How Did Native Americans Influence The Colonists

Economic factors, however, were not the only discrepancy between the colonies and England. As time passed, cultural differences became increasingly evident. Pragmatism and diversity were the overlying themes of colonial culture. Indians already lived in America and immigrants from England, France, Spain, Germany, Africa, and Holland soon arrived (Text, 41). These people were all from vastly different cultures, but mutual survival forced them to coexist peacefully. Living side by side created a mix of customs, traditions, and ideas that had never been seen in England. Over time, the different cultures merged and created a uniquely American culture with a modified language and artistic style. English settlers began using words from other countries, creating regional dialects and accents (Text, 41). “Life in colonial America was as coarse as the physical environment in which it flourished, so much so that English visitors expressed shock at the extent to which immigrants had been transformed in the new world” (Text, 41). The

"No study of acculturation in colonial America would be complete,"(272) exclaims James Axtell in his book the european and the Indian: Essays in the Ethnohistory of Colonial North America, "without giving equal thought to the question of how English culture was altered by its contacts with Native America." (272) during this anthropology and ethnohistory based work, James Axtell clearly lays on the table that this analysis inter-piled into a book wasn't meant to be simply a general assortment of Native american encounters and battles with the Europeans; but a real, real, and factual assessment of how they intermingled with one another. Showing how they were each able to interact as well as react to each others own beliefs and ways shows the

In the 17th century, the Native Americans had been living peacefully in their own little world, until suddenly, the British come upon this land. Little did the British know, tribes of natives already lived there. The countenance of the Native Americans did not go over very well. There was tension between the English and the Native Americans. For example, they fought over the land of the “New World”. As expected, the Natives were fearful and angry when foreigners showed up and proposed new religious beliefs. The British and the Native Americans’ relationship changed due to those coming over for religious freedom and economic prosperity.

European came to the new world of North America and they brought out advanced technology and culture to American continent. Over time, their lives changed as they adapted to different environments and they brought tremendous changed to American Indian tribes. New trade goods became another big change that European explorers and colonists brought to American Indians. Indians was trying to use these product that the explorers provided in their daily lives. Soon, American Indian men put away their bows and arrows for European firearms and lead shot. The desire to get European goods changed ancient trading patterns and American Indians began depended on European items for daily needs. The new goods brought from European totally changed Native American

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.

Beginning in the Sixteenth Century, Europeans sought to escape religious and class persecution by engaging on a journey to the New World. However, they were unaware that this “New World” was already inhabited by many groups of Native Americans, who had been established on the continent for thousands of years. At first, the two ethnic groups lived in relative peace. The colonists of Jamestown survived due to Powhatan’s tribe teaching them how to cultivate the land. However, things took a twisted turn as the colonists grew greedy. Due to cultural differences, there was stark tension between the Indian groups and European settlers in New England prior to 1750, which tremendously influenced early political means, social life, and the economy.

Europeans tore through America in the 1700s and destroyed the lives of Native Americans, and yet their culture remained principled with a high level of respect and honor. This is shown in a meeting that was held by the six nations of the Iroquois, where Chief Red Jacket gave a speech on the Native Americans view on missionary stations that the Europeans wanted to set up. Red Jacket explained their past with the first settlers, “We gave them corn and meat; they gave us poison in return” (1). These first Europeans set the tone for how these new colonist treated the natives. They took what they wanted and left a trail of death and destruction in their path. However, the natives acted in return with upstanding respect and treated these missionaries

      English colonizers brought old world traditions into the new world and strengthened their respective communities in order to protect their cultural identity in the colonies. For the English, immigration into the colonies meant facing one’s inessentiality; the colonies had high rates of mortality and weakly structured economies.11  Faced with their dispensability, settlers discovered new means to retain their cultural identities. For example, Quakers “rejected institutions of high culture and made virtues of simplicity and hard work in a hostile environment.” 12 They transplanted their theological cultural inheritances into colonial society and were able to perpetuate that facet of their identity in the colonies. The solidification of their communities was vital to the survival of their identities. For Scots, maintaining close relationships with prominent Scots in other colonies emphasized a Scottish identity, even across colonial borders.13 Maintaining relationships equated sustenance of old world culture through social interactions. Additionally, English colonizers solidified their community by placing a strong importance on trust. “Among persons for whom doubt replaced basic trust in the way of one’s social group, such doubt may undermine the

