Colonial Rule under European Countries

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One of the main focus points in European colonization was to further their economic order by using abundant recourses that were found far from the home land. They looked to gain power and produce wealth. In order to reach these goals, Europeans directed cultural change among the indigenous people and justified their actions by claiming it was “God’s work”. However, with all of these changes came diverse reactions from the native people. In the beginning they were eager to build relationships, however after time passed many considered them as sons from the devil.
The Europeans used their power of law and order to subdue and control the indigenous. They wanted to instill their beliefs, culture, and values onto the natives and used agents of directed culture change to influence the people. Missionaries played a major role in transforming the native communities. Missionaries believed they were helping the inhabitants by “converting and civilizing” the indigenous. They also used their power to exploit any resources they could find to benefit the church and their home land. However, while they worked with authority to take over land and culture, they often had conflict with the brutal treatment that authorities inflicted on the native people. Missionaries had many views on converting. Some thought “that indigenous people were subhuman and should be controlled… others assumed that indigenous people were … capable of intelligent thought and reasoning” (Bonvillain 2013). Missionaries claimed they were enlightening the people and used economic and political arguments to convert them. If the natives were to convert they awarded them with favorable trading and provided guns for their use. Missionaries also encouraged Christia...

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...is as childish and created a sense of superiority for the Europeans. Other native North Americans thought the opposite and saw the Europeans as childish. They wondered how and why they got lost in the woods and were annoyed by all of their complaints. They could not understand why the Europeans had no “connection” to the land. Natives in other areas thought that the Europeans had “extraordinary powers” (Bonvillain 2013). The technology intrigued the natives and once again the Europeans felt a sense of power over the indigenous. After time the native people realized their friendliness was a mistake. The Europeans treated them so poorly that members from the Incan culture said they were sons of the devil (Bonvillain 2013).

Works Cited

Bonvillain, N. (2013). Cultural Anthropology. (3rd ed.). Pearson Education Inc. Upper Saddle River, NJ.

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