Skull Wars Summary

The time period between the 1600s and 1700s was a time of a major change in the land of the New World. The colonization of Europeans into the North America had considerable impacts on the Native American lives. European empire at the time, such as the French, England and Spanish empires, often fought against each other for power and control. After the European tried to colonized, the Native American suddenly found themselves dealing with European power politics. The arrival of Europeans into the New World meant new political relationships for both the European and the Native Americans. Each side had thing to gain and loss in this kind of relationship, especially military alliances and new trade goods. European power politics and rivalries were a major factor in the development of European and Native American relations because they created relationships of mutually beneficial relationships of trade and alliances.

The moment when Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas was the beginning of the interactions between American Indians and European colonists. These very first interactions were mostly positive due to the the generosity of the Indians but turned violent when the Europeans began to mistreat, kidnap, enslave, and kill the American Indians. Actions taken by the American Indians and European Colonists, especially actions of violence, during the 1600s caused the relationship between the two parties to be negative and conflicting in New England and Chesapeake.

For the longest time, Americans have celebrated Columbus day, commemorating the admiral’s supposed discovery of America. But, in “The Inconvenient Indian”, Thomas King shatters this idea and develops a new thought in the mind of the reader about natives. By using excellent rhetoric and syntax, King is able to use logos, ethos and pathos in his chapter “Forget Columbus”, where he develops the argument that the stories told in history aren’t always a true representation of how it actually happened.

From the very first interaction, the social and political relations between the Native Americans and the Europeans had begun with much tension. Many Europeans came to the Americas with the intention of discovery. However, when it became apparent that these new lands were inhibited the motives changed, and then the natives were colonized, abused, and in many cases killed. From then and throughout the impending periods of time, the relations between the natives and the Europeans had a few points of mutual peacefulness, but were overall negative.

Native Americans easily engaged in trade with Europeans. They wished to include new glass and metal items in their society. European and Native Americans viewed trade as a means for economic development. Native Americans viewed trade, also, as a way for communicating with individuals and maintaining interdependence. This is evident in the elaborate gift giving celebrations that occurred before exchanging of goods occurred. For Europeans, however, these social and spiritual functions of trade were limited a great deal more.

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

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.

Coming from an economic standpoint, the Europeans and Indians were such total opposites, it often led to misunderstanding. Indians had very large trading routes well before the time of European colonization. Their experience in trade only made it easier to exchange goods with the Europeans. For Indians, trading was a way to acquire goods they wanted, but also a way to share the wealth of their land with other tribes that didn't have the same items to trade as they did. To the

Native Americans lived on the North American continent centuries before the arrival of Europeans. These native groups developed and preserved cultural traditions. Many European explorers traveled to the New World around the 1500s in search for God, gold, and glory. This brought them into contact with the Native Americans, and led to a complete change in their lifestyle. Europeans brought the Natives diseases, forced them to relocate, and altered their cultures. All in all, the Europeans left a devastating impact on the Native Americans.

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

For the most part, the French spent many years in trying to establish a colony in North America and they were unsuccessful because of various reason. In the meantime, this created to opportunity for the Spanish t to establish a relationship with the Native Americans. As stated in text, “French fishermen continued to visit the Grand Banks regularly and began to trade with the Native Americans for beaver skins” (Reich, 2011, p. 37). The beaver skins were very popular in Europe and in 1600s Samuel de Champlain founded the fur trading post at Port Royal and in Quebec (Reich, 2011, p. 37). The French valued their relationship with the Native Americans for various reasons and I will discuss some in depth. First, most of the Indian tribes were at

As it is said, “the victor writes history.” As a student, we believe that we know the history. But this is not true. We do not know African American history beyond the slave trade. Similarly, we know little about the American Indians, now referred to as Native Americans. The history we learnt that glossed over details and left students with the feeling that the immigrants from the United Kingdom and other European countries benefitted the native population. The search for the history of cowboys versus Indians will be challenging. Ethan Hawke and Greg Roth have resolved this challenge through their graphic novel, INDEH: A Story of the Apache Wars. In their collaborative work, Hawke and Roth successfully show readers that they may assume that they know Native American history, they do not. students were taught American history from the viewpoint of immigrants. The cowboy and Indians wars which erupted between Native Americans and the immigrant settlers was a war over territory and over culture and different lifestyles. It was not a war between savages and people from an advanced culture. Hawke and Roth show us that a war over resources and the determination of the settlers and immigrants to rule over what they referred to as the “New World.”

Closely followed by Columbus’ “discovery” of the New World in 1492 were the establishments of European colonies with the French primarily in the north and down the Mississippi, and with the British along the east coast. As a result, the Native Americans’ lives changed drastically. Before 1750, in terms of economically, French responded mutually in terms of economy, culturally befriended them and in terms of religion, responded benignly by encouraging Catholicism through missionaries and on were on the best terms with the Natives; the British by contrast, economically

The introduction of weapons, alcohol, and other European things and ideas also great and unpredictable effects. The Europeans encountered many sophisticated Indian cultures and some owe their survival to the Natives. The Europeans introduced the idea of “ownership of the land” to the Indians. Of course, tribes fought over territory to hunt, fish and occasionally practice agricultural on, but the idea of “ownership” of land was something they didn't comprehend. For some Indians the land was considered sacred, the idea of agriculture was thought of as insulting to the Earth, and many aspects of nature. For the Indians, things in nature like rivers, ponds, and even rocks, were like the saints in Christian cultures. Even after they had made deals with the Europeans for the purchase of land, they didn't understand what they had done and that led to further conflict. Europeans also changed their barter system. They had built complex economic relationships with other tribes and understood commerce as it existed in their barter and exchange system. Europeans had a destructive impact of this trading culture, trading different things than the Indians were used to and also through the use of currency.

The Black Legend and White Legend: Relationship Between the Spanish and Indians in the New World