The Effect of the Spanish, French and British on Indian Culture in North America The life styles of the Indians of the Americas changed greatly over time, almost completely influenced by Western culture. Each of the different Western civilizations affected the Indian tribes very differently. This is partly due to the reasons why they came to the "New World." The British came primarily for land due to their fast population growth and partially for a new economic venture. The French came for furs and luxuries that only Indians and the untamed land could provide. They created trading posts and shipped these commodities back to the mainland.
Pages one to sixty- nine in Indian From The Inside: Native American Philosophy and Cultural Renewal by Dennis McPherson and J. Douglas Rabb, provides the beginning of an in-depth analysis of Native American cultural philosophy. It also states the ways in which western perspective has played a role in our understanding of Native American culture and similarities between Western culture and Native American culture. The section of reading can be divided into three lenses. The first section focus is on the theoretical understanding of self in respect to the space around us. The second section provides a historical background into the relationship between Native Americans and British colonial power. The last section focus is on the affiliation of otherworldliness that exist between
In the 1830's the Plains Indians were sent to the Great American Deserts in the west because the white men did not think they deserved the land. Afterwards, they were able to live peacefully, and to follow their traditions and customs, but when the white men found out the land they were on were still good for agricultural, or even for railroad land they took it back. Thus, the white man movement westward quickly begun. This prospect to expand westward caused the government to become thoroughly involved in the lives of the Plains Indians. These intrusions by the white men had caused spoilage of the Plains Indians buffalo hunting styles, damaged their social and cultural lives, and hurt their overall lives. The lives of the Plains Indians in the second half of the nineteenth century were greatly affected by the technological development and government actions.
The Spanish began their movement to Southwest America in the late sixteenth century. From that point on, their influence both on the Native Americans and the environment was extraordinaire. The goal of the Spaniards with regards to the Native Americans was to transform them “into tax-paying Christians.” This is in contrast to the idea that their goal was to eradicate the Indians form the Americas. Consequently, the Spaniards took many Indians so that they may plant their religion in the Natives and to use them as cheap labor. This led many Indians to learn the customs and language of the Spaniards so they could to be able to thrive in the Spanish culture. Thus, some Natives acquired Spanish, which was the main source of their Hispanicization; this was the notion of Indians becoming encompassed by the Spanish society. Furthermore, Indians gradually learned skills, obtained land, and sometimes found Hispanic spouses, thus furthering their Hispanicization. They now began to live in a Spanish manner and blend into the bottom of the Spanish societal ladder. This “acculturation” of the Native Americans was in contrast to the models of early English colonization. Spanish goals and plans sought to involve the Indians so that they may live in their society even if at the lower end of it’s ladder. English colonies viewed the Natives as savages and looked to them for slave labor or to rape their women. They did not plan to take the Indians into their society as the Spaniards did so throughout this era.
Throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth century there was a great expansion into the European exploration and colonization of North America. Many Europeans sought to change their lives in the new world. Here, they could start new life, and live free of the religious persecution occurring in Europe. The British were one of the main Europeans groups whom settled and colonized North America. The British and Native tribes had a very unique relationship that was at times civil and mutually beneficial but often, there were times where the British colonization had many negative effects on native tribes such as war, annexation of land and infecting native tribes with old world diseases they had not yet seen.
What were the major patterns of Native American life in North America before Europeans arrived? North America was quite advance for its time. It consisted of large scale trade network, well irrigated, many thruways, cities and huge structures. The Indians were quite primitive when comparison to the Europeans gadgets. How did Indian and European ideas of freedom differ on the eve of contact? Europeans thought the Indians were too liberated and lacked organization while the Indians believed more in community and kinship structure building. What impelled European explorers to look west across the Atlantic? The reason for their exploration across the west is due to imports and export and to spread religion to foreign countries. What happened when
My essay will have an outlook of the history of the first Americans “Indians” and how they’ve adapted with their religion, subsistence strategy, social organization, and material culture. Over the years things have change in the history of Native Americans, prior to the reconstruction period, Native Americans knew who they were and what they lived for. Before the Europeans came and changed their living they one with nature and the land they’ve came to know. They believe that America was there’s and they lived free. In today’s history of Native Americans culture was founded in many ways, started in the mid 8200s B.C and before Christopher Columbus discovered America. Living in the Americas they were in touch with nature as well as their ancestors. The first Americas have ruled this country for many years. In my research I’ve learned that so many things around us are influence by Native Americans culture, independence and were they have come from Native Americans are disputed in this country, diverse among tribes, culturally mixed and socially in their own political standards.
