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Essays on native american culture
Effects of colonization on indigenous peoples
Essay on native american culture
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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
Native groups often took land and materials from weaker groups whenever it suited them. They understood the concept of ownership by conquest. From the time the first settlers landed on Turtle Island [America], the Natives were pushed from their home. In 1783, George Washington wrote a letter to James Duane, outlining principles of the Indian Policy of the Continental Congress. Washington outlined ‘an enlightened People’ would consider the Native to be deluded and that “as the country is large enough to contain us all; and as we are disposed to be kind to them and to partake in their trade…we will draw a veil over what is past and establish a boundary line between them and us beyond which we will endeavor to restrain our People from Hunting or Settling” (4).
Native American DBQ The 15th century will perpetually be deemed in the eyes of humanity as perhaps, the most momentous period in the vast history of planet earth. This is due to its comprising of Columbus’ expedition to the New World, the crucial catalyst to ignite the torrential chain of events to follow: European exploration of America. Interactions with the native populace served as a byproduct of these endeavors and the European’s interactions and consequent outlook on the natives varied immensely. Their outlooks ranged from sheer reverence to utter repugnance yet the majority unite in their consisting of a rather patronizing aura.
Many Americans were influenced by the Homestead Act which gave them 160 Acres of land as long as they maintained the land for 5 years. Eventually, the Native Americans no longer had somewhere to go. They decided to sign a treaty with the Americans which granted them a small reservation in which no American would cross and a promise that supplies would be sent. However, the supplies never came and Americans continued to cross into the reservation. The Native Americans wanted to fight back but they were powerless against the American’s
jurisdiction faced insurmountable oppression. The United States now had dominion from the Atlantic to the Pacific, thus Native Americans could no longer manipulate the prior competing imperial powers. Natives who once served as integral power brokers in the “in between” society now lost their advantage. The disease of American prejudice spread more quickly than the epidemics that killed many Natives in the first place. Anglo-Americans possessed Native land without notice, raped and enslaved Natives, and even demanded complete extermination of the Native people in many areas.
In the late 1800s, tensions were rising between white Americans and Native Americans. The white Americans wanted the Native Americans to conform to their definition of civility. The Native Americans had clung tightly to their culture and religious practices during a time of continuous encroachment and governmental pressure by the white Americans. By this time, Native Americans had already been forced westward onto reservations through government action. Andrew Jackson had set this migration in motion earlier in the century, and the migration pattern would later be referred to as the “Trail of Tears”.
Native Americans suffered pain due to the enactment of the Indian Removal Act and was not justified because of the Native American progressive assimilation, their treaties with the government, and the suffering they endured. At this point, in the 1830s many Native Americans adapted to the western culture to survive and endure white treatment. Many Native’s adopted the American culture of owning slaves. Many took photographs with their slaves with proper attire to gain acceptance into white culture (Doc F).
The Black Hills War, also known as the Great Sioux War of 1876, was a series of battles fought from 1876 through 1877, between the forces of the United States and their allies (Shoshone, Pawnee, and Crow) and the Sioux (Lakota, Dakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho). Taking place under two presidencies and resulting in hundreds of casualties on both sides, The Black Hills War made great impacts that would continue to affect Natives for generations. The United State’s extensive relationship with the Native Americans has its intricacies to say the least. With the arrival of English settlers at Jamestown in 1607, there were undoubtedly uncertainties amongst the Native people as to whether or not these settlers would resemble the Spanish settlers who
Merrell’s article proves the point that the lives of the Native Americans drastically changed just as the Europeans had. In order to survive, the Native Americans and Europeans had to work for the greater good. Throughout the article, these ideas are explained in more detail and uncover that the Indians were put into a new world just as the Europeans were, whether they wanted change or
Compare and Contrast the Native American Culture Introduction The Native Americans were the original owners of the United States of America. However, due to the population increase in Europe, the European migrated to America in seek of land for farming, settlement, and spread their religion (Desai, n.p). The two communities lived together and interacted with each other.
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.
This period was described as [one] whose Constitution is so perfect that no man suggests change and whose fundamental laws as they stand are satisfactory to all..” However, while both Native Americans and European immigrants theoretically experienced similar rights to those of citizens and were granted citizenship/naturalization in the early twentieth century, both groups lived in crude and unsatisfactory conditions in the 19th century; it would be inaccurate to describe their situation as “satisfactory” at all. During the 19th century, Native Americans lived unsatisfactory lives due to forced assimilation and the dissolution of their identities and sovereignty. At the beginning of the 19th century, Native Americans and Americans had gotten into a series of conflicts as a result of American migration to the west, the lands that the Native Americans
Native American culture was extremely complex and diverse before colonialism. Languages, customs, and spiritual beliefs varied greatly among tribes, and these aspects of each group's culture were closely linked to how they interacted with the natural world. The majority of tribes were small, close-knit groups that made their living primarily from hunting and gathering. Each tribe had a different social structure, political system, and interaction with other tribes. While others were more reclusive, some tribes engaged in trade with outsiders.
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.
Throughout the 19th century Native Americans were treated far less than respectful by the United States’ government. This was the time when the United States wanted to expand and grow rapidly as a land, and to achieve this goal, the Native Americans were “pushed” westward. It was a memorable and tricky time in the Natives’ history, and the US government made many treatments with the Native Americans, making big changes on the Indian nation. Native Americans wanted to live peacefully with the white men, but the result of treatments and agreements was not quite peaceful. This precedent of mistreatment of minorities began with Andrew Jackson’s indian removal policies to the tribes of Oklahoma (specifically the Cherokee indians) in 1829 because of the lack of respect given to the indians during the removal laws.
