christopher Columbus found out the Indians cared about others more than themselves and welcomed them quite openly after they got over the fear of the incoming ships. He quickly learned the Native Americans had no form of

As more and more settlers began to immigrate into America, the injustices against the natives began to grow, and the idea of savagery spread. This concept of what a ‘savage’ is is still ingrained into society today, just as it was centuries ago, and continues to

“Accounts of Natives of the Americas included many such enthusiastic descriptions of native people and their eagerness to receive European explorers and settlers”(Nash, 37). The Europeans main goals were to find gold and silver and to successfully trades with the Native Americans and in order to enable this they would need to befriend them and treat them as more than savages. However, some “accounts portrayed the Indians as crafty, brutal loathsome half-men, whose cannibalistic instincts were reveals”(Nash, 38) and these reports led English colonists to view Native Americans as dangerous savages with whom violence and conflict would be unavoidable. But the Englishmen, like other Europeans, viewed themselves as superior to the Native Americans before even arriving in America and meeting them firsthand and

In the “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America” Benjamin Franklin writes about the Native American people and their way of life. In Benjamin Franklin’s essay he shows that the Native American people are far from savages. He explains how they are indeed civilized people. He says “perhaps, if we examine the manners of different nations with the impartiality, we should find no people so rude, as not to have some remains of rudeness.” The reason the Native Americans were called “savages” was because their rules of common civility, religion, laws and culture were different from the American culture and being that we were just socializing we did not understand their way of life.

Once again the settlers tried to force their lifestyle on the Native Americans who rejected their ways. The Native’s had a completely different lifestyle. When the settler’s tried to force their lifestyle on the Native’s they responded “… they were instructed in all your Sciences; but when they came back to us they were bad Runners ignorant of every means of living in the Wood, unable to bear either Cold or Hunger, knew neither how to build a Cabin, take a deer or kill an Enemy, spoke our Language imperfectly, were therefore neither fit for Hunter Warriors, or Counsellors, they were totally good for nothing.” As seen in the text “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America” by Bingaman Franklin. The lifestyle of the settlers had no benefits for the Native Americans. It had the opposite effect, it made them weak and useless, unfit for their daily lifestyle. The Natives also offered them their way of life “Send us a Dozen of their sons, we will take great Care of their Education, instruct them in all we know, and make Men of them.” “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America” by Bingaman Franklin. By saying this the Natives tried to be kind and generous thanking the settlers for the offer of teaching them, the European lifestyle. The European settlers viewed the good intentions of the Natives as mockery which lead to further

Starting at the end of the last ice age, a rich and unique culture has emerged into the Americas. The Indians were extremely sophisticated and diverse with thousands of tribes and each with their own lifestyle and culture. From the Apache of the Southwest to the Iroquois of the northeast, they maintained their civilizations in their respective region for centuries. They built great cities, cultivated lands, traded goods, and hunted. However, the European settlers didn’t view them as “civilized” based on the chapters that I have read. The natives were often seen as savages and “in need of salvation” until recently. Since the “discovery” of the Americas by Columbus, many of them have

Native Americans have been misunderstood and ill-treated by their conquerors for several centuries. Assuming that he had reach the Indies, Christopher Columbus called the native residents “people of India.” The European immigrants who followed Columbus did not understand them any more than the Native Americans could have anticipated the destruction of their way of life. But the Europeans had superior weaponry, and the diseases they brought wiped out huge numbers of indigenous people throughout the Western hemisphere. (Schaefer 149)

Americans have long been fascinated with the imagery and lore of Native Americans. From early historians to Mark Twain to Hollywood, Native Americans have been viewed as savages, aggressors, monotonal in voice, and drunks. Native Americans have had a strong influence on America’s birthplace including environmental issues to the diet and foods we eat. It was not until the arrival of the European settlers that Native Americans faced the deterioration of their civilization and culture. Events of the past have proven the relationship between European settlers and Native Americans have not always been pleasant. The extended history between these two groups has had a negative impact on indigenous people, due to the loss of life and culture. Since the arrival of Europeans, Native Americans have been culturally degraded and discriminated against in the United States through the taking of land, the denial of religious freedom, and the direct impact of health and welfare.

For many years indians were considered ignorant savages, but only one who has never known a true Indian would say this. Elias Boudinot, a Cherokee writer, tells us in his Address to the Whites “He is ignorant, a heathen, savage, yet no more than all others have been under similar circumstances.” Boudinot knows a variety of Native American values and behaviors, because of his personal knowledge he is proving whites wrong. Elias

It has been shown that the Native Americans initially saw the new foreigners as objects of curiosity and interest rather than objects of wrath and destruction. This curiosity stemmed from many factors such as the clothing that the new comers wore, the weaponry that these people held and wielded with such confidence, as well as the language and culture which had never been encountered before. Initially each of the Native American tribes were very interested in the culture exhibited by the Europeans as they began to populate the Eastern Coast and the South Americas. Some of the most impactful ideologies that were not only