The Impact of Colonialism on Southeartern Nations

This essay will analyze the major colonialism impact on the southeastern nations and the relations among them during the United States Hegemonic Period from 1820 to 1870. In doing so, we will discuss different forms of social change that were brought to the Indian societies as well as the cause of such changes. Mainly this paper will concentrate on three important aspects of colonial impact that contributed to major social changes that the southeastern nations experienced: geopolitical environment, markets, and American culture. We will illuminate the reader’s knowledge about U.S. hegemony in relation to the southeastern nations and how this external geopolitical force gave rise to forming the constitutional governments and national identities among these nations as a form of resistance. Secondly, trade between Europeans and Indians, which began with the arrival of the Europeans, will be examined. This, in part, incorporated Indians into the European market economy and brought changes to their subsistence economy. Lastly, this paper will study how hegemonic American cultural values infiltrated various aspects of Native societies and affected the cultural and institutional relations among the southeastern nations because the cultural exchange between Americans and Indians helps to explain why certain changes, such as the formation of class, constitutional governments and capitalism, were integrated in Native societies, in which Indians were traditionally very resistant to change. Since these various colonial impacts, on its own, fail to explain differing patterns of political, economic, and cultural change among the southeastern nations, it is imperative to examine the combination of colonial relations in order to understand the im...

... middle of paper ...

...ies when these ceremonies proved to be less effective than the European medicines demonstrate that some of these institutional and cultural changes stem from within the Native communities (Walker and Hudson 1993:41). In addition, the colonialism arguments are insufficient to explain the collective choices and behaviors of the entire Indian population because only small portion the Indian population participated in advocating new forms of government and the constitution to protect their interests as the planters. One can suggest an alternative argument, which would breach both internal and external motivations behind the changes that took place in many Native societies. In other words, it is just as important to examine the patterns of conservatism or motives of some Native Americans who actively accepted the American and European values or resisted the changes.