Cultural Differences Between European And Native Americans

For centuries Europeans had only been familiarized with eastern hemispheric culture due to the great Atlantic Ocean barrier. However once the ships finally managed to sail across, a clash of cultures, ideas, religions, and ideas ensued. The drastic differences between European and Native American beliefs will forever shape the history of colonized America. European society had not previously witnessed a society so drastically different from theirs. This extreme difference led to hatred, bitterness, and resentment. With growing colonization the hatred for the settlers drove natives to war. “Indian war parties attacked frontier settlements, killing their inhabitants, burning homes and barns, and taking away as many captives as possible. ” In …show more content…
Examples include how European men were in charge of trading and agricultural manufacturing, while in Native American society the woman were charged with these duties. In addition to work differences, Europeans viewed the idea of women in Native American society holding political and economic status to be revolting, unacceptable, and unnatural. Native American family life was known to be matrilineal, kinship though the mother, while the Europeans idolized the patrilineal society. This very minute detail in each society spiked hatred on both sides. These cultural differences affected the way of life for both Europeans and Native Americans. Gender and family differences also included language barriers. Europeans had to rely on interpreters to try and overcome these language barriers and communicate with the Native Americans. In addition to interpreters captivity narratives, the written stories by the captured European settlers that offered an insight to Native American life, helped with language barriers because as captives were “held for months or years, they developed the language skills and kinship ties necessary to correct misperceptions and biases Europeans held against the native peoples. ” As Europeans continued to dominate colonization in the western hemisphere, they paid no attention to the traditions, values, and way …show more content…
The new Europeans settlers saw natives as collateral damage, and would wipe out tribes to use the land to reap the benefits and for full financial gain. With these remonstrations growing violence soon ensued. “The Indians had a number of longstanding grievances that led to this violence, including encroachment on their lands, attempts the subject them to English law, and unfenced colonial livestock destroying their corn fields. ” Europeans viewed the land that they settled on as their personal property. This property, in their mind, was there for the taking to be used for agricultural and economic success. There was no need to respect the land of the natives in the settler’s eyes. These ideas concerning property in the Americas leas to the encroachment of European settlers in Native American lands. The natives that originally settled on these lands did not share the same ideals of property ownership, and where more territorial barriers for each tribe instead of personal gain. The rate of encroachment due to the new settlers from the east continued to threaten the livelihood of Native American