People For the American Way

Americans have changed quite a lot throughout the years, it was not always as simple as it is today. Diseases were not easy to cure and they were not rapidly treated as they are today. They gained a lot of assistance to treat these illnesses. However, when America was first introduced to these diseases they were easily spread and they were not so simple to cure. Christopher Columbus discovered America and he brought some Europeans over along with himself, but some diseases were also brought over…

like smallpox, measles, and influenza. Majority of the Europeans were immune to these diseases due to the fact that they raised live stock for quite some time. Therefore, the Native Americans had no immunity to these diseases, because they did not tend to livestock, they were strictly hunter gatherers. But, Native Americans were generally healthier than the European for several reasons. First, they had better diets, and secondly, they migrated to North America during the cold harsh winter, which…

Sociological Investigation Number Two I strongly agree that the European Americans committed genocide against the Native Americans. The characteristics of the violence faced by Native Americans fits many facets of the definition of genocide. According to Article Six of the Rome Statutes, genocide consists of attempting to kill members of a group, causing serious bodily harm, trying to bring about a group’s destruction, preventing births, and forcibly relocating a group. For an event to be…

The Native Americans may have been the first humans in the Americas, but their societies were reduced to ultimately nothing. From 1492 to 1600, the population of natives dropped in millions, but that was really just the beginning as their population was never able to regain what it once was before European contact. In American Colonies: The Settling of North America, by Alan Taylor, the importance of the native interactions with Europeans, along with everything they brought with them from…

come. However, not everything that was introduced proved to be beneficial, and this includes the horrific diseases which were introduced to the Native Americans through the Europeans. The Native Americans of the New World lacked the necessary antibodies to fight off the foreign diseases of the European explorers, and as a result, numerous Native American communities were decimated. The most potent of these diseases…

New World. This, of course, lead to the Europeans settling in these areas and conquering the native peoples in order to pursue their three main incentives; god, gold, and glory. Different historians have varying takes on exactly how the Europeans went about doing this. Howard Zinn begins his “A People’s History” by alleging that Columbus and other Europeans tortured and killed the Native Americans with the sole purpose of obtaining gold and other valuable resources. In contrast,…

southeastern North America, mainly in Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama. They were an ancient people who farmed, crafted, traded with neighbors near and far and built great ceremonial centers. The forces that brought together Native Americans and Europeans vary greatly, from land expeditions and missionary excursions to military conquests (Haag & Willis, 2001). After much resistance to the European way of life many Choctaws were relocated to present-day Oklahoma. The Choctaws that…

and other riches became an overwhelming obsession with Spain and Portugal. However, religion was also a key pushing factor to find new land. These two empires wanted to convert people all over the world to their religious beliefs. Thus, these three motivating factors, “God, Gold, and Glory,” are very important within American history, because these factors would later shape the face of America today. Nevertheless, the discovery of America was also very significant because it not only changed…

Too often the tribulations of Native Americans are only focused on the past and dismiss the several issues that affect modern day Indians. The narrative of Native American societies has been misconstrued and one explicit example of this is the infamous fourth grade mission project that does injustice to the persecutions and subjugation that the Native Americans faced. Deborah Miranda, the author of Bad Indians, tells the harsh reality of what really happened through pictures, short stories, and…

Denniz Puzz, Jr. graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School and has since been dealing with Native American legal issues. He has been the Executive Director of his own tribe, Yurok Tribe, and has also worked with multiple other tribal clients. In his lecture on February 9 in the UC, he spoke of various issues that exist with Native American legalities, as well as highlighted the issue of tribe sovereignty. To begin his lecture, he gave a definition of tribe sovereignty, and he…