Colonial Crimes: The Impact of European Settlers on Native Americans

The earliest forms of crime took place in the United States long before it was founded as a country. When the European settlers first arrived in Colonial America, they brought with them disease, weapons and greed. This contributed to an almost complete genocide. The so called “discoverer” of America committed horrific crimes against Native Americans who were the original habitants. Prior to the settlers’ arrival, the Native American populations was about 10 million. By 1900 the population had dropped to just 300,000 (Religious Tolerance).
When the European arrived to the Americas, they brought diseases such as smallpox, influenza, and measles. Because the Native Americans did not have immunity to these diseases, masses lost their lives.

Smallpox was the number one killer of the native people. Once the settlers found that the aboriginals could not fight off the epidemics, they deliberately began to infect them with infected blankets that were given as gifts. This was done in 1763 by the orders of Sir Jeffrey Amhersh, commander in chief of the British forces (Nativeweb).
The Europeans felt that they were of an elite race when compared to the Natives. Their modern ideas due to the renaissance of literature, art, religion, and technology gave them a sense of superiority. When they settled in Colonial America, they wanted to influence and civilize the natives of the Americas. They introduced domesticated animals such as cows, pigs, and horses. They also brought guns with them. This was the most modern weapon that would be used in wars against the native people. The colonists would ambush villages and wars would break out in the effort of stripping the Natives of their lands. The Europeans would use the “Indians” as target practice, poured boiling soap on their bodies, would cut people in half, and would feed nursing infants to dogs as forms of recreation (The Latin Library).
The main reason which motivated the Europeans to set out to explore and “discover” the Americas was for their quest for gold and wealth.

The greed that they were driven by caused them to treat the “Indians” in unimaginable ways. The colonists were paid for scalping “redskins.” Adult male scalps were worth 50 pounds, adult female scalps were 25 pounds, and scalps of children under the age of 12 were worth 20 pounds. The natives were also used as slaves. Many such as those from the Taino tribe were taken to Spain and to become slaves to the king and queen. If they were rebellious, their ears and noses were cut off (ICTMN). The “Indian Removal Act” of 1830, which was passed by the U.S. congress, caused death by starvation to the native people. This law was so that the natives would leave their lands and relocate to the west of the Mississippi River where the lands were dry and infertile. They were no longer able to hunt for their food or plant crops. This government-forced migration was for the accommodation of the European-American expansion.
The Europeans believed that they were supreme and civilized when they came to America, but their actions proved to be quite the opposite. The treatment they imposed on Native Americans was hateful. They caused 90% of the native population to perish. The crimes they committed against the original citizens of America were driven by their greed. They stole their land. They exploited them as slaves and ridiculed them with their “recreational” shenanigans. The European settlers were criminals inflicting pain and suffering to a great degree to the point where it almost wiped out a whole

race.