Native American Discovery Essay

Describe why the ‘discovery’ of Americas was one of the “most important events recorded in the history of mankind” according to Adam Smith.
Because it set forth pivotal societal changes, to both the new world and the ‘old’. Two new continents were added to the trade voyages that merchants and nations would undertake, Africa and America. Eric Foner writes, “ Crops new to each hemisphere crossed the Atlantic, reshaping diets and transforming the natural environment… Africa found itself drawn into the new Atlantic system of trade and population movement.”(Foner 6) This population movement or the movement of slaves would later serve to divide America during the Civil War, one of the bloodiest conflicts the world would ever see. 3. One of

Similar to the Europeans, however, the Native Americans believed that there was a single creator, atop the spiritual hierarchy of the many things they held sacred. Native American chiefs and leaders would assign land to members of the tribe to use, but they didn’t own it, they simply had the right to use the land. Unclaimed land was for everyone to use, and no one could buy the land. To the natives, wealth mattered little as opposed to the Europeans. Foner writes, “Nor were Indians devoted to the accumulation of wealth and material goods.Especially east of the Mississippi river, where villages moved every few years when soil or game became depleted, acquiring numerous possessions made little sense.” (Foner 14)Some natives had better lifestyles than others in their society, mainly chiefs and members of their family, much like the feudal system the Europeans were familiar with. Natives placed more respect in women, often their society was matriarchal with the women allowed to own property. This runs contradictory to the English who placed all respect on the men of their society, only men were allowed to own property, and they controlled the finances. 5. What were the main factors fueling the European age of expansion?
The ability to spread news quickly due to the invention of the printing press by the German craftsman

By converting the Native Americans, the Spanish empire hoped that they would reimburse them with wealth and labor, yet this attempted conversion ended mostly with uprising and violence. Yet, the French and Dutch desired wealth and trading. Foner writes, “ New France and New Netherland were primarily commercial ventures… More dependent on Indians as trading partners and military allies, these French and Dutch settlements allowed Native Americans greater freedom than the English.” (Foner