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French And Amerindians Summary

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After the discussion about Alan Taylor’s book in class today, I have known more about colonial America and the relationship between France and Amerindians at the beginning of French colony. There are three main colonies in America: New Spain, New England, and New France. Unlike the brutal colony of Spain such as De Soto expedition or arrogant and distant English colony, French has a relatively equal relationship with the Amerindians. The relationship requires the exchange of goods, ideas, and practice and relies on trade. Shument makes an interesting point about the relationship between French and Amerindians is the “father-son” relationship that is discussed in the book. According to different cultural values, French and Amerindians interpret …show more content…

As the demand for fur in Europe is high, French colonists chose to purchase fur by exchanging European manufactured goods, such as beads, kettles, hatchets, and knives with the native Indians. The imported goods, especially weapons, make the fur company takes a relatively superior position in the war against other Amerindians. Taylor mentions in the book that “every native people tried to attract traders and worked to keep them away from their Indian enemies.” However, Chantal mentioned that French is actually less intelligent as the weapons they sold are finally used to fight against them. Thus, I think whether French’s introduction of weapons to Amerindians is a smart choice is debatable. An ally is formed between France and Amerindian to help both survived. However, the partnership broke down as France chose to help the enemies of Fox. France is in a passive condition, as Taylor states French are “grumbling at their inability to dictate to their allies.” From the discussion, the main problem of French family system is lack of manpower. In some ways, French is even inferior in the relationship to Amerindians or other European colonists at the beginning of their

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