The New World: A Clash of Cultures

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The New World: A Clash of Cultures.
It all started with the Scandinavians who discovered native peoples in North America around A.D. 1000. Short lived as their stay was, this would be the beginning of a very violent and dangerous path for the Native American people. Spain, France, and England would follow the Vikings lead nearly 500 years later and the clash of cultures began. America was appealing to these European nations because of the desire to expand their countries power, the natural resources this "new world" offered and for some, religious freedom. The Europeans brought with them livestock, plant life, disease, and often times an attitude of superiority to these "primitive" native peoples. All of the aforementioned would forever change the native peoples lives as well as their culture. This short assessment of the invasion of America by the Europeans will examine what these countries wanted from the Indians, how the different countries used the Indians to oppose other countries, and the tactics used to accomplish their goals.
In 1492, Spain's monarchy had liberated itself from Muslim reign and was eager to expand the kingdom. They employed Christopher Columbus and he went in search of new territory for the expansion of the kingdom. He set out for a second voyage in 1493; however, this voyage was different because he had plans of making claims of the land he "discovered" on his first journey (Calloway, 2012, p. 82). He brought many different species of animals and plant life as well as disease along with him. He had plans of making this land more like home, and these plans included civilizing the native peoples into the Spanish way of life.
Columbus described the Indians as simple, gentle, honest, generous, and good-looki...

... middle of paper ...

...unities coming together and sharing resources and ideals. I believe that the Native American Indians would paint a very different portrait.
In the final analysis, European nations wanted America. They wanted the land, the resources, the right to say that they tamed the "dirty and treacherous savages" turning them into civilized Christian people. Many of the nations that invaded America were seeking new land in which to escape their own dominating government only to exact the same ideology on the Indians. They simply changed their zip codes and not the ideas they were trying to escape. The Indians fought hard, but ultimately lost to the true savages who had the advantage of more advance weaponry as well as evil intentions.

References
Calloway, C. G. (2012). First peoples A documentary survey of American Indian history (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.

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