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Changes To European Victors Go The Spoils Of War

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To the victors go the spoils of war and the history books. In America this adage should be changed to ‘to the European victors go the spoils of war’, as by the end of the 19th century people of European descent had won conflicts against the native populations spanning from the time of Cortez to the end of the 19th century devastating native populations and culture. One of the most prominent examples of this one sided history was King Philip’s War, fought in the years 1675-1676 between the Indians of New England, led by the Wampanoag Chief Metacomet, and English colonists, as over 400 English accounts survive today while no Indian accounts are known to exist as history was told orally generation to generation. During this year long conflict …show more content…

One such consequence of this Indian defeat was that there no longer existed a large population of Indians able to resist European expansion west into Indian land. This inability to resist against European expansion deep into Indian land and the establishment of English and French forts led to the suppression of native culture and the integration of European influence dominating Indian culture. With the expansion of European influence, also came the importance of trade as now many tribes relied upon the Europeans for guns and ammunition to protect themselves and go to war. Another example of this can be observed in the depiction of Indians, where the way they are described transitions from how, “earlier writing about the Indians had emphasized their potential for conversion, the King Philip’s War narratives transformed New England’s natives into irredeemable monsters.” This transformation of Indian people from a people to be saved to beastly savages to be conquered displayed a change in attitude towards native culture. In addition, this depiction as beasts led to the English viewing Indians as less than human and so inferior eventually resulting in Indians becoming part of the slave trade. Furthermore, this change in writing styles displays the power language and words can hold over others and how they can be used as a weapon of suppression and

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803 Words | 4 Pages

King Phillip’s War as described by the historian Virginia DeJohn Anderson, was “in proportion to the populations involved, the most destructive war in American history.” If this is indeed the case, understanding the origins of the conflicts that settlers had with colonists can shed some light onto the actual nature of early interactions between Native Americans and English settlers on the coast. According to Anderson’s paper, the primary source of the friction between Natives and Englishmen was related to disputes over livestock. Her argument exposes the injustices that were forced on Native people, the minimal attempts that colonists made to reduce tensions, and the motives that the English had for continually aggravating their neighbors.

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1608 Words | 7 Pages

Between the years 1600 to 1700, English colonists were just settling the New World and establishing their own colonies, yet this colonization didn’t come without obstacles. Upon entering the seemingly unscathed land, colonists were greeted by Native Americans. At first, the two groups expressed a relationship characterized by amity and cooperation, yet as time went on, the “white superiority” of the colonists and the belief that they were primary owners of land soured the relationship. It was just a matter of time before the colonists would take over and run out the Native Americans. Primarily peaceful and affable, the relationship between the Indians and English steadily depreciated as the English overran the lands of the Indians while the

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195 Words | 1 Pages

he Natives were being treated unfairly by the Puritans caused the King Philip’s War of 1675. King Philip's believed that the colonists took his land without his permission. In document A, “King Philip’s Perspective” King Philip stated, “the English made them drunk and then cheated them ; that now, they had no hope left to keep any land.” Both authors in both documents wrote that King Philip lost land from the colonists. In document B, “Colonists‘ Perspective” Edward Randolph said, “God is punishing them for their behavior."

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157 Words | 1 Pages

After reading Native Americans and the “Middle Ground,” I realized how narratives of historians are quick to shame and blame Native Americans in history. This article begins by revealing how European settlement presented the Indians as obstacles. Recent historians, such as Gary Nash, show the Native Americans as being conquered by the Europeans. Author of The Middle Ground, Richard White, seems to be one of the first to examine the culture of Native Americans and the relationship between colonists. White writes about the “middle ground” of the politics and trade that is eventually established.

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677 Words | 3 Pages

Although it was preceded by the Pumunkeys experience with aggressive Spanish conquistadors and traders, the actions of the English were a decisive factor in the escalation of the conflict. Had the English colonists not attempted to assert dominance and expected war, the Pumunkeys may not have retaliated with such brutal force. Had the Pumunkeys not sought to expand their influence over other indigenous peoples, they might have recognized the threat the English posed over them and not aided them to the extent that they did. Ultimately, though, the burden of the conflict falls on the more aggressive which was certainly the leaders of the English colonist such as Captain Smith and those who succeeded him. If the English had not assumed that they would be able to easily dominate all of the natives, and instead tried to maintain meaningful and lasting good ties with the Pumunkeys and their allies, both societies could have avoided a devastating war and forged an alliance that would have strengthened them

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1724 Words | 7 Pages

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

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682 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the seventeenth century, conflict between Europeans and Native Americans was rampant and constant. As more and more Europeans migrated to America, violence became increasingly consistent. This seemingly institutionalized pattern of conflict begs a question: Was conflict between Europeans and Native Americans inevitable? Kevin Kenny and Cynthia J. Van Zandt take opposing sides on the issue. Kevin Kenny asserts that William Penn’s vision for cordial relations with local Native Americans was destined for failure due to European colonists’ demands for privately owned land.