The relationship between the English and the Native Americans in 1600 to 1700 is one of the most fluctuating and the most profound relationships in American history. On the one side of the picture, the harmony between Wampanoag and Puritans even inspires them to celebrate “first Thanksgiving”; while, by contrast, the conflicts between the Pequots and the English urge them to antagonize each other, and even wage a war. In addition, the mystery of why the European settlers, including English, become the dominant power in American world, instead of the indigenous people, or Indians, can be solved from the examination of the relationship. In a variety of ways, the relationship drastically alters how people think about and relate to the aborigines. Politically, the relationship changes to establish the supremacy of the English; the English intends to obtain the land and rules over it. Socially, the relationship changes to present the majority of the English settlers; the dominating population is mostly the English settlers. Economically, the relationship changes to obtain the benefit of the English settlers; they gain profit from the massive resource in America. Therefore, the relationship does, in fact, change to foreshadow the discordance of the two groups of people.

During American colonial times, the native peoples of the new world clashed often with the English settlers who encroached upon their lifestyle. Many horror stories and clichés arose about the natives from the settlers. As one might read in Mary Rowlandson’s Narrative, often these disputes would turn to violence. To maintain the process of the extermination of the natives alongside Christian moral beliefs, one of the main tenets of colonial life was the belief that the natives were “savages”; that they were morally and mentally inferior to the English that settled there. As is the case with many societies, certain voices of dissent began to spin. These voices questioned the assertions

The Native American’s way of living was different from the Europeans. They believed that man is ruled by respect and reverence for nature and that nature is an

When the first colonists landed in the territories of the new world, they encountered a people and a culture that no European before them had ever seen. As the first of the settlers attempted to survive in a truly foreign part of the world, their written accounts would soon become popular with those curious of this “new” world, and those who already lived and survived in this seemingly inhospitable environment, Native American Indian. Through these personal accounts, the Native Indian soon became cemented in the American narrative, playing an important role in much of the literature of the era. As one would expect though, the representation of the Native Americans and their relationship with European Americans varies in the written works of the people of the time, with the defining difference in these works being the motives behind the writing. These differences and similarities can be seen in two similar works from two rather different authors, John Smith, and Mary Rowlandson.

Native American culture originated in some parts North America. These countries are known as the United States of America and some parts of Canada. In the United States, there are 6.6 million Native Americans, which form about 2.0 percent of the population (Bureau, 2016). Europe had realized there were about 50 million people already living the “new world” and these people were called Native Americans. Native Americans were originally called Indians, but later through history they formed a new name. These people were called this because of them being native to the “new world” and the American part came after the colonist named the United States. Throughout history, Native Americans believed that using raw material in nature was the best way to provide for their people. Their culture thought no part of an animal should go to waste. They would eat the meat, use the skin for clothing, and make jewelry from the bones. Over the years a lot of their culture and customs were lost due to conforming with society. Their languages were referred to as “Indigenous Languages” because of them being extremely complicated and diverse. Some important factors that help understand the foundation of Native American culture are their rituals/practices, death ceremonies, holidays, family, and stereotypes.

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

Native Americans hold a type of esoteric concept that comes from their philosophy of preserving their environment as well as their kinship that ties them together (Access Genealogy, 2009). They not only have social ties, they are politically and religiously organized through their rituals, government, and other institutions (Access Genealogy, 2009). They work together to reside in a territorial area, and speak a common language (Access Genealogy, 2009). They are not characterized by any one certain structure (Access Genealogy, 2009). However, the society agrees on fundamental principles that bond together a certain social fabric (Access Genealogy, 2009). Different Native American tribes throughout the years have had different ideas, opinions, philosophies, which are not always predetermined by their past ancestors.