After reading Native Americans and the “Middle Ground,” I realized how narratives of historians are quick to shame and blame Native Americans in history. This article begins by revealing how European settlement presented the Indians as obstacles. Recent historians, such as Gary Nash, show the Native Americans as being conquered by the Europeans. Author of The Middle Ground, Richard White, seems to be one of the first to examine the culture of Native Americans and the relationship between colonists. White writes about the “middle ground” of the politics and trade that is eventually established.
Changes in Land Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England deeply examine several changes that occurred in the new land after invasion made by colonists. Thus, changes affected not only the people but also the environment. The shift of dominance from Indian dominance to European dominance stated in the book. Moreover, the effect of this dominance on the environment and culture of the original inhabitants and most of them coming from Indian origin is stated by Cronon. There were fundamental notable reorganizations in how things were generally done after an invasion by settlers.
Although many history classes have taught us that Native American societies were primitive, Charles Mann along with other historians argued that Native Americans did possessed a complexed history prior to Columbus, closer examination shows that they had large rich societies in, architecture, and agriculture. Mann believes the “Indian” population was larger, and their societies more accomplished, than was earlier believed. He estimates 40-60 million, but the count keeps rising. Another false belief was that the Indians lived on the land without touching it. In fact, they used "slash and burn" to clear and create grasslands for cultivation.
In the late 1600’s, many European settlers arrived in North America in hopes of escaping the hardships they faced back home. America initially promised colonists the wealth, religious freedom, and escape from oppression they desired. New England was home to dense forests, and hills which was not optimal for crop growth. Therefore, the colonists directed their attention towards trade and commerce. The people in this region were devoutly religious and believed in the education of children.
From colonial times until the end of the Indian Wars in 1890, the people in America went through a series of unfair and unfortunate events. Mainly for the Indians which are also called the first peoples. These events could have been handled with much more consideration for the Indians. There are many times when the Americans went too far including the Removal Act of 1830, the Reservation System, and the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians.
The Expansion West During the early age of the United States there was a push for more land. More and more new immigrants started coming over to America, which led to new opportunities for them and the fight for the land amongst everyone. The opportunity for people to start and create a better life for themselves, was the chance they took. Many Native Americans were forced to move and leave their homeland because of this.
1. Paleo-Indians Paleo-Indians are described as the initial Americans, those who set forth the preliminaries of Native American culture. They trekked in bands of around fifteen to fifty individuals, around definite hunting terrains, establishing traditional gender roles of hunter-gatherers. It is agreed that such Paleo-Indians began inhabiting America after the final Ice Age, and that by 1300 B.C.E. human communities had expanded to the point of residing in multiple parts of North America. As these early Native Americans spread out, their sites ranged anywhere from northern Canada to Monte Verde, Chile.
Before the Spanish ship that changed it all, which arrived in the “New World” in 1492, thriving organized communities of native people had centuries of history on the land. That ship, skippered by Christopher Columbus, altered the course of both Native American and European history. 1492 sparked the fire of cultural diffusion in the New World which profoundly impacted the Native American peoples and the European settlers. Prior to European contact, Native Americans lived as hunter-gatherers, living and traveling in groups of typically less than 300 people. These Native Americans spoke over 400 languages and practiced a myriad of different religions (The American Pageant).
One of the direst mistakes the United States has made is forcibly putting Native-Americans into reservations. Even after those excruciating painful years trying to adapt to a new culture, some of Native-Americans go through a lot of pain. Through all those years they have developed a type of bad habit or mental hardship such as alcoholism, PTSD, and even depression. Though they did have many more hardships during the Indian reservations, they were forced out of their own land, tried to erase their culture, killed them if they didn’t listen and many other terrible punishments. Native Americans still do not have their lands back and they have been ignored for many years, there has only been a small amount of support but it has not changed anything
Between 1870 and 1900, an estimated 25 million immigrants had made their way to the United States. This era, titled the Gilded Age, played an extremely important role in the shaping of American society. The United States saw great economic growth and social changes; however, as the name suggested, the Gilded Ages hid a profound number of problems. During this period of urbanization, the publicizing of wealth and prosperity hid the high rates of poverty, crime, and corruption. European immigrants who had come to the United States in search of jobs and new opportunities had fallen into poverty as well as poor working and living conditions.
The American Revolution lasted six years and the impacts of it were everlasting(Schultz, 2010). The effects were felt by every group of people in North America and many worldwide. Even though George Washington had all of his troops vaccinated against smallpox, the colonists were not so fortunate and as a results some estimates are that as many as one hundred and thirty thousand people died from this dreaded disease. This loss of life combined with the divisions among the colonies into those loyal to Britain and those who wanted freedom would forever change the way of life for the colonists.
Hardships of native Americans Have you ever thought of the hardships of native Americans? Well if you have you would know they are harsh and they had many hardships. On September 30, 1492 the first voyage sat place and this started the hardships of the native Americans. There are a lot of negative hardships in the Age of exploration.
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.
The Paleo Indian Era began over 10,000-15,000 years ago. Paleo Indians were believed to have migrated to the United States from Asia, via Beringia (mow the Bering Strait) These migrant settlers were believed to be hunter gathers’. Upon their settlement, these tribes, acquired different languages, beliefs and over a thousand years late; would being the process of plant cultivation, allowing for their culture to evolve over the years. The Paleo Indians carried an assortment of tools to allow for hunting, skinning, and preparation of their kills.
LOCATION: The Great Lakes civilization consists all of the area surrounding the Great lakes. This location is subject to all of the seasons such as winter summer fall and spring but the most noticeable are summer and winter. I chose this location for my civilization because it has one of the most important resources for human beings, that resource being fresh water. Another benefit that my civilization has other than fresh water is the way my civilizations people can use the lakes to hunt for food by fishing.
