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Relationship Between Europeans And American Indians

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Zain Alvi
Explain how mutual understandings and cultural interactions affected the relationship between Europeans and American Indians. How did these groups eventually adapt to each other? Confine your answer to pre Columbian society to 1607.
At the beginning of this time period, European settlers were attracted to the Americas in hopes of gaining land and spreading Christianity. Initially, the settlers established a friendly relationship with the natives, relying on them to learn skills like farming, hunting, and fishing, while the Indians traded with the Europeans for advanced technologies like guns and metal tools. However, the cultures of both groups clashed creating conflicts. The Native Americans believed that no one owned land, as …show more content…

Bartolomé de Las Casa was a priest who, because of his familiarity with the Bible and its message of equality, questioned the enslavement of the American Indians and had tried to convince the colonists to stop mistreating the natives thus writing about the American Indians in a positive fashion. The Spanish had also tried to force the Indians to convert to Catholicism, which went against their culture. The Spanish ignored the spiritual beliefs of the indigenous people and imposed their European ideals onto them. This disregard for the native’s religion caused the Indians to resent the Europeans and further worsened their relationship (Spain authorizes Coronado’s conquest in the Southwest, 1540). Francisco Garcia de Loaysa, the president of the Council of the Indies, sent a message to Coronado, a Spanish explorer, to go and find riches to support the mother country. He wrote on behalf of the king to preserve his job and keep making a living. The European desire to spread religion stemmed from the Pope. The Pope’s authorization justified the European dominance of Indians and made the natives angry but powerless to defend themselves. The Pope wanted European culture to dominate the Indians, causing the natives to lose their way of life (The Doctrine of Discovery, 1493). Pope Alexander VI was the Catholic leader. He wanted to spread the religion, so he allowed for the Spanish to monopolize the New World because they were heavily

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