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880 Words | 4 Pages

The Natives believed that the Europeans are “edgy, rapacious, and remotely maladroit.” Sure enough, the settlers in Jamestown kenned little about farming and found the environment baffling. It was conspicuous that the colonists needed the avail of the Natives. Despite their inexperience the English dominated the Indians. From “the beginning the Virginia Company indited that the relationship would ineluctably become bellicose: for you Cannot Carry Your Selves so towards them but they will Grow Discontented with Your habitation.”

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540 Words | 3 Pages

When the Indians and the Europeans encountered one another, social and environmental changes spurred, in which the colonists, for the most part, benefitted, while the Indians suffered by being subjected to inferiority and death. The natives of North America got the short end of the peace pipe once colonists from Europe began to settle in their land. A common misconception today is that, the Indians were always territorial and non-welcoming, but they in fact wanted to live in harmony with the colonists.

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830 Words | 4 Pages

Historians differ on what they think about the net result of the European arrival in the New World. Considering that the Columbian Exchange, which refers to “exchange of plants, animals, people, disease, and culture between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas after Columbus sailed to the Americas in 1492,” led to possibly tens of millions of deaths on the side of the American Indians, but also enabled agricultural and technological trade (Henretta et al. 42), I cannot help but reflect on whether the effects should be addressed as a historical or a moral question. The impact that European contact had on the indigenous populations of North America should be understood as a moral question because first, treating it as a historical question is difficult due to lack of reliable historical evidence; second, the meaning of compelling historical claims is contestable as the academic historian perspective tends to view the American Indian oral history as invalid; and finally, what happened to the native Indians is morally repulsive and must be discussed as such. The consequences of European contact should be answered as a moral question because historically, it is hard to be historically objective in the absence of valid and dependable historical evidence.

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163 Words | 1 Pages

When it came time to take action the Indians were forced to move westward leaving them far from the land they had come to know as well as having to adapt to new places. The Indians

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1058 Words | 5 Pages

With the arrival of Anglo-Americans, Native Americans lost much more than just their land. Tribes were forced onto reservations, stripped of their culture, wealth and place in society, with no hope of regaining what they owned unless by complete assimilation. For the latter half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, many Anglo-Americans continually pushed for Native Americans to abandon their cultures and “savage” ways. However, despite the many attempts to force Natives into Anglo-American culture, many Native Americans found ways to negotiate with the demands of the Anglo-Americans through mainly social, economic and legal means.

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1105 Words | 5 Pages

When the Europeans began colonizing the New World, they had a problematic relationship with the Native Americans. The Europeans sought to control a land that the Natives inhabited all their lives. They came and decided to take whatever they wanted regardless of how it affected the Native Americans. They legislated several laws, such as the Indian Removal Act, to establish their authority. The Indian Removal Act had a negative impact on the Native Americans because they were driven away from their ancestral homes, forced to adopt a different lifestyle, and their journey westwards caused the deaths of many Native Americans.

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847 Words | 4 Pages

Native Americans flourished in North America, but over time white settlers came and started invading their territory. Native Americans were constantly being thrown and pushed off their land. Sorrowfully this continued as the Americans looked for new opportunities and land in the West. When the whites came to the west, it changed the Native American’s lives forever. The Native Americans had to adapt to the whites, which was difficult for them.

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292 Words | 2 Pages

I am interested in their mission, which is to educate families about personal finance and help families to build a solid financial future. Being a financial advisor, I would be given the opportunity to learn how to manage money and help families to choose the right financial products out of a broad range of solutions that would maximize their return on those investments. I would be given an opportunity to work closely with the Marketing Communications Manager and team to assist in the implementation of marketing activities. This would help me in terms of gaining experience in marketing industry, developing relevant skills, making connections, and strengthening my resume.

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