Reflecting on the colonization of North America is an uneasy topic for most Americans. The thought of war between the Indians and the early settlers creates an image of clashing cultures between the well-armed Europeans and the hand-crafted weaponry of the native Indians. We tend to have the perception that the early colonists came and quickly took away the land from the Indians but, in reality, the Europeans did not have this power. Though French explorers and English settlers had a different perception of land ownership than that of the Native Americans, the fate of the Europeans rested in the hands of the Indians. Either from self-preservation, civility or curiosity, various American Indian tribes assisted the early European colonies through the sharing of resources, by befriending them as allies and, ultimately, by accepting them as permanent neighbors.
The Effects of Colonization on the Native Americans Native Americans had inherited the land now called America and eventually their lives were destroyed due to European colonization. When the Europeans arrived and settled, they changed the Native American way of life for the worse. These changes were caused by a number of factors including disease, loss of land, attempts to export religion, and laws, which violated Native American culture. Native Americans never came in contact with diseases that developed in the Old World because they were separated from Asia, Africa, and Europe when ocean levels rose following the end of the last Ice Age. Diseases like smallpox, measles, pneumonia, influenza, and malaria were unknown to the Native Americans until the Europeans brought these diseases over time to them.
The Spanish and English cultures were scarcely similar and notably different because of the interaction with indigenous people and the timing in which the interactions occurred. The Spanish and English were very different in how they interacted with the indigenous people. The Spanish main reason for coming to North America was to spread Catholicism. In the Catholic church if two people were both Catholic then the two people would receive the sacrament of marriage. After marriage the two would create a Catholic of their own. This had created 5 new races of people. The races of humanity was then looked at as social classes. The highest social class was a full white European, then a mestizos, which was a someone who was European and an Indian, followed by Indians, African slaves, and lastly a Zambos,
At first, they didn’t think much of North America, they had no plans to settle there or to explore the new lands. But their attempts to establish settlements elsewhere had failed due to poor planning and financing. Later on in the 17th century, France made a permanent settlement in North America. New France encompassed the areas around the St. Lawrence, Mississippi, and Ohio Rivers. It had a relatively small white population and they emphasised on fur trade rather than agricultural settlement. Since they depended on the Indians a lot for trade, the French needed to have good relations with them. This may be why the French also had a more humane policy compared to the other colonists. The alliance between the Indians and French colonists was the most long lasting out of all the other settlers in North America. Unlike the other European colonists, they didn’t take a significant amount of Indian land, or conquer and force the native people to work. In Spanish America, colonists forced Indians to perform most of the labor. They worked by extracting gold and silver from mines, which contributed to the empire’s wealth. Spanish landlords also forced Indians to do labor on large scale farms called
The European influences to the Native Americans were Europeans carried the new diseases to the Indians. “Europeans were used to these diseases, but Indian people had no resistance to them. Sometimes the illnesses spread through direct contact with colonists. Other times, they were transmitted as Indians traded with one another. The result of this contact with European germs was horrible. Sometimes whole villages perished in a short time” (Kincheloe). Slave trade was another influence to American Indians. Europeans soon realized that they could provide commercial goods such as tools and weapons to some American Indian tribes that would bring them other Indians captured in tribal wars, and these captured Indians were bought and sold as slaves. Therefore, “slavery led to warfare among tribes and too much hardship. Many tribes had to move to escape the slave trade, which destroyed some tribes completely. In time, the practice of enslaving Native peoples ended. However, it had greatly affected American Indians of the South and the Southwest” (Kinchloe). Lastly, Europeans change Native America and African’ roots. Native Americans
Why do Indian college students have high dropout rates? Why do Indian college students have hard times in college, and university atmospheres? Why do Indian college students have difficult times when it comes to making good grades? Maybe it’s because they have no role models in the home. Maybe they can’t relate to individuals with different cultures and backgrounds? Perhaps it is something simple as having poor study habits. The answers could Possibly be that Indian college students are just uncomfortable in a college environment, and don’t have an Indian studies program to go to, as in Reyhner’s essay. Whatever the reason may be Indian college students are scarce within the college scene, just as Indian people are in the United States of America.
When European exploration led to the populating of the Americas, it was described as the event with one of the greatest ecological impacts in history. The force behind this impact was the mass movement of people and their behavior's toward their "New World". It only stands to reason that a clash would occur with the natives of these lands. One of the areas with the greatest conflict was the field of technology.
Colonization of the Americas was done by both the Spanish and English in the late 1400s to late 1500s respectively. They had quite a few similarities such as the hardships they encountered in their homelands that embarked them on their journeys to explore and even, in some ways, their rule over the new land had some likeness as well. The differences between them lie in the specifics of their exploration and their relationship with the Indian groups who already inhabited the space they took over. Even though each group had different motives and goals for their expedition, it is evident that both groups had their share of major conflicts with the native peoples and defining characteristics of their societies.
The Black Legend and White Legend: Relationship Between the Spanish and Indians in the New World