Relationship Between European Colonists And Native Americans

European Colonists and American Indians interacted in different ways that established a variety of relationships among the different cultures and people, varying region to region.

In the colony of New England, the two main groups of people were the English Puritan settlers, who were primarily driven by religious duty, and the Pequot Tribe, who were one of the most powerful Native American tribes in that region. In 1620, just before the English arrived, a smallpox epidemic among various other diseases, devastated various Native American tribes located throughout New England, including the Wampanoag and Pequot tribes. This plague subsequently killed three fourths of the indigenous population located in the region of New England. Due to their

The main battle consisted of the English Puritans setting fire to a Pequot Village on the Mystic River, annihilating the any natives that stood in their way. The Puritans used religion to justify their actions during and after the war. This was demonstrated when John Mason, the leader of the raid, claimed that the attack was an act of God. The Pequot War was followed by 40 years of peace between the English settlers and the Native American population located in that region. When the English first arrived in New England, they used the natives to better themselves and secure their place in the New World. As the English felt they had learned all they could from the natives they no longer had any need for them and wanted them out of the New England territory they inhabited. The English Colonist continued to employ their brutish tactics on the Indians whenever the need

While this gave them access to the valuable furs found on the Huron’s land, it also gave them a new enemy, the Iroquois. The Iroquois were the rival of the Hurons and the French’s pacts with the Hurons greatly angered the Iroquois. To get back at the two, the Iroquois refused the French access to parts Ohio River Valley and the Mississippi River. This was where the extremely valuable beaver pelt was located, and the Mississippi River was an essential part of the French’s trading system in North America. Because of this, the French fought a series of wars against the Iroquois to gain access to these regions. This confrontation between the French and the Iroquois was still visible one-hundred years later in the French and Indian war where the French, the Hurons, and their Native American allies fought against the British, the Iroquois, and their other Native American allies. The dispute was never resolved until the French were completely driven out of North