The Relations Between Native Americans and Colonists Essay

Grade school and even beginning level college history classes have taught early American exploration from a largely one sided view of the conflict between early explorers and Native Americans. The traditional image of the Native Americans as the sole victims, is an oversimplification of the conflict that existed between early explorers, settlers and Native Americans. Through the readings from Columbus, Bradford and some selected Native American writings, the traditional view of the Native American victim will be challenged and a broader view of the conflict will be presented.

After the American Revolution, the Native Americans and the American hostile relationship begun to decrease little by little, but after the war of 1812 their relations begun to deteriorate. After the war of 1812, a lot of white Americans begun to move to new US lands in the west where a great number of Native American tribes including the Cherokee. This created hostility between the Cherokee tribe because white Americans are moving into their lands that was given to them by a treaty. The Cherokee people did not want to give up any lands because that is their home and where the want to live. Since Cherokee people did not want to give up, the US government passed the Indian Removal act that made the president trade lands West of the Mississippi

The Native Americans believed that their land was sovereign, thus not subjected to the United States laws. When Andrew Jackson became president, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This allowed President Jackson to negotiate treaties with the Native Americans for their land. In the article, “Indian Treaties and the Removal Act of 1830”, the author states, “ The Act established a process whereby the president could grant land west of the Mississippi River to Indian tribes that agreed to give up their home lands. As incentives, the law allowed the Indians financial and material assistance to travel to their new locations and start new lives…” Andrew Jackson didn’t negotiate treaties; he bullied tribes into signing them. The tribes who signed a treaty got to their new land by walking on what is now called the Trail of Tears. In the PBS article “Indian Removal” the author stated, “[The Cherokee] were not allowed time to gather their belongings, and as they left, whites looted their homes… 4,000 Cherokee people died of cold, hunger and disease on their way to the western land.” When the Indians were forcefully moved, they couldn’t find food on their new, unfamiliar

Many historians speculate that about 20,000 years ago Paleo-Indians migrated to America. How they made the journey is highly speculated as well. Some believe it was by a land bridge between Asia and Northern America while others believed the Paleo-Indians to have migrated via boat. However, how they arrived is not what matters, but what is important is that the Paleo-Indians made it to the Americas where they began establishing their own civilizations. Around 1492, however, countries like Spain, Britain, and France began exploring for new lands to “colonize”. The lands they discovered were already inhabited by Indians, who are portrayed as the bad guy more times than not. Yet, one could argue that they are the opposite of that. Yes, colonists and Indians shared their differences, but if it were not for the Indians many of the colonists and colonizations would have never survived.

There were four main reasons why the Native Americans and the British colonists could not live harmoniously. First, the English colonists could not help themselves when it came to encroaching on the Indian’s land. Next, vast differences in cultures lead to problematic disagreements. Then, differences in worship and religion created misunderstanding between the two groups. Finally, the most significant reason was alliances made between the colonies. These alliances formed one common enemy as the colonists no longer feuded with one another because England was becoming the dominating force of the New World. Wars and rebellions followed, eventually pushing the Native Americans farther inland toward the

In New England the relationship between the colonists and the Indians was precarious. The mentality of both parties seemed to be an eye for an eye. However rhe early encounters between the groups were peaceful. They established trade, and exchanged knowledge. As the colonists began to rely on the Indians as trade partners the Indians struggled to accommodate them. As the Indian’s trading items began to diminish, the colonists of New England turned their attention to land. The land hungry thirst of the colonists led to confrontations with the Indians. The Indians began to retaliate by uniting the nearby tribes (James Axtell, Colonial America Without the Indians).

When white settlers attempted to come to a new land in hopes of a new life, co-existing with Native Americans, they were met with much hostility.

During the colonial period, American Indians disliked the Europeans and were often taken advantage of by them. The Europeans thought that the Native Americans were either savages or were helpful but undeveloped. This mutual dislike between the two groups did not happen when they first met however. How the two groups interacted when they first came into contact with one another fueled their rivalry and caused cultural aggression. When the Europeans began to colonize America, American Indians fell victim to unprovoked aggression, unappreciated assistance, and forced assimilation which caused animosity towards European colonists.

Ever since coming to North America, the colonists and early Americans have pushed away Native Americans. Natives were not only thrown into an unknown land, but were also killed in large numbers while changing their culture trying to fit in. The United States was nothing but rude to these people who owned the land centuries before the first Englishman ever stepped foot in America. The United States destroyed these societies to shreds without ever really giving them a good chance to live among the Americans. I believe the United States should have treated these Native Americans better instead of almost completely demolishing millions of innocent people trying to adapt to these new ways of life.

The relationship between the settlers and the native americans in the United States had always been a tense one. However, by 1791 the Cherokee of Georgia and North Carolina had accepted the colonists and their way of life and had become more like them. The settlers, on the other hand, resented the Cherokee’s prosperity and wanted the gold on their land.With the Indian Removal Act in 1830 the U.S. government forced the Cherokee off of their land and resettled them in indian territory in what is now Oklahoma.

For the better part of American history, the Indians have been viewed and portrayed as dimwitted, helpless victims that aimlessly stood by while the Europeans conquered their land, but this view has recently come under fire and has been overturned, as it was determined to be misleading and inaccurate. Two historians that have questioned the legitimacy of past beliefs regarding the Indians are Charles Mann and James Axtell. Each has made it plainly clear in their articles that the actions of Indians should no longer be treated as useless footnotes on the pages of history. While their articles are on seemingly different subjects, their views and beliefs on the importance of Indians in American history are incontrovertibly the same as both

In the early nineteenth century, as European empires and the fledgling United States jockeyed for position in the West, true power was still in the hands of Native peoples. They far outnumbered whites and controlled resources and routes of movement. Like the outsiders, Native Americans too were in rivalry with each other. This contested arena became even more unsettled as the US government removed most eastern Native groups beyond the Mississippi River.

Long before Europeans landed on the east coast of the American continent, native peoples were living and thriving across the land. This is historical fact that is taught in schools across the country. However, much of the rest of Native American history that we are exposed to in schools really does not reflect truth. While the broad lessons capture parts of the story, the reality is that much of the history is distorted and paints an inaccurate picture of the tribes and how they were treated by settlers. As the Europeans pressed westward across the Appalachians and into the Ohio valley, conflicts arose and continued as populations levels grew. Many times the Native Americans were portrayed as the aggressors as cultures clashed in the Plains. Obviously, we cannot absolve the tribes of wrong doing and aggressive behavior. However, upon closer inspection, the many times that the U.S. Government dealt with the Indians, they did from a position of dishonesty and force. These trends are especially noticeable in the post 1850 historical period and it is this period that cemented the foundation of distrust and anger felt by many tribes. A long tradition of the U.S. Government ignoring its own promises made to the Native American peoples can be easily uncovered with even the most basic research. These trends continue in 2016 with the deployment of the Dakota Access Pipeline, a 30-inch conduit designed to move light, sweet crude oil from the Dakota Bakken region to a distribution

During the early to mid 1800 's the U.S. was deeply entrenched in a debate over the Native Americans living in Georgia. The somewhat newly formed United States had been pushing westward since its inception and continually ran into Native Americans already occupying the territory. Georgia along with other states had passed a series of treaties with the Natives to decide these land disputes but conflict still arouse. Many settles pushed for the federal government to make a final decision and remove the natives from these lands which sparked the debate about the natives. The debate came down to two sides those believe it was a matter of human rights and those who believed it was about economics.

Ever since Christopher Columbus discovered the Western hemisphere, more and more explorations were set out to discover more about this new land. Eventually, settlements were created and people took this as an opportunity to create a new life; however, there had already been people living in these lands, known as Native Americans. The relationship between the settlers and these people was not always peaceful. Conflicts were created over territories and power that sometimes lead out to blood shed wars, but it did not always have to lead to that. In the mid 1600s, an explorer, Adam, and a Native American, Chayton, will soon learn that.