Native Americans vs. European Colonists Essay

Many religious peoples were being persecuted, and they were looking for a new place to put down their roots. Others fled the poverty of Europe to search for a better life in the Americas. No matter their reasons for leaving, people of all different backgrounds, origins, and religions came to the New World bringing with them their social and cultural traditions. The New World created a unique opportunity for people who used to be adversaries to come and coexist with the hope of a better future just as the Huguenots and English Catholics did. Seventeenth and Eighteenth century America was already showing signs of becoming what they would later be known as “the Great American Melting Pot”. Cultures from all over merged together, creating a uniquely American culture- taking influences from all the different colonists that settled there. There was no longer the Quakers, the Germans, or the Huguenots, they were all just American, and that’s what drew people to the New

The Spanish and New England colonies from 1492 to 1700 were significantly similar in terms of treatment of indigenous people. Admittedly, there was a difference in the treatment of indigenous people. The Spanish conquistadors used forced labor through the encomienda system, while the New England colonists did not have forced labor systems. This difference between the treatment happend because the Spanish ran large plantations and needed manual labor, while the New England colonists survived on subsistence farming and had no need for extra labor from the Indians. On the other hand there was a similarity in the forced conversions of the Indians to a Christian faith. This similarity occurred because The Roman Catholic Church saw the Indians as people who were in need of saving and insisted that the Indians

The Europeans and the Native American’s come from very different customs and cultures. The colonists had very

Europeans lived a much more modern way of life than the primitive lifestyle of Native Americans. Europeans referred to themselves as “civilized” and regarded Native Americans as “savage,” “heathen,” or “barbarian.” Their interaction provoked by multiple differences led to misunderstanding and sometimes conflict. These two cultures, having been isolated from one another, exhibited an extensive variation in their ideals. Europeans and Native Americans maintained contradictory social, economic, and spiritual practices.

Much of European criticism of Native American was based on differences in religion, land use, and gender relations. Most Europeans reasoned that Indians needed to be converted to the “true religion” of Christianity (Give Me Liberty, 11). In fact, Verrazano concluded that the Indians had “no religion or laws” (Voices of Freedom, 10). The Europeans did not understand the Indians’ use of the land and thus justified overtaking it, reasoning that they did not truly “use” it. Some Europeans criticized gender relations, claiming that women lacked freedom due to their work in the fields (Give me Liberty, 12-13). Others, like Verrazano, criticized the Indians for having “absolute freedom” in which they did not abide to any laws due to ignorance (Voices of Freedom, 10). Regardless of

During the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Europeans started to come over to the new world, they discovered a society of Indians that was strikingly different to their own. To understand how different, one must first compare and contrast some of the very important differences between them, such as how the Europeans considered the Indians to be extremely primitive and basic, while, considering themselves civilized. The Europeans considered that they were model societies, and they thought that the Indians society and culture should be changed to be very similar to their own.

There are many reasons Native Americans and European Colonists did not have a good relationship. The reason for conflict between Colonist and Indians was due to the Colonists insatiable greed for power and land. Some of the reasons not only included physical mistreatment but also an ethical mistreatment of the Native Americans. European Colonists not only brought with them many different diseases that would later aid in the genocide of many Native American tribes, but also a mindset in which they felt superior to there Native neighbors. This feeling of superiority led to an outbreak of violence and many different civil wars. Due to the Native American and the Colonists irreconcilable

Throughout colonial time there were many beliefs, movements, and conquests that happened within many countries. One of them in which was the spiritual conquest of the Spanish and the Portuguese. This spiritual conquest would undoubtedly be carried over to the Americas. Due to religion being very important to both the Europeans and the Natives this lead to a conflict that cause fights, missions, and resistances to increase.

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

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

Researchers suggest that the European conquest to the United States triggered the loss of more than half of the Native American population (CORDIS, 2012). Moreover, the results of these studies provided new insight regarding the demise of the indigenous population. Experts recognized that Native Americans died due to diseases and war. Europeans brought various diseases during their initial arrival to the Americas. Because Native Americans possessed no immunity to the diseases brought by European settlers, the introduction of various diseases resulted in devastation to the Native American population.

It was not beneficial for the European settlers to come to the new land. They also brought over foreign diseases that killed many of the natives.”Disease brought by the colonist started to ravage the native american population. By 1650, about 90 percent of the native americans living in new england died due to disease.”(Brooks)This is true, but the settlers had no knowledge of the disease they carried or that they would be threatening to the natives.They had no respect for the indians and their beliefs. “When Europeans arrived in the Americas, most did not even consider that the peoples they encountered had cultural and religious traditions that were different from their own.” (First encounter: native americans and christians 3). The puritans

This chapter greatly adds to America’s history through the details of the Indians when the pilgrims arrived. The previous two chapters relate with the greed of the pilgrims and how they came to America, expecting it to be all for themselves to appreciate. When they first caught sight of the Indians, the pilgrims instantly put their laws on the natives, hence making the Indians stray from tradition to the settlers’ beliefs. The pilgrims’ main goal was to have the freedom to worship the way they wanted to. With irony, however, they forced religion upon the Indians and made them leave all of their beliefs. The Indians allowed the pilgrims to stay on their land out of respect and peace, even though they were trespassing. Surprisingly, the “pure”

The life of the Native Americans before and after Columbus arrived was pretty severe. The Americas had about 100,000,000 people spread across the land. Before he arrived this land was well civilized, had abundance of food/resources, and was much more peaceful. They also had their own religion and their own tradition each tribe was however different. This all twisted when Christopher Columbus and his men arrived. Although Queen Isabella sent a priest with the men to make sure things went “holy” it didn’t go as well. The priest was to get the Native Americans to turn their religion to Catholicism; although, they didn’t know any other language other than their own, so things didn’t go as well. However how

Every colony wanted to convert the natives to their main religion to show the natives a new type of perspective with a god. There is two ways to rule and thats with love or fear or even both, all of the colonies had a different approach towards the natives. The colonies tried to gain alliance with the natives since they founded the new