European Influence On Native Americans

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Various European nations sailed to the New World almost certainly not knowing what to expect or what they may encounter but they all had one common motive in mind. Increasing their power. Discovering new lands and its resources were positives for them and the rest of the known world. For the European nations the New World would bring power and riches and change the world. But for the numerous Native American tribes that interacted with these settlers it turned into a very negative experience for them that completely changed their lives and the world as they knew it. For the Native Americans these interactions would bring enslavement, influence, adaptation, death and survival. The Europeans had advanced weapons. Pair that with …show more content…

Better tools to farm with. And whiskey. Native Americans were not stupid. They just thought that they were getting great deals and they wanted more. They just had no idea that the Europeans were setting them up to steal the land and its resources that they coveted from the start. And surely they didn’t know about the diseases the Europeans would bring over. They had no idea what was later in store for them. Spain was the first nation to settle and probably the most powerful. They were far from kind to the Natives. Under their rule there were horrendous consequences for the Natives. The Natives were used and abused by them. The Spanish came to the New World wanting more power, land, and resources. They enslaved and forced the Native Americans into labor to work on their plantations. Natives were forced to work on what they called haciendas that provided food for the Spanish colony. In the Missions that were built to convert Natives to Christianity, missionaries worked and treated them as slaves. Native Americans did learn how to read and write in these missions as well as get introduced to more food, and even developed some skills from the missionaries. Spain also reintroduced the New World to the horse. But none of this was worth …show more content…

Many Native Americans died from the diseases that came over that they were not immune to. The French wanted fur. Fur brought in big money. Rather than enslave the Natives they wanted to build a relationship with them to export and build upon their riches. The French even married into tribes. The Natives welcomed them and helped them survive, shared with them food and supplies and even taught them to plant crops. The Natives even fought for them. The French traders had a huge impact. The Natives traded for goods that made life easier for them but in doing so they lost touch in their culture and way of life. They started to rely on these thing that that never had to begin with. Their lives had completely changed. The Dutch wanted very little to do with the Natives. They were not interested in converting them from their religion and they could have cared less about their culture. It was all about trade and money. The English weren’t as cruel as Spain but they weren’t as nice as their rival, France either. The Natives had a few run ins with the English over land and other issues and even teamed up with France to go against them. but like France the English did marry some natives and they had a trading relationship with

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