European American

Both Native Americans and Europeans are guilty of altering the non-human world around them, using the land for food and shelter, but the extent of the changes differ, as well as their motives. Native Americans survived off of the land, hunting and growing their food, but they also held a very strong spiritual connection to it, where the Europeans saw profit, they saw a long history of culture. European alterations to the environment in the New World were more severe than the Native American’s,…

As Europeans increased in numbers to settle America, their presence had a profound effect upon the native people living there. The exchange of knowledge on food items, weapons, religion, language and the introduction to disease are just a few examples of the impact Europeans had on Native Americans (Schultz, n.d.). Initially, the relationships between the two were friendly, the Natives traded food, fur pelts and knowledge to be self-sufficient in this new world for European manufactured items…

When the Europeans colonized North America, the Native Americans and the Europeans actually formed a sort of partnership and mutual understanding to each other. The Europeans learned to get along with the Indian tribes through gifts and tributes to the chiefs of the Indian tribes. This partnership eventually began to decline and fail when the British and American populations grew in the region. Their presence helped destroy the partnership because of many reasons. The first reason this…

Christopher Columbus landed on the North American coast while searching for a new route to the Indies on behalf of the Spanish crown. After his unwitting discovery of the New World, European countries flocked to claim the land - first Spain and Portugal, then the English, French and Dutch. As colonies popped up all over North America, these countries gradually discovered great wealth in agriculture and trade. However, the land was already occupied by Native American tribes who, while not…

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,…

In the early 20th century Europeans were not considered, to American’s standard, as white—even if some Europeans were clearly Caucasians (Omi and Winant, pg. 21). Then in the early 1900s, Americans adopted the phrase “separate but equal”. Now in the 21st century, people, regardless or color, now have the same opportunities for a better life. While people of different backgrounds aren’t looked down upon much anymore, nothing is perfect. There are still those few individuals who simply cannot…

Interactions between Europeans and Native Americans While attempting to find a faster route to the Indies, Christopher Columbus discovered another land instead. Since the English, French and Spanish were all seeking power at the time that same land would soon after be explored. As the news of the discovery spread, the English shortly found power in the acquisition of the land itself, the French in fur trade, and the Spanish in conquering and exploiting the Native Americans that originally…

The first documented contact between Native Americans and Europeans was actually an accident. The Spanish dispatched Christopher Columbus in hopes to find a faster trade route to Asia. Only one fourth of the way there Columbus landed in the Bahamas where he was met by the Arawak Indians as they swam out to the Spanish ships to meet him. The Native people gained the title Indians because Columbus believed they had landed in India hence the name Indians. The objective for Columbus then shifted…

European exploration and settlement caused many problems the Native Americans in ways they could never have fathomed. The Europeans brought with them diseases such as small pox, measles and the flu that the Native Americans had no immunity too. Wiping out an estimated 90% of Native Americans. The Europeans saw the them as naive as the Natives had no concept of land ownership as they felt that land is no ones to claim as it just allows us to live on it. The Europeans exploited them by claiming…

the late eighteen hundreds, several European nations, mainly Portugal, France, England and Spain, were involved in a race to colonize the New World. This race would lead to interactions between the Europeans and the Native Americans who already lived there and monumentally affect both groups. Contact between the Native Americans and the Europeans challenged and largely extinguished the Native American worldview of communal land ownership, while forcing Europeans to confront their own…