The Native's Reaction to the Invasion of America
In 1492, A great man with an idea to discover India through a different passage was given the permission by the Queen to make his idea a reality. Although this tale of adventure and action seems pleasing to the ears, it is a total fabrication on the original story. The real story was based off of desperation of the Queen and a bloody massacre of native Americans. We all know the story of how the Europeans "discovered" the land of Indians, but little do you know about the hardships and struggles the Native Americans themselves faced during the occupation.
James Axtell's Book, Beyond 1492 Encounters in Colonial North America, describes in detail the life the Native American's went through
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Although, this was not the case. When the Europeans heard of the Americas and the Natives, the picture was painted in their head that they were savages and need their help to become more civilized. The so called "First Encounter" Europeans historians wrote about the Indians was later situation, long after the first encounter they had. Historian's depicted them as savage beings who willing killed European explorers for "no reason at all." Although the weapons used to attack the European's, such as arrows, were materials traded from the Europeans (James 104). It was only after European sailors took the Natives hostage and sold them as slaves in Spain. Not only that but, the invasion of their land by stealing their homes for settlement lead the Natives to fight back for what was theirs (James 105). This fight for land was brutal, but besides the European's having an upper hand in war. They also won the war through diseases. James Axtell's writes about the Europeans bring disease on their voyages. Illness such as smallpox, diphtheria, and influenza wiped out most the Native population because of the lack of defense the Native's had to these new diseases. It was also common in the native culture that the sick would stay close, in crowds, to comfort one another, which caused the spread of disease to increase (105).