Differences Between Native American And Europeans

The political, economic, and religious systems of the Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans created distinct societies based on the interactions experienced by each one. While there were visible differences, the groups also shared many similarities. The diverse societies learned to adapt to the environments around them and in doing so built civilizations very unique from each other. The advancements they made also led to unavoidable similarities as they began to interact with their neighbors. When Europe came into contact with the two groups, it led to a series of events that greatly impacted the systems, opening a new world to the three and altering them for better or worse.
Before Europe came into contact with Africa and …show more content…
In their political systems, each one had a ruler with subjugated people. Europe and the Native Americans both had wealth or property dependent on the family of one parent, matriarch or patriarch. If the parents were well-off, then the children would be too. The Native American chiefdom is a form of hierarchical organization like Europe. They had classes ranked one above the other based on power. The Europeans and Africans had similar leaders, kings and princes. Their leaders were also very important to religion; in Africa, kings and princes were regarded as god-like, and in Europe, the king had a huge role in overseeing religious affairs. Native Americans and Africans both led major empires that flourished with trade. All three had religions they took very seriously and that had deep roots in their lives. They all believed in a greater power that influenced the earth. The Native Americans and Africans shared a belief in animism; many Africans practiced forms of it even with the growth of Islam and polytheism. Animism was a religion associated with nature; everything had a soul or spirit. All three relied on trade to grow economically and had citizens moving to be closer to trade. Entire cities and villages grew from the immense amount of trade going around. These similarities show that while the societies did have different interactions and experiences they still shared many basic ideas. When the Europeans come into contact with Africa and the Americas, these developed systems and cultures will be faced with great