Native American Struggles

Improved Essays
The Struggle for North America
The seizing of North America by the Europeans is done largely without weapons. Of course weapons and warfare play a large part, but the Europeans don’t sail over and begin conquering their New World. European exploration began with the desire for trade and to spread religion. Finding the Indians offered them the chance to do both. These people had never seen anything like the Europeans and were mostly receptive to new goods to trade, and were willing to listen to new religious ideas. No one was prepared for the Old diseases that the Europeans brought with them.
Disease swept across the continent in the years of European settlement, paving the way for the European dream of controlling the New World. The Indian people had no way to defend themselves from Old World disease. Traditional rituals and herbal remedies had no effect on the plagues that ravaged the land. A settler reported how “it pleased God to visite these Indeans with a great sickness, and such a mortalitie that of a 1000 above 900. And a halfe of them dyed.” These were not one-time events either; the Indians were plagued by recurring pandemics
…show more content…
The Native American culture is based on an oral tradition, passed down by the elders of a tribe generation to generation. The elders were central to the survival of the Native American culture; teaching the children the history and traditions of their ancestors. In 1645, after disease visited Martha’s Vineyard, a survivor lamented that all the elders who had taught and guided the people were dead, “and their wisdome is buried with them.” This sentiment was shared across the coast. Indians in South Carolina told settlers that they had forgotten most of their traditions because “their Old Men are dead.” With traditional practices being forgotten, the Indians began to rely on the Europeans more and

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    After reading the text provided I came to the conclusion that the relationship between the Native Americans and the United States was in constant turmoil. The text is littered with many treaties made with the Natives and the effect these had on all parties involved. The westward expansion caused numerous battles and debates among the politicians and tribes. A quote from the article A Shawnee Argues for an Untied Indian Resistance, 1810 states “After mistreatment of the Native Americans by Presidents Jefferson and Madison, Tecumseh, a Shawnee, tried to organize the Midwestern Indian tribes into a united political alliance to thwart the steady advance of the white settlers.” This quote shows the strained relationship between the Natives and the…

    • 1321 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Aboriginal Struggles

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The United Aboriginal Struggle “Get over it!” A statement that has been repeated time and time again, with regards to Indigenous land. It’s a surprise that Aboriginals want their land back after centuries of not owning it. Is it not? Well, no, it is not.…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1523 Giovanni da Verrazzano set sail on a quest to explore the West on behalf of France. The voyage was plagued with various issues as he searched for a passage to the Pacific Ocean and Asia. As Verrazzano sailed up the East coast of the Americas to finally rest at what today is known as Newport, Rhode Island he observed many signs of Native American’s inhabiting the coastline (Staff, 2012). Around the time Verrazzano was traveling up the East coast Native American populations were estimated to be between 2 million and 18 million strong. While there is a huge variance in this estimation, there is little doubt that the Americas were well populated by then (Calloway, 2012).…

    • 1009 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Indian questions Manifest destiny was the belief that moving and exploring the west was our god given right and our destiny as Americans. In 1832 the black hawks rebelled due to the encroachment on black hawk territory by setters. The tribe sought to reclaim their lands and drive back the settler so that the buffalo would once again be aplenty, and the land would be rich. However, the end result of the rebellion was the slaughter of over 200 Native Americans.…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. This war changed the economy, politics and social relations between British, France and the American Indians. Before the war began, the biggest problem they had was the division of the continent. The English were located along the east coast, in Georgia, the Carolinas and the northeastern United States.…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Beginning in the early nineteenth century, the idea of expansionism, settling all of the lands on this continent from coast-to-coast, led to the mindset that Americans came to call Manifest Destiny. As more and more Americans moved west; however, conflict arose with the Native Americans, Mexicans, British, and Spanish who had laid claim to these lands for generations. While the problems encountered were many, they mainly centered on who actually owned the land; just how much land was available; and how would expansion impact the lives of those involved? The idea of expanding westward created many issues with other nations.…

    • 1394 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The United States can make up for the injustices it inflicted on Native Americans by returning the land they took from them. The Government offered the Sioux money in return for their stolen land, but the Sioux did not accept. They denied the money because Their land is like a relative to them. How would you feel if the government took some of your relatives and offered money for them?…

    • 390 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fortunately, these diseases would later have a cure, penicillin. But, unfortunately for the Native Americans, slaves, and Europeans, this cure came after their lifetime. The Native Americans were responsible for many of the deadly diseases contracted by the people living in the United States.…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After the arrival of Christopher Columbus, the American Indians were exposed to diseases brought in by the Europeans. if the diseases didn’t practically finish off with the American Indians, the whites were surely…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Smallpox In The New World

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “Native American trade routes interconnected the many diverse cultures on this continent. The new European diseases simply followed these trade routes, carried by both the traders and their goods” (nativeamericannetroots.net). Smallpox could live in “in cloth, particularly cotton cloth, for many years” (pg. 1). New trade goods represented another big change to American Indians. Soon after meeting the European visitors after their arrival, Indians became very interested and fascinated in things that the colonist could provide.…

    • 1240 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Native American Relations

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Stepping onto new soil to colonize the Americas was not as successful as the English had planned. The Europeans encountered the Native Americans who were foreign to them and had to resolve their issues regarding cohabitation. They were both strangers who were forced to learn live together and work together. This would lead to the way America would eventually be formed and would formulate the relationship between the English and the Native Americans. This is important because the interaction of the two groups would foreshadow their relationship later.…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    With changes to their way of life at the hand of Euro-Americans, Native Americans experienced dramatic shifts in the culture. Evans-Campbell (2008) explains that within the family unit, historical trauma easily becomes a component within the structure that lays the foundation for interactions within that organization. Poupart (2003) explains that through changing culture, the roles individuals play have also changed. For instance, historically Native American communities were often matrilineal in contrast to patrilineal arrangements in Euro-American culture. Furthermore, Native American males and females experienced more equality than Euro-American males and females experienced.…

    • 1174 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The relationship Native Americans held with the Spanish, the French, and the English were of crucial importance to the development of colonial North America, it was one of the factors that shaped North America to what it is now. From the very first contact with Europeans, to the Americans declaring independence on July 1776 from the mother nation, Great Britain, the Native Americans were always present and because of their influence and the roles their relationships played with the different powers it gradually shaped colonial North America. The Native Americans had benefits from the exploration to the new world because the settlers brought with them new technology and trade, but unfortunately they also brought diseases and their thirst for…

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many Problems such as death, poverty, and alcoholism are affecting Native American families in the Reservation. These major problems are because of the US Government's broken promise. Native American’s were promised health care, education, and housing by the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. Native Americans have lost hope of ever escaping these major problems. Losing hope is something many Native Americans try not to do so they can help their families.…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Native American Values

    • 1683 Words
    • 7 Pages

    From the moment Columbus set foot on present-day America, the Native Americans have fought for the right to live. European-Americans came in with a lack of understanding and respect for Native American culture as they imposed their ideals on the Native American way of life. White society “saw everything in terms of freedom” to which Native Americans found no value in (Nerburn, 1994, p. 158). In turn, all white society can do to heal wounds, is to “give [freedom] back to [Native Americans] in the form of cages” (Nerburn, 1994, p. 158). In these ‘cages,’ Native Americans have lived for years, desperately trying to keep their culture alive and their fortitude strong.…

    • 1683 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays