Western Expansion Of The 17th Century: A Comparative Analysis

In the early 1600s many Europeans became interested in colonizing the New World. Motivated by the success of Columbus, rival countries wanted to gain land and power in the newly discovered continent. After establishing their American colonies, these Europeans eventually encountered the local Indians. Despite the Indian's attempts to make peace with the colonists, fighting broke out in various parts of North America as more settlers emigrated to the New World. The Indians were annihilated or pushed to the fringes of their territory as a result of war, disease, and slavery.

The effects of Western American Expansion in the 1800s were beneficial to some while detrimental to others. The United States began to expand in the early 1800s, following their religious belief that it was the destiny of the United States to conquer the entirety of the North America Continent. With this in mind, thousands began to travel to the Pacific, and United States began to purchase more and property from the West, which ended up doubling the size of the country. However, this expansion in the West caused Native Americans to be forced out of their land and started wars with other nations. Westward Expansion of the United States in the early 1800s helped the United States grow in size by almost three times its original area, but also

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

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.

There are many reasons that the Europeans and the Native Americans didn’t get along. In the works that I have examined and read throughout this module, the relationship amongst these two groups had not been a good one from the beginning. The main reason for conflict between the Europeans and the Native Americans, it seems, was the Europeans greed and desire for land and power.

The European colonists and the Native Americans of North America had very different views on nearly everything they encountered in their lives. Living in vastly different cultures lead both groups to have two extremely different outlooks on four main topics; religious beliefs, the environment, social relations, and slavery, differences which the colonists used to their advantage when conquering the peoples of the New World.

The exploration of the Europeans to the west changed the civilization in the Americas. A main staple in the settling of the newcomers was the relationships that the Europeans had formed with the foreign Native Americans. These would end up turning sour because of expansionism, intolerance for the native culture, and new diseases that the Indians had never been exposed to. The relationships not lasting can be most clearly seen between the Europeans and the Native Americas in New England, and the Spanish southwest.

Beginning in the sixteenth century, Europeans made the voyage to a “new world” in order to achieve dreams of opportunity and riches. In this other world the Europeans came upon another people, which naturally led to a cultural exchange between different groups of people. Although we commonly refer to European and Indian relations as being between just two very different groups of people, it is important to recognize this is not entirely true. Although the settlers of the new world are singularly referred to as Europeans, each group of people came from a different nation and with different motives and expectations of the new world. Similarly, the Indians were neither a united group nor necessarily friendly with each other. Due to the

In the 1500s, a clash between two worlds occurred. Although the French and the Spanish had the same religion and economic ideology, their treatment of the natives were vastly different. The Spanish used their superior military to commit atrocities against the natives, while the French allied their military with the natives. The Spanish used their religious zealotry to justify their heinous crimes, and sent missionaries to completely convert the natives, the French, meanwhile, believed the natives should have their religion if they wished, but still sent missionaries to the natives willing to convert. At first contact, the Spanish began to enslave the natives and put them to terrible labor, the French also desired materials from the natives, but they traded goods with them rather than kill and loot them.

Where irreconcilable differences amongst two communities persist, conflict will arise. During the colonization of the Americas in the 1600s and 1700s, while European settlers searched for places to settle and thrive, they had numerous encounters with Native Americans. However, repeated patterns of distrust, cultural differences, and greed have kept the Europeans and Native Americans from forming peaceful relations with each other. Even after various efforts, European settlers and Native Americans could not have maintained a peaceful and harmonious relationship.

Throughout United States history, various Native American tribes responded differently to the European colonization process. The various ways that the Native American tribes responded to the Europeans coming to their land resulted in different outcomes for each of the tribes as well. When the Europeans first came to America, they did not know how to interact with the various Native American groups that were spread out all over the United States, and the Native Americans also did not know how to respond to the new settlers trying to take over their land.

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.

Ever since Christopher Columbus “discovered” the Americas in 1492, conflicts with Native Americans raised due to the overtaking of their land. Prior to European settlement Indian tribes were located across North America. Horses allowed Indians to migrate with their main source of food, the buffalo, increasing their amount of land territory. As European settlers arrived on the east coast, Natives from that area began to move to the west coast often causing inter-tribe conflicts. Conflicts between natives and settling Europeans also arose because of the colonies need for more land which resulted in them following the same route the Natives took westward Warfare between the Europeans and Indians remained constant, as Natives fought to protect their land. The effects of these wars lowered the social position of the Indians, as well as significantly lowered the population of both sides fighting the wars. Conflicts with the Indians were often about land; however, sometimes they were a European display of dominance. After the many conflicts between Europeans and Natives, the population of Natives within the United States borders diminished. In order to satisfy their need and desire for an abundant amount of land, Europeans who migrated to the Americas picked wars with Natives often resulting in many negative impacts on both sides.

This organization has several options to facilitate their expansion into Western Europe. These include exportation, licensing, or foreign direct investment in the form of a wholly owned subsidiary. Each of these options presents risks and benefits that must be evaluated before an entry-strategy is formulated.

Jimmy Vong Chapter 1: The Collision of Cultures Setting the Stage The discovery of America began thousands of years before Columbus End of fifteenth century A.D. -> Europeans and Americans in contact America now filled with millions of people Europeans changed the civilizations in America drastically Many diseases came with the Europeans as they traveled Smallpox = huge disease Natives had no immunity to the diseases Killed many natives, helped Spanish and Portuguese conquer the American lands American influence still existed even though Europeans controlled the land Americans called “Indians” Productive interactions between the two cultures America Before Columbus