Native American Holocaust Research Paper

The Holocaust was one of the twentieth century's greatest tragedies that were made possible by anti-Semitism, the indifference of other nations, isolationism politics, and outright fear.

The colonization of the Americas began in the year of 1492, when Christopher Columbus and his band of explorers arrived off the coast of the Bahamas. This new “discovery” for Europe would have drastic effects not only on the settlers themselves, but on the natives and their environment. It is without a doubt that the appearance of these explorers placed the Indians on a dangerous trajectory. Now, it is currently understood how the colonization of the American continent brought disease, war and ultimately death for many of the natives. Early exploration, conquest and settlement brought about new economies for the Europeans, new religious freedoms, and knowledge of the world and of exploration, producing great benefits for the colonists. Although the settlers did face risks and sometimes death during their conquest, they undoubtedly benefitted from this expansion. The Indians, however, were dealt a different hand. The culture that they had developed and the immense civilizations that had evolved were ultimately destroyed as the spread of epidemics, constant war, and brutal exploitation brought these prosperous and hospitable peoples to their knees.

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

In 1492, Italian cartographer and explorer, Christopher Columbus, set off on a mission from Spain in order to find a quicker, alternative route to Asia. With him, Columbus brought eighty-seven men and three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María, to sail across the large and vast Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately for Columbus, a new route to Asia was never discovered by Spain that year because he had arrived in the Caribbean, which was found in North America. Thinking that he had just entered the Indies, he started to call the people of this land, “Indians”. These Indians were actually Native Americans who had lived on these lands for thousands of years prior. Immediately, letters from Columbus to the King and Queen of Spain were sent by boat back to Europe and soon Columbus was seen as the man who helped create a bridge of prosperous trading and riches between Europe and “Asia”.1 While this discovery proved that Columbus was a hero-like figure to Spain, it’s what he did within the new land that actually makes him one of the biggest villains to ever set foot on Earth. But what classifies this explorer as a villain? Columbus captured thousands of natives, many of which were sent back to Spain to live and work as slaves. Along with that, Columbus also forced the Christian religion onto them, spread diseases that killed thousands of lives, and used violence as a means of persuasion and control.2 Corrupted by his pursuit of riches,

The Holocaust was an terrible event that happened from 1933 to 1945. Approximately eleven million people were killed by the Nazis. A genocidal policy was passed by Adolf Hitler after he became the leader of Germany in 1933. His goal was to get rid of all the Jews in Europe and those who are considered in his "undesirable" list. As countries such as Italy, Japan, and Austria units with Germany and became the Axis Powers, they started invading and taking over other countries around them in Europe. I believe there are reasons that can explain why we still study about the Holocaust today.

The term genocide brings awful things to mind. For most, it probably directs their attention towards the Holocaust; this was definitely a gruesome and obvious example of genocide, but there are many others with great similarities that are not very well known. One of these is the decimation of the Native American population by the European settlers and the atrocious things that were done to them such as the trail of tears following the Indian Removal Act of 1830 during the settling of North America. The Holocaust might be the most well known but there have been many other incidents in history just as abhorrent. The Holocaust and Native American Genocide are different in weapons used and the motives for killing but similar in intent,

“Indeed, so bombarded are most Americans with the unexamined ideology of “worthy” and “unworthy” victims . . .” (26) Genocides, such as that of the Amerindians, show this grotesque train of thought in human beings. The dehumanization and murder of the Native Americans was nothing more than an action made by the Europeans to show their superiority they believed they possessed. Throughout history, this behavior can be seen in many tyrannical communities, such as those that ruled over the “Armenians, Jews, Gypsies, Tbos, Bengalis, Timorese, Cambodians, Ugandans, and others.” (4) Although many people argue that a variety of diseases killed the unexposed Indians, it is proven that mass murders killed off a majority of native people. David E. Stannard defends this argument by giving samples of evidence that suggest that the carnage of the Indians reflects very similarly with the holocaust of the Jewish people in Nazi Germany.

For more than 300 years, since the days of Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Government, an attempt of genocide of the Native American Indian has existed. From mass brutal murders and destruction by Spanish and American armies, to self-annihilation through suicide, homicide, and alcohol induced deaths brought about because of failed internal colonialism and white racial framing. Early Explores used Indigenous inhabitants upon first arriving to the America’s to survive the New World and once they adapted, internal colonialism began with attempts to convert the Indians to Christianity, repressing their values and way of life, forcing them into slavery, and nearly exterminating an entire culture from existence.

Do you remember being taught about the Holocaust when you were in school? 11 million people were annihilated in the Holocaust. Now, do you remember being taught about the genocide of the American Indians? Over 100 million Native Americans were decimated in that conflict.("How Does Native American Genocide Compare to the Holocaust? - Quora") While both acts of genocide are terrible, the Jewish people received a country, and still have power in the world today.

Prior to this class, I was not aware of the Native American boarding school and it was never discussed in any of my previous history classes. I think so few people have heard of the American Indian Holocaust because the U.S government still does not value the existence of Native Americans. It seems that what we are taught in secondary school are what they want us to know rather than what is needed to be known. It saddened my heart to know that this group of people had to undergo this horrible time period simply because of their race. I find it very upsetting that although the Native Americans ceded the land first, the Europeans came with force, claiming the land as their own. And felt they had the right to determine how the whole population

In both Americas combined, in the course of four years an estimated 70 million natives had died by the end of the 19th century (Trask 8). In addition she emphasizes the lack of knowledge that America has on the oppression of the Natives and the severity of this topic by referring to this event as a “holocaust”.

Concentration camps had very little survivors, due to how hard the day to day life was on the concentration camps, and how the other countries such as the soviet union had concentration camps. Concentration camps were designed to kill people so I think it is very interesting to learn about how some people survived. The day to day life in concentration camps was extremely hard so I wondered what they actually did is very interesting. During my research I learned that other countries had concentration camps and that it's not a new idea.

Historians estimate that as much as 95 percent of the Native American population died within a year of Columbus’s initial contact with the New World, and while there were certainly European acts of genocide against the Native Americans that added to

My overall opinion on what we have read in class and seen in movies is that the holocaust was a dreadful thing for anyone to go through. I don't think it was okay to get rid of a whole race just because someone wants a superior race. I have learned in Hana's suitcase that kids can make a difference. A young woman was determined to find out about a young girl named Hana and her whole life. I hope the Nazi party realized that what they were doing was wrong then again, they contributed on what Adolf Hitler was telling them to do. Something that bothers me is that nobody stood up for the Jews. Others were bystanders and just watched what the Germans were doing but never said

Anti-Semitism in Europe did not begin with Adolf Hitler. Though use of the term itself