As North America became a conglomerate of the various races and peoples, all with different goals in mind for this part of the world, learning to coexist and survive became more pivotal than ever. The Native Americans that were indigenous to this land were thrust into a more modern world with technologically advanced Europeans, forcing them to either adapt and survive or wilt away. They were faced with difficult paths that would define not only their survival, but who they were as a people, and what their culture consisted of. These choices were make-or-break in many cases, and some even forged entirely new identities due to these situations. As different ideologies and survival strategies clashed and Native Americans reacted to the turmoil
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The traditionalists believed the best strategy for survival involved returning to their roots, and cutting out anything European. It was common for Traditionalists to go about this one of two ways, either flee from European society towards the mountains or to the West, or try to form a Traditionalist society. The most famous of these was started by Tecumseh. Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh were brothers of the Shawnee tribe who tried to unite all Native Americans. The pair did successfully unite between 2,000 to 3,000 Native Americans from a variety of tribes. It was the last point in time that Native Americans posed an existential threat to the United States, as the united peoples could possibly have enough strength to challenge the United States. However, after an attack by the US Army and too many ideological differences from different tribes, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa’s plan failed. and the Native Americans never organized in quite that way again, swaying more towards different strategies to survive. The progressives believed the best way to survive was to change and adapt to new times, perhaps by “civilizing” in the way Europeans wanted them to. It is important to remember that this did not mean getting rid of a …show more content…
While the fur trade was in full swing, Native Americans had a strong political token. Europeans needed to work with Native Americans in order to obtain the furs that their industry needed. One way that ties were kept was through intermarriage, creating a new sort of culture, a people who could treat with both worlds. It wasn 't uncommon to have a Native American wife in the Americas and a European wife back home. Although it was never viewed the same, as Europeans viewed even one drop of non-white blood present made someone a different race. Native Americans viewed one of their own as someone who has been raised in their society with their cultures throughout their life, not giving much thought to the “percentages”. These differences in race construction were key in the creation of these new, mixed races, and also affected how Europeans in particular reacted to them. Native Americans did see a distinction between Natives with mixed blood and those without. Those with European ancestors were more like to deal with Europeans in trade, and were more likely have success in doing so. Because of this, in the Cherokee society, most of the elite were mixed blood. This is not because they were considered to be superior due to a racial difference, but they were more likely to have access to European resources and money than
The traditionalists believed the best strategy for survival involved returning to their roots, and cutting out anything European. It was common for Traditionalists to go about this one of two ways, either flee from European society towards the mountains or to the West, or try to form a Traditionalist society. The most famous of these was started by Tecumseh. Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh were brothers of the Shawnee tribe who tried to unite all Native Americans. The pair did successfully unite between 2,000 to 3,000 Native Americans from a variety of tribes. It was the last point in time that Native Americans posed an existential threat to the United States, as the united peoples could possibly have enough strength to challenge the United States. However, after an attack by the US Army and too many ideological differences from different tribes, Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa’s plan failed. and the Native Americans never organized in quite that way again, swaying more towards different strategies to survive. The progressives believed the best way to survive was to change and adapt to new times, perhaps by “civilizing” in the way Europeans wanted them to. It is important to remember that this did not mean getting rid of a …show more content…
While the fur trade was in full swing, Native Americans had a strong political token. Europeans needed to work with Native Americans in order to obtain the furs that their industry needed. One way that ties were kept was through intermarriage, creating a new sort of culture, a people who could treat with both worlds. It wasn 't uncommon to have a Native American wife in the Americas and a European wife back home. Although it was never viewed the same, as Europeans viewed even one drop of non-white blood present made someone a different race. Native Americans viewed one of their own as someone who has been raised in their society with their cultures throughout their life, not giving much thought to the “percentages”. These differences in race construction were key in the creation of these new, mixed races, and also affected how Europeans in particular reacted to them. Native Americans did see a distinction between Natives with mixed blood and those without. Those with European ancestors were more like to deal with Europeans in trade, and were more likely have success in doing so. Because of this, in the Cherokee society, most of the elite were mixed blood. This is not because they were considered to be superior due to a racial difference, but they were more likely to have access to European resources and money than