Native American Colonies Effects

Before the white men had moved west Native Americans occupied the land west of the Mississippi River. The Plains Indians were nomadic tribes that moved around throughout western North America. Then in the mid-1800s the east of the United States was starting to get crowded; the idea of moving west was beginning to look very entertaining. There were a lot of natural resources out west such as, precious metals, wood, In 1849 gold was discovered in California and the 1849 Gold Rush occurred. Hundreds of thousands of men moved west to pan and mine for gold. Some of the Americans moved west because they thought it was their God given right to expand throughout the entire continent; no matter who lived there already. Now the settlers were walking right through Native American territory and that angered the natives. This caused skirmishes between the two peoples. On top of that the United States government was passing all sorts of acts to isolate Native Americans. All of these things affected Native Americans. Western expansion and government affected Native Americans by depletion of resources, assimilations, and governmental actions.

Native American’s greeted the new colonists in a friendly, welcoming manner from the start. The new colonists considered this a sign of weakness, stating how easy it would be to dominate the native people. When Columbus arrived, there were 12-15 million Native Americans in the Americas, in 1890 there was under 250,000, with 98% of the population gone. With the belief in Manifest Destiny, the colonists forced the Native American’s off their own land, farther and farther from where they originated from, and eventually onto reservations, removing them from their way of life and their culture. During the transition from their homeland to reservations, many of the Native American’s died due to disease, cold, hunger, and the hardships of travel. Along with the annexation, the colonists demanded assimilation.

Native Americans were primarily affected by westward expansion in the sense that it was the reason they not only lost their land, but they lost their culture and rights. The words of Santana, Chief of the Kiowas, are a perfect description for this, “These soldiers cut down my timber; they kill my buffalo...”.

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.

Christopher Columbus changed the culture of the Indians as he forced, captured, and enslaved most of them. Natives that were forced into labor had to gather gold and if they didn’t wear a copper coin had their hands chopped off and bled to death. Captured natives were forced on to ships and were transported to Europe for slavery but more than half of them died on the way. Natives that were enslaved had to do long hardworking labor and would also have been raped by the soldiers of columbus. The Natives resulted in revolt against these crimes against them. Indians would go against Columbus’s men by either running away or fighting back to reclaim their land. Most runaways were chased down by dogs and killed. The Natives that fought back were

Native Americans were affected negatively in the United States Western Expansion. The Americans stripped the Natives from their culture, land, and the buffalo. From all that Native Americans onced lived all over the West were now living on reservations. The Natives suffered at the Sand Creek massacre, which killed over 200 Native Americans. Also another battle that affected the Native Americans negatively was the Battle of Little Bighorn. The battle was over the Sioux’s right to Sioux land with Sitting Bull as the Sioux war chief and spiritual leader and George A. Cluster as the commander of U.S troops. It wasn’t just land that affected the Natives it was also their culture. Natives boys had their culture stripped away. There clothes,

Native Americans during 1785-1829 were affected by western expansion because of the removal of Native Americans from the land, white settlers attempting to assimilate Native Americans to their culture, and were involved in battles between the a Native Americans and white setters which led to the depleting number of Native Americans.

The Cherokee tribe is an excellent example of the havoc and devastation caused by the Europeans. Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, the Cherokee people were one of the largest of five Native American tribes that were settled in the American Southeast, although they were originally from the Great Lakes region of the country. They were of Iroquoian descent. Contrary to the stereotypical assumption that many people make that all Native American Indians lived in teepees, the Cherokee people lived in log cabins. They were a large, highly religious tribe split into several smaller sections, each section led by a chief. Interestingly, when the American Revolution occurred, the Cherokee Indians assisted and supported European soldiers, even going as far as to partake in several attacks and battles. Around the time of the 1800s, the Cherokee Indians had adopted the European culture, dressing similarly and utilising European methods of farming, building and cooking. During the year of 1828, the discovery of gold was made by Europeans on the

Although the natives might have never made it to modern day like customs, the impact of the European exploration and colonization on the native people was through the conversion to Christianity; death/diseases; and the exchanges and teachings towards Natives. Without all the modifications the Europeans made on the Natives, and also colonizing in the Americas we wouldn’t have mixed race population or event the today’s united states. If the European explorers never came over to the US, some generations of family in today’s time probably would have never existed. The pain, sweat, blood, and tears that led into creating the nation, we have now been crucial during those times. It was unjust and unethical for the Europeans to treat the Natives as

The indigenous American colonies were heavily impacted by the Europeans colonization. They brought in weeds, vermin, and deadly microbes which devastated the Native Americans(39). However the Native Americans were introduced to guns, clothing, and a variety of goods that would make living much more easier for them. The Native Americans were better fed and clothed than ever before (49).

In the 16th and 17th century, the Americas was being explored by Spain, Britain, and other countries. Many of these countries set up colonies in the Americas where Native Americans were living. Europeans moved into colonization of the Americas and brought changes to the land and its people. Europeans traded, hunted to warfare and personal property. As Europeans established their colonies, their societies also became segmented and divided along religious and racial lines. Most people in the societies were not free. They labored long hours as servants or slaves to produce wealth for others. As more Europeans came to settle the land in the Americas, their presence had a tremendous effect on the native peoples who were living in the Americas. The Native peoples’ life in the Americas provided lots for the Europeans to use. They traded cattle, chickens, horses, pigs, sheep, sugarcane, and wheat, for chocolate, pineapple, potatoes, pumpkins/squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco. The diets of the Natives and Europeans widened as different food types was being traded. The Natives were very open to the Europeans as they came into their land and communicated with the Natives. Over time, the landscape changed as more European communities increased. The Europeans held on to their idea of land ownership while the Natives idea of the land was for the person that need it. Also, the Europeans hoped to change the Natives to Christianity but also trick them into being slaves for the

The article “Times Are Altered with Us Indians” explained what the Native Americans had to go through once they’ve encountered Europeans who thought they were the first to discover North America, not the Native Americans. The Native Americans had to adapt to a new lifestyle and they had to witness people around them and maybe themselves becoming infected by a variety of unknown diseases that were brought by Europeans and Africans. After they lost the war against the Europeans, they sacrificed things, such as land in order to achieve peace and their beliefs.

Native Americans and Africans suffered horrendous afflictions due to Christopher Columbus, Spanish settlers, and English settlers. First, Columbus destructively affected Native Americans he met when he travelled back and forth to the Indies between 1492 and 1504. Columbus voyaged to the Indies to find land, to govern the land, and to earn money. Doing so, Columbus cruelly murdered the Indians who missed his quotas of gold, sold them into slavery, and along with other Spanish settlers, unintentionally gave them infectious diseases. Due to the Christopher Columbus and Spanish settlers, the Native Americans suffered forced physical labor, innumerable casualties, and perpetually transformed lives. Second, in 1607, English settlers arrived in Virginia

The effects of European colonization can still be seen today. It can be seen physically in the landscapes of the islands of the Caribbean, and mentally it is still present in some of the inhabitant’s minds. Political struggles should not be ignored as well as many islands have struggled since their independence. Today when many Europeans look back at the peak of their country’s empires they see the Caribbean as a contributing factor. While there is no question as to the wealth generated by the control of the Caribbean islands, one can ask how great these European colonizers were. There are many ways to measure accomplishment, if one measures it just by wealth then European colonization could be considered a success. However, if we were to

Since the Europeans set foot on North American soil in 1620,they have had a devastating effect on the native population. I will be discussing the long term effect of North American colonisation on the Native Americans, focusing on such issues as employment opportunities, the environment, culture and traditions, health, as well as social justice.