European Colonization Of The Americas

labor. Eventually, this had lead to Spain’s failure and resulted in a time of "rapid inflation

There were initially two to ten million natives in the United States prior to European contact. Those numbers dwindled down drastically in the years that Europeans came and started colonizing. The Europeans came to explore the New World in search of land, spices, gold, God and glory. Among these colonists were the Spanish and they colonized most of the southwest of the United States. Evidence of their settlements can still be seen today in the missions scattered across the land. These missions were started with the purpose of converting the Native Americans to Christianity. Now, imagine living your entire life with a particular set of beliefs, based on your ancestors and culture, and a group of foreigners come and proclaim that your views are all wrong and that you must follow their beliefs for the salvation of your soul. This is exactly what the Spanish did