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Cultural Differences Between Native Americans And The Europeans

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When the English settlers arrived in America they had many assumptions about the Native American people. Some of these assumptions by the English people included the idea that the Native American people were brutal savages. The differences in culture between the Native Americans and the Europeans often caused clashes that led to the destruction of land and the people. Unfortunately, the differences within the two cultures forced the Native Americans to either adapt to the European culture, or migrate west to reservations. In Native American culture followed a type of religion known as Animism. Animism is a religion based on the spiritual idea that the universe, and all natural objects within the universe, have souls or spirits. In festivals and ceremonies the Native American people would dance and worship in attempt to gain the favor of these gods. Although the Native Americans hunted and farmed the land, they would rarely strip the grounds of its resources. They used forest burning to regrow areas, and established reserves for animals. As a form of government, the Native American people put theirtrust in each person throughout the community, making it unnecessary to have a central ruler. …show more content…

The Europeans came to the New World as messengers for God, to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. Sadly, those who would not accept what the Europeans were teaching would be imprisoned or even killed. The Europeans would be considered killers of the land as they practiced environmental depletion, opposite to that of the Natives. The Europeans cut down trees in large numbers, dammed streams for water reserves, and killed nearly every animal that crossed their path. When the Europeans arrived in the new world, they followed a governmental monarchy. The Europeans were devoted to the king back in England and followed his

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The Europeans were the ones to initiate the human encounter seeing that Columbus accidently stumbled upon America. To the natives, the Europeans were strangers, invaders that they saw as threats, causing them to go into a defensive state. The Natives responded in multiple ways based on factors such as: “perceived nature, power and stance of the European challengers” (Axtell 100). In order to maintain the status quo ante, the natives attempted at using five strategies: incorporating the Europeans, beating them, joining them, copying their ways, and avoiding them altogether. The Europeans were seen as “equal or superior” in the native’s eyes “powerful and potentially dangerous “persons,” animated “souls” like their own, or “gods,” “spirits” from the heavens (Axtell 101).

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The explorers of the Americas were both fascinated and disgusted by the Native American way of living. The Indians had no structured set of rules or government and did not even have a ruler. Their society was free from social classes based on land ownership, which was common in the Old World. A common nickname for the Indians was the “noble savage,” which meant “the man of liberty living in the natural state” (Weatherford, 1988, p. 124). Although the word “chief” implies authority, each Indian was equal to one another and was spiritually tied to the land they lived upon.

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The Native Americans and Euro-Americans settlers were more different than similar from one another. THESIS: Both the Native Americans and Euro-Americans have very different lifestyles, cultures, and dissimilar perspectives. Euro-Americans saw themselves as conquers of the civilized world and saw the Native Americans as “savages”. Both Euro-Americans and Native Americans had a different theory about the land; it created problems between the two.

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Eventually, the Armed force stifled the Indians and constrained onto reservations, where they were permitted to administer themselves and keep up some of their conventions and culture. However, as white Americans pushed ever westbound, they clashed with Native Americans on their tribal grounds. A number of these white pioneers saw the proceeded with routine with regards to local customs as brutal and heinous. They trusted that union into standard white American culture was the main satisfactory destiny for Native Americans. This conviction was regularly framed in religious terms; many white Christians contended that lone by surrendering their profound customs and tolerating Christian authoritative opinion could the Indians be "spared" from the flames of hellfire.

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The movie "High Flying Bird" and Harry Edwards' book "The Revolt of the Black Athlete" both explore the complex connection between sports and social issues, specifically the difficulties faced by black athletes and the concept of the political athlete. This essay will examine how the themes from the book were incorporated into the movie and will also examine its portrayal of the political athlete. In addition, how the growth of certain characters were either influenced by Harry Edwards’ book or not. "High Flying Bird" presented a case of the issues that surfaced during the NBA lockout. In terms of what was being offered to them for their talent, the young players were being treated unfairly.

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When the Europeans came to the Americas, they didn’t know how to treat the Native Americans because they had never encountered other people who weren’t of their race. So Europeans developed this belief that they were superior then Natives and Africans. They took their resources and took advantage of them. They treated them harshly and turned them into slaves to make them work on their land. Europeans also tried to change their beliefs and culture, which caused much resistance and revolts from the Natives and Africans.

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Although the Native Americans had a strong adaption to the environment, they did not adapt well when different settlers started to explore America. They had to learn how to deal with the French, Spanish and English settlers on their land. The French relations with the Natives didn’t have much conflict although, the French caused some arguments in between different tribes. They settled in Louisiana in the 1670’s.

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European exploration of the West began in 1500 and continued to flourish for over three centuries. While colonizing this new land, Europeans first came into contact with the native peoples. European religious views, gender roles, and land ownership shaped their interactions with Native Americans. The English, for example, practiced Christianity, while the Native Americans possessed a more spiritual and animalistic religion. Native American societies were heavily reliant on women for not only household duties, but also agricultural responsibilities.

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Throughout the late 1400’s and the 1500’s, the world experienced many changes due to the discoveries of new lands and peoples that had been never been visited before. The new-found lands of the Americas and exploration of Africa by the Europeans led to new colonies and discoveries in both areas. It also brought different societies and cultures together that had never before communicated, causing conflict in many of these places. While the Europeans treated both the Native Americans and West Africans as inferior people, the early effects they had on the Native Americans were much worse. Beginning in the late 1400’s, many different European explorers started to look for new trade routes in the Eastern Hemisphere in order to gain economic and religious power.

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This ideal way of life clashed with the worldview of Europeans. Early European colonizers believed that because Native Americans were not using the vast amount of land which included forest to maximize their profits, then they were justified for colonizing North American land. This settlement led to the enslavement of people, worldwide distribution of diseases, and transfer of goods that shaped America to what it is today.

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The Controversial Johannine Comma; Evidence of Trinitarianism or Corrupt Texts: The Johannine Comma, also called the Comma Johanneum, refers to a textual variation of I John 5:7-8. The variation reads, "For there are three that bear witness in heaven: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one" (KJV n.d., I John 5:7-8). According to Oxford Dictionaries, the term comma comes from the Greek word Comma, which refers to a short clause rather than a punctuation (Oxford Dictionaries n.d.). This additional clause shown above has been a heated debate for hundreds of years because it drastically changes the context of the two versus.

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Native Americans and Africans were spiritual people. Native Americans and African believed in different gods compared to the monotheistic Europeans. Both Native Americans and Africans believed that spirits were present in everything, including natural objects. This led them to treat nature with a great deal of respect. Europeans, on the other hand, believed that nature was to be exploited.

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Every single one of the hundreds of tribes were different. Some of the tribes in the northern part of America were much different than the tribes in present day Texas or Mexico. This diversity within its own people threw Europeans for a loop. Europeans saw many things “wrong” with the natives. Europeans thought the men were lethargic and the women worked themselves to death.

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Native Americans have a really diverse culture and one report is not enough to talk about all of their cultures. They have fourteen tribes so it is obvious that they will have a lot of different cultures and traditions between all fourteen tribes. It is impossible to have fourteen tribes with different people and expect them to all believe in the same things so some of them have different beliefs and different traditions. They worshipped a lot of gods and even some of the gods had dolls made for them. Some tribes worshipped the sun or fire or some serpents.

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891 Words | 4 Pages

Upon the first colonial establishments, the Europeans viewed Native Americans as uncultured, unintelligent, and uncivilized. The first colonizers found themselves ultimately superior to the perceived rudimentary cultural and societal customs that were observed. Native Americans viewed Europeans as a strictly one sided cultural mass enforcement foreign establishment, stopping at nothing to enforce their perceived superiority in all forms of cultural and societal aspects. Differences in land use, gender roles, and societal history added to the wedging and hostility between the Native Americans and European people. Upon the European's first impression of Native American culture, the first notable aspect of their "species" and society was their promising outlook as potential slave laborers.

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