The Disney movie Pocahontas offers the viewer a stark portrayal of how Englishmen viewed Indigenous American tribes upon their arrival to the United States. The movie features a song titled Savages where Pocahontas and her fellow Powhatan tribespeople are described by the English settlers as “barely even human” and “dirty shrieking devils”. In reality, the first European explorers had much more diverse accounts of their experiences with indigenous peoples in North and Central America. To accurately evaluate early settlers interactions with American tribespeople, the works of Christopher Columbus, Cabeza de Vaca, and John Smith will be examined. Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who landed in the Caribbean islands after a two month…
Exploration is not a choice, really; it’s an imperative.” Exploration is a desire rooted deep in everyone’s soul. There is a thrill or natural high that comes with discovery. Americans believed that this untamed and unknown land of vast potential was a direct correlation to American identity. The earliest Americans reflected the fiercely independent and untamed qualities of the New World.…
We traveled over mountains on horses lent to us by some very hospitable Natives. We made canoes for going upstream out of wood we found and the tools at hand. Throughout the different terrains, we had the honor of discovering 178 new plants and 122 new animal species. We also found the source of the Missouri River on this expedition. All of this was worth seeing the Pacific ocean on the other side of the mountains we climbed.…
From the 1820s to the 1860s, Americans began to expand westward beyond the Mississippi River. Americans were beginning to move west of the Mississippi River without any consent of the government, and many of the them were moving for their own personally reasons such as to start a new life or he/she wanted to be a pioneer in a newfound area. The federal government played a mostly passive role in the American expansion, but the United States government intervened in some areas more than others. For instance, the U.S. government clearly set its standards for the Oregon Territory ever since Gray’s expedition. People moving west had both positive and negative impacts on the country as a whole.…
Lewis and Clark are known for completing a harrowing journey into the unknown regions of the United States and returning with a wealth of knowledge. The expedition proved to be a valuable asset in paving the way for western expansion in the United States. Unfortunately for the hundreds of thousands of Native Americans living in the West, the exploration spawned the notion of Manifest Destiny, a philosophy that American citizens were entitled to the land stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. This belief prompted many Americans to travel west of the Mississippi River and establish the beginnings of the western region of the 48 contiguous states of present-day US. Although the Lewis and Clark expedition brought about the downfall…
Every year, even in the 1800s, hundreds of immigrants come into the United States looking for something they needed. Immigrants went through many hard times and had to give up a lot to get what they thought of as the life they wanted for themselves and their families. They found out what being an immigrant was like, faced push and pull factors, and found out how hard it was to get into the Unite States and become a citizen. What it’s like making it as an immigrant in the United States is a lot different that you would think. Many stories are told from an immigrant’s point of view and I find it shocking, “He [a labor boss] gave us very little money, and our clothes were some of those that were found on the street…”…
Those That Stood in Their Way The English and Spanish Colonists ' Terrible Treatment of Native Americans While America is now a flourishing country, its creation came at a terrible cost. This continent was not empty when English colonists arrived; rather there were millions of inhabitants already living there. These inhabitants, the Native Americans, were greatly effected by the arrival of European colonists, and not in a good way. The two major groups of colonists, the Spanish and the English, had different reasons for coming to this continent, and each dealt with Native Americans in their own way.…
First, Christopher Columbus decided to travel East looking for new riches and a shorter route to the Far East. In 1492, Columbus discovered the Americas. Europeans wanted to come to America because of the rich farmlands, precious metals, freedom of religion, and it was a place where convicts could be sent to away from the mother country.…
Deaths,starvation,many losts of homes,land got taken aways,what else could they ask for. The Westward Expansion ,was during the 1800’s when the Louisiana Purchase took place. Many of the Americans Migrated Westward in hopes of securing land and being prosperous. Some people may claim that them U.S. moving west was a good idea.…
Immigrants moving to America faced many hardships. As they started arriving on US shores they knew it would be like they were starting over again. When immigrants showed up they were taken to Ellis island. Then they were inspected for medical purposes and background checks. They had to take a test to be accepted into America.…
Growing up, I have met a lot of people, had a lot of experiences and memories. Some were enjoyable, fun, and some were stressful, but my favorite memory was coming to America. Moving from Africa to America made me a better person and taught me to understand people better. It gave me opportunities to change my lifestyle, be around others that are different from me, and expand my education. One memory that tops all memories was coming to the United States.…
It is easy to wonder if Thomas Jefferson would ever regret the means by which he would be remembered, for what is regarded by many as the greatest purchase in America’s history. Thomas Jefferson’s moral dilemma of The Louisiana Purchase came from the fact that he had supported and believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution. He worried whether the purchase would be legal, believing that he was not authorized to make the purchase, but did so anyway. One can also easily wonder how a man of great integrity could go against his own philosophy and strict interpretation of the United States constitution. By making the purchase of the Louisiana territory, Thomas Jefferson had to set aside all his beliefs and principles for the greater…
a) Honestly, the Spanish conquest was brutal. However, it was also very intelligent on Cortes’s part. He used the superior Spanish technology (steel and horses) to his best advantage. He also used the preexisting dived in Mexico.…
Once immigrants were able to find their way into the U.S. things changed forever. They entered American soil uninvited and hopeful for many reasons. Searching for better opportunities, freedom, and freedom on religious belief. For them America was the perfect place to come to terms with. Many Americans may have not agreed with this people coming to their country walking amongst them but that not once stopped them from coming.…
Nineteenth century America saw much expansion west. People from every state sought to travel out west for various reasons. Some would travel out west for a promise of new life, some sought gold, and others desired to cultivate the vast land. The trials, hardships, and obstacles facing settlers did not deter them; even if it meant clearing out the natives living in those regions. Robert May, writer for PBS, writes that the leading factor driving expansion was Manifest Destiny, the idea that the expansion of the United States was ordained by God.…