Europeans and the Native Americans

For the Unit 2 Discussion, you need to re-read: Columbus’s Probanzo de merito of 1493 and Bartolome de Las Casas on the Mistreatment of Indians (for discussion).pdf (clicking this link will allow you to download a PDF of this file to your computer) Also be sure you read the following from the unit content: Primary Source: A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (excerpt) Native Americans Discover Europeans (The Gentleman of Elvas) (primary source) How the Winnebago First Came into Contact with the French and the Origin of the Decora Family (primary source) After you have finished reading, consider this question: Was conflict between the Europeans and the Native Americans inevitable? Could it have been avoided? you will take the position that the conflict was not inevitable – that it could have been avoided. Use brief quotations from the readings to support your position. In your response, find a classmate’s initial post that held the same position as your post – someone who argued the same side that you had argued in your post. Start your response with something like, “But did you consider” and give one reason why your classmate’s stance may be wrong. Use brief quotations from the readings to support your position. Make sure you are using a friendly, conversational tone – not a rude “You are wrong!” tone in your response. Another students post below: The conflicts between the Europeans and the Native Americans were not inevitable. When exploring each group, you can automatically infer that the Europeans and Native Americans had very diverse lifestyles. During this period, the Europeans were founded from wealthy, experienced kingships. They had a rigorous autocratic way of life. Europeans took a great emphasis on exploring treasure and land. Many conquistadors from this time were shooting for three things: to spread Christianity, to find gold/riches, and to gain the glory of doing so. One could say this way of life created many cut-throat people. On the other hand, the Native Americans were very inexperienced, relatively compared to the Europeans. They lived off of the land and used hunting techniques, farming, and handwork for their daily tasks. The Native Americans were made up of many different tribes, each tribe being slightly different from the other. These differences lead to many conflicts between the two groups. For example, the indigenous were very naive to most of all European ways. The Europeans also had skilled weaponry and experience. As a result, they become seemingly superior. The article states, “They have no iron, nor steel, nor weapons, nor are they fit for them because although they are well-made men of commanding stature, they appear extraordinarily timid.” (Columbus). The discovery of the “New World” by the Europeans was life-alerting for the natives. The Native Americans had never seen anyone or anything like the Europeans ever before, which led to them being very apprehensive. Due to that, the newcomers took a stern approach towards the timid natives. This arose in conflict as the Europeans seemed to overpower. Moreover, the Europeans’ overpowering led to the Natives being poorly treated and soon thrown into labor while being pushed out of their homeland. As said in the document, “At every opportunity, they resisted enslavement, and their resistance was met with violence. Indeed, physical, mental, and sexual violence formed a key strategy among European slaveholders in their effort to assert mastery and impose their will.” (Bartolome) The Europeans did not respect the indigenous and looked at them as a way of labor. They came onto the native’s land and began to run them over. The disagreements between them could have been avoided if the Europeans had taken a more debatable and understanding approach to the Natives. Taking a negotiable approach would have established reliable communication between the two groups and allowed them to connect. This would have abolished many, if not all, conflicts. Common human decency would have played a tremendous role in breaking away from the conflicts. Columbus, Christopher. “Chapter 2: Early Globalization: The Atlantic World, 1492-1650. Columbus’s de merito of 1493.” Open Stax: US History. Rice University, 2017 https://go.view.usg.edu/d2l/common/dialogs/quickLink/quickLink.d2l?ou=2034887&type=coursefile&fileId=Unit+2%2fColumbus%e2%80%99s+Probanzo+de+merito+of+1493+and+Bartolome+de+Las+Casas+on+the+Mistreatment+of+Indians+(for+discussion).pdf Bartolomé de la Casas. “Chapter 2: Early Globalization: The Atlantic World, 1492-1650. Bartolomé de Las Casas on the Mistreatment of Indians.” Open Stax: US History. Rice University, 2017. https://go.view.usg.edu/d2l/common/dialogs/quickLink/quickLink.d2l?ou=2034887&type=coursefile&fileId=Unit+2%2fColumbus%e2%80%99s+Probanzo+de+merito+of+1493+and+Bartolome+de+Las+Casas+on+the+Mistreatment+of+Indians+(for+discussion).pdf less