For centuries after Columbus first landed in the New World, the arrival of European settlers impacted the lives of American Indians so immensely that their presence forever altered the landscape of the New World. The Europeans brought with them deadly germs and diseases—malaria, smallpox, and yellow fever—from which American Indians had no natural immunities, that decimated Indian populations. Additionally, they embarked on an aggressive quest for land—an encounter that led to many American Indian populations either being destroyed, dissolved or forced further and further west off of their ancestral lands. In response to such aggression, American Indians had limited choices: resist, submit, flee, or in rare cases, assimilate. The choices they …show more content…
By contrast, in regions such as New York and New France, where Europeans valued the American Indians as trading partners and did not seek to disrupt their way of life, the groups established mutually beneficial and relatively peaceful relationships. Whether they lacked the desire or ability to resist the English, Wampanoag Indians in New England were initially friendly towards the colonists. Aided by a Wampanoag named Squanto, both sides quickly enjoyed the unexpected benefits of trading goods with one another. Additionally, Massasoit, the Wampanoag chief, signed a treaty with the Pilgrims of Plymouth in 1621, which established peace. …show more content…
By comparison, in New York and New France, where American Indians were allowed to maintain their culture and were viewed as valuable trading partners, relations between the Europeans and American Indians were economically advantageous and mostly peaceful. In the New England and Chesapeake regions, for example, relations with the American Indians were initially peaceful until the Europeans began spreading out and forcing the Indians off of their ancestral lands. Bitter conflicts such as the Pequot War and King Philip’s War consumed New England and had devastating consequences for the American Indians. In the Chesapeake region, too, as American Indians were increasingly viewed as disposable, a series of vicious wars followed. Similarly, early encounters with the Spanish in the Southwest were friendly. Over time, though, as the Spanish ruthlessly enslaved the American Indians under their Encomienda system, the Indians revolted and temporarily took back control in places like Santa Fe. By contrast, in regions such as New York and New France, where the Dutch and the French were tolerant of Indian culture and sought profitable trade relationships