European Invasion and the Indians of Eastern North America - Assignment Example

In what ways did the European invasion alter the lives of the Indians of eastern North America? Indian people have lived in North, Central, and SouthAmerica from early times. These peoples and two other groups, Europeans and Africans, are the ancestors of most people in the Western Hemisphere today. The native people of North, Central, and South America developed many kinds of cultures. Some lived simply, hunting and gathering the food they needed. Many others were farmers. Some Indians lived in small groups. Others, especially in Central and South America, formed large empires. They made striking achievements in science, government, and art. The XV – XIX centuries became the epoch of great expansion of European civilization all over the world. Though the word ‘civilization’ can be hardly used because of the geographical discoveries, which preceded the process of civilization expansion, showed the absurdity European conquerors. The colonial invasions of Europeans were based on two reasons: the need for Christianity propaganda and the right for the first discoveries. Any unfamiliar territory was considered to be European as soon as European ships reached the shores of this territory. Besides nobody thought about the fact that there were people who had right for the land – native inhabitants. (Salisbury, p57) There is a fact that Indians were not considered to be people in the end of the XV-th and in the beginning of XVI-th centuries. The reason for this was – they were not mentioned in Bible. This theory was unacceptable by the Catholic theology and in 1537 the Pope had create a bull, which formally proclaimed Indians to be People. Africa, America, Australia, and a considerable part of Asia experienced the process of colonization. Many countries on these continents were completely destroyed or conquered. Almost everywhere the conquerors met the armed resistance. The most strong and organized resistance was observed in eastern North America. The Indians in North America suffered the most. (Vaughan, pp99 - 102) African population lost a lot of people because of slavery, almost all territory was shared between European countries. Some tribes saved their relative independence. Their traditional culture had some changes under the influence of Europeans, but it was not completely assimilated or destroyed. The English policy in India was especially cruel, but the process of genocide and local culture destroying was not observed. Even conquering Indians in Southern America did not have such a totalitarian character. In some countries of Latin America Indians are considered to be the competent citizens and their languages have the official status. The situation in North America was completely different. Here the ‘new-comers’ did not find common language with the native inhabitants, they could not work out the new principles of co-existing, and did not accept the rights of each other. Though the tribes of New England were friendly and helped the Europeans much. AS soon as the English colonization became stronger, Europeans started unmotivated physical destroying of Native Americans. In several decades after the colonization the eastern part of Northern America many tribes of New England and Virginia were completely destructed. The colonization process was moving to the western part of America and their cruel policy was not changed. The Indian resistance in North America was continuing about 370 years. The first attempt to conquer a part of the territory of Northern America was fixed in 1521. The last date of ‘Indian Wars’ is considered the year 1890. Indians were always trying to save their culture, identity, language, and traditions. The period between these two dates is characterized by the cruel genocide aimed to destruct everything that was connected with the culture of Native Americans. There is no event like this in the world history. And of course, there is a question – why was the life of native inhabitants in North America so tragic? Before answering this question, it is worth mentioning the main tendencies and historical peculiarities of relationship between Indians in Northern America and the ‘new-comers’. (Axtell, p158) In fact the colonies in North America were the part of British Empire. By the 1800s, Great Britain had developed huge industries that produced a wealth of goods. Britain needed places to sell these goods. It needed sources of raw materials. One way to secure markets and materials was to build an empire. The English began establishing colonies in North America early in the 1600s. Thirteen of these colonies later became the United States. For over 150 years, however, these colonies were part of British Empire. Even after the United Stated became independent, it long remained an important British trading partner. France had also set up colonies in North America. These lay north and west of the British colonies. The British and the French fought several wars in North America. Finally, during the Seven Years’ War, or French and Indian War (1756 – 1763), the issue was settled. Just 20 years later, at the end of American Revolution, The British lost their 13 original colonies. However, they kept Canada. As it was mentioned above the European policy towards Indians was outlined with its uncompromisingness and cinism. There a phenomenon of so called ‘frontier’ appeared. Officially frontier appeared in 1763. It should be mentioned that the violation of frontier caused the revolution of 1775 – 1783. After the USA formation the process of conquering the Indians’ territories continued. Tough Americans were trying to avoid the armed wars with Native Americans. They used other methods to cope with the problem. The authorities recognized the Indians to be the owners of their land though the Native Americans had to leave their land if it was required. (Sheehan, pp 270 - 278) The Treaties between Indians and Americans were never broken by the Native Americans while 99 per cent of them were broken by American people. It should be mentioned that when Europeans first explored the Americas, they brought with them the ways of a new culture. They also brought things that were quite deadly – diseases. In the years following the arrival of the first Europeans, diseases such as smallpox, measles, cholera, tuberculosis, and typhoid fever killed millions of Indians. The germs that caused these diseases came with the explorers. Europeans had been exposed to these diseases for generations and most had developed a resistance to them. However, the people of the Americas, never exposed to these diseases, did not have this resistance. As a result, diseases such as measles killed Indians by the thousands. The Europeans eventually destroyed the Indian Empires. They overpowered the Indians not only with their guns but also with the diseases they unknowingly brought with them. Speaking about European invasions to North America, Canadian experience should be mentioned. (Axtell, pp230 - 232) Long before Europeans came to Canada, Indians hunted in country’s dense forests and paddled their canoes along its rivers and lakes. Inuits hunted seals and polar bears in Canada’s far north. The first Europeans to visit Canada were the Vikings. They came across the Atlantic to Newfound-land around A.D. 100. There they settled for a brief time. They did not set up permanent colonies, however. Wars between France and England in Europe heightened the rivalry between French and English settlements in Canada. Often the people of these settlements attacked each other directly or through Indian allies. In 1763, following a European War of which the French and Indian War was a part, France and Great Britain signed the Treaty of Paris. The Treaty gave all of New France to Great Britain, and France’s rule in Canada ended. (Leacock, p129) Speaking about the unhappy destiny of Indians we should mention the absolute difference between Europeans and Native Americans. These peoples had completely different outlooks. It is a fact that Indians had a mature society which was based on the principles of equity and democracy. The concept of property was not well-developed. Native Americans had a great experience in the sphere of trade. Besides they did not pay much attention to the material things and riches. European invasions changed much though Indians managed to preserve their spiritual riches. In conclusion it is worth outlining the spheres which experienced the great changes: Cultural sphere (Europeans brought their culture and they did not accept the culture of Native Americans. The ‘new-comers’ wanted to assimilate Indians in everything: language, traditions); Religious sphere (The people from Christian world did not accept any other religions and tried to involve Indians into Christianity); Geography sphere (Many Native Americans had to change their place of living because of frontier); Economy sphere (There were some changes in trade because European people came to the New World to become rich and it was really difficult for Indians to have the same trade connections between tribes as they had had before); Health sphere (Europeans brought many new diseases which were really dangerous for Native Americans). Works cited   Axtell James, The Invasion Within (1985) Axtell James, The European and the Indian (1981) Leacock Eleanor, Lurie Nancy, North American Indians in Historical Perspective (1988) Salisbury Neal, Manitou and Providence: Indians, Europeans and the Making of New England (1982) Vaughan Alden, New England Frontier: Puritans and Indians, 1620-75 (1979) Sheehan Bernard ‘Indian-White Relations in Early America,’ William and Mary Quarterly, 26 (1969) Read More