Europeans & Native Americans: Greed and Consequences - Essay Sample

Introduction

Explorers from Europe were welcomed by Native Americans with much curiosity. Native Americans introduced the Europeans to gold, silver, agricultural produce: such as corn, vanilla, chocolate, beans, potatoes, and tobacco. On the contrary, the Europeans introduced the natives to things that lead them to eventual doom. They introduced guns, wheat, rice, sugar, and diseases such as influenza, measles, and smallpox that wiped out a lot of people. These greedy conquistadors snuffed out entire ways of life and culture as they as the battle aimed at claiming rights to the indigenous land.

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How Different Colonial Powers (England, France, and Spain) Dealt With Native Peoples Differently

Originally, England's colonists were friendly; they mostly relied on the Natives for survival and trade. However, their greed for land brought about a major conflict with the Indians. For the French colonists, despite their conversion missionaries efforts, this colonists had a great respect for the Natives that lead to alliance forge in the war against the British colonist. The Spanish colonists regarded Natives as heathens that could be transformed into Christianity religion. They encouraged missionary work as they believed that it could aid in colonizing new land and help them to settle, as missionaries could help in converting and pacifying the native population. (Harris, Halvorsen & Dain, 2018).

The Effects of These Relationships

English colonist's different approach was not to exploit the natives or their resources but aimed at acquiring the land. This land policy resulted in a high number of immigrants. However, the England colonies witnessed a rapid growth because of the immigration policies. On the other hand, the French colonies witnessed a slow growth by the year 1672; there were less than 5000 colonists in New France. Spanish colony also was faced with slow growth because of the military conquest emphasis, Native Americans poor relations and many failures in permanent settlement establishment. After the colonies grew, the English saw tremendous economic benefits in taxes and trade. However, they saw the natives as obstacles where they ended up killing and pushing them out to make way for more colonists. (Sutton, 2016).

Frugal parliament and distance from England helped colonists set up representative assemblies and in taxing themselves. For the French people, they were ruled by French king without any political representatives, governments or rights. The Spanish colonies were however governed by crown governors or viceroys. The Spanish conquerors were said to have abused the Natives leading to many deaths due to this mistreatment. They forced the Natives to work as porters in the farmlands and the silver and gold mines and forced them to pay taxes. Many of the Natives were poor and hence could not afford to pay the taxes they ended up becoming indebted where they lost their lands to these debts and became indebted laborers. However, British established an alliance with the Natives who took part in the war against the French. Lastly, The French acceptance of mixed-race marriage played a key role in European Expansion history. At the same time, there was a problem of little effort of integration of Natives into the colonial social structure where they remained culturally and socially marginalized.

How Native Americans Were Involved In Conflicts Within or Between the Colonies

The period between the year 1607 to 1776 was so much characterized by conflicts between the colonists and natives. The conflicts were associated with disagreements over trade and lands where many had roots in the politics of the Native Americans. European colonist perceived the Natives as friendly and helpful people. They, therefore, welcomed the Natives in their settlement and colonists were willing to engage in trade. The Europeans had a hope of transforming the Natives to a civilized society through introduction of their way of life and Christianity. The Natives, however, resisted and resented the attempts. Their resentment angered the Europeans colonists who brought about confrontations with the Natives.

However, despite the conflicts, the interaction between the European colonists and Natives Americans resulted in assimilation where the colonists adopted Indian names for new plants and creatures. They also learned the guerilla warfare, which was an Indian strategy that helped in revolutionary war by British Army. (Sammis, 1997).

Whether the General Policies or Attitudes Changed Towards Native Americans During the Colonial Period

America colonial history mostly centers on the struggle of three Europeans countries that include Spain, England, and France. Each settler gained entry to America with different reasons where their government employed a different approach to the colonizing effort. Example Spain and France were autocratic sovereigns where the governing rules were absolute. The colonists went as Crown servants. Contrary, England's colonist governed themselves and enjoyed freedom as they followed English law. Unlike Spain and France, England encouraged other nation's immigration which helped in increasing the colonial population. In the beginning, the Native Americans were friendly and helpful. However the curiosity of the European on the new land settlement brought about change of attitude due to the conflict over the land ownership. The problem was portrayed on the proverbial slurs and attitudes on Native Americans. However Natives were killed mercilessly and deprived of the homestead.

References

Harris, D., Halvorsen, A., & Dain, P. (2018). Reasoning with Democratic Values 2.0 (1st ed., p.3). New York: Teacher College Press.

Sammis, K. (1997). Focus on U.S. history (p. 18). Portland.: Walch.

Sutton, M. (2016). An Introduction to Native North America (4th ed., p. 28). London: Routledge Taylor and Francis group.