The New World: A Clash of Cultures

The Europeans settlement had a vast impact on the Native Americans. When the Europeans arrived in the new world they were disappointed in what they had found. The most significant changes were the Europeans domination of large plots of land called “manors”. The controlled the system that was called feudalism, this is where the lords were given control over land, vassals and who ever inhibited the land. These laborers were servants called Serfs, who were protected by the vassals.

With different cultures and beliefs, it is very hard for groups of people to avoid conflict with one another. One of the biggest factors of the clash between Native Americans and Europeans is that they are coming from completely different lifestyles. Europeans had very poor diet, which consisted of mostly bread and soup. Those who did not starve were malnourished. Europe was filled with many diseases that killed much of Europe’s population. Native American survival was based on hunting and gathering. If they killed an animal they ate, if they failed to do so they went hungry. Native Americans lived under a democratic system and were separated into tribes and lived in tents. There was no such thing as rich or poor between tribes, which eliminated competition to move up the social ladder. Some tribes were very small, and to avoid being outrun by larger tribes, the

The Spanish came to the New World with the idea that they were going to practically enslave, convert, or kill the natives. Because of this the Spanish’s treatment for the natives was terrible and very early on. They would use natives to help them find gold and do other manual labor activities. The missionaries would attempt to convert them to Christianity and because a lot would not comply they would end up killing them. Early on the British settlers’ relationship with the native Americans is very different. At first, they were friendly. The first British settlers in a way to live on the Native Americans. North America them was very different from Great Britain, and the Native Americans had lived there for very long time. So, the British settlers took advantage of that and began to trade with the Native Americans and use them in order to help their new settlement survive. Although the Spanish and British relationship with the natives differed at first eventually they both ended up doing the same exact thing. They both killed the Native Americans and cause their societies to be displaced. Even though there and goals were different they both used the exploitation of Native Americans in order to achieve these goals.

The Europeans changed the land of the home of the Indians, which they renamed New England. In Changes in the Land, Cronon explains all the different aspects in how the Europeans changed the land. Changing by the culture and organization of the Indians lives, the land itself, including the region’s plants and animals. Cronon states, “The shift from Indian to European dominance in New England entailed important changes well known to historians in the ways these peoples organized their lives, but it also involved fundamental reorganizations less well known to historians in the region’s plant and animal communities,” (Cronon, xv). New England went through human development, environmental and ecological change from the Europeans.

Native Americans had inherited the land now called America and eventually their lives were destroyed due to European Colonization. When the Europeans arrived and settled, they changed the Native American way of life for the worst. These changes were caused by a number of factors including disease, loss of land, attempts to export religion, and laws, which violated Native American culture.

America’s westward expansion really affected the lives of the Native Americans in several ways. Since Americans were wanting land for farming, ranching, and mining, it took away the Native Americans land for hunting and gathering. In general, this dramatically changed the face of American history.

As the encroachment of settlers on Indian lands continued, so did the inevitable conflicts. "To the Indians, the arriving Europeans seemed attuned to another world; they appeared oblivious to the rhythms and spirits of nature" (Jordan, 1991). Nature to the Europeans was something of an obstacle, even an enemy, and these disrespectful attitudes were quite apparent to the Indians. The wilderness was also a commodity however: "a forest was so many board feet of timber, a beaver colony so many pelts, a herd of buffalo so many hides" (Jordan, 1991). The Europeans' cultural arrogance and ethnocentrism, and their materialistic view of the land and its inhabitants were repulsive to the Indians. "Europeans, overall, were regarded as something mechanical - soulless creatures wielding diabolically ingenious tools and weapons to accomplish selfish ends" (Jordan, 1991).

European nations vigorously began to take over the newly discovered Americas throughout most of the 16th century leading into the 17th century. England was very forceful in pushing out multiple groups of people to the eastern coast of what is now known as North America. At that time there were only two prominent regions in North America, they were known then as the New England and the Chesapeake colonies. These two colonies would eventually band together to stand as one nation, but that was toward the end of the 17th century. The beginning tells a completely different story, both colonies had very different beliefs on what the exact reason may have been for the settlers to come to the New World. They lived very different lives because of this. A lot of these differences affected them politically in who they followed, socially in who they spoke with, and economically in who they would do business with.

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

Before contact with the America’s many European countries were battling to have the most pristine country of all. Europe at this time was struggling with population loss from the Black Death and famine. Meanwhile the Native Americans, who were thought to be primitive and underdeveloped, inhabited the Americas. This need for the best empire started the Age of Exploration and soon the French, the Spanish, and the British all had control of parts of the New World giving us the nickname The Melting Pot.

The Native Americans sustained and took care of their home, while the Europeans pushed and pulled for more money to fall from it. This caused the land to lose a lot of its density and eventually the Europeans’ wealth as well. Things that were lost were proper farming grounds, culture of the Native Americans, and wild life. Different views of the Europeans and Native Americans caused a lot of conflict. The Europeans’ views on the Indians’ way of life became critical once they saw and felt as if their society was not controlled

The Indians were ridiculed and manipulated because of many different bills passed in the 1800’s and their land was decreasing in size and amount of food sources and land. The effects of the Indian Removal Act, Westward expansion, and the Dawes Act on the Native Americans in the 1800’s were abundant.

Many prominent historians argue a clash between culture and religious philosophy was the primary cause of conflict between European settlers in North America and Native Americans. However, a closer analysis of American history suggests otherwise. While a clash in cultures and religious differences did exist, the European domination of Native Americans was primarily fueled by European economic motivations, a desire for valuable natural resources and a craving to expand the American colonial system. Due to this, the conflict was inevitable.

In the early 1600s, the greatest empire of that time, the British empire, demonstrated one more time its immense level of power by conquering the New World. The Jamestown settlement, also known as the beginning of America, was occupied by a group of British conquerors willing to impose their traditions, culture, and language on the natives of Jamestown. Many historians, politicians, and influential people, as the Queen of England, have claimed that the first British settlement in America was founded by three principles that nowadays govern most of the countries in the world: democracy, equality, and diversity. While a vast number of people agree that America has been strengthened by embracing those three principles, many conservatives, as Patrick J. Buchanan, have disagreed with that idea. Patrick J. Buchanan, one of the most influential conservatives in the U.S. who has run for President three times, has mentioned in many of his publications how atrocious is for a country, especially for the United States, to embrace democracy, equality, and diversity. In “Deconstructing America,” Patrick J. Buchanan claims that the founding values of America have not only stopped it to prosper, but also have helped to destroy it and pull it apart. Patrick’s arguments of the destruction of America are actually very accurate and effective.

The requerimiento or “The requirement” is a document that the Spaniards were required to read before attacking the Natives, it stated that everyone in the vicinity where it was read were immediately turned into subjects of the king and that there would be consequences for those who disobeyed it. The document included a history of the world, mentioned the Pope, and that every Indian was obligated to obey it. The document however was used to justify the unwarranted attacks on Natives because “the document was in Spanish, a language no Indian could understand”, and “it was frequently read at night to sleeping villages or out of earshot of the Indians”. The Spaniards took the Requerimineto only seriously enough to read it to sleeping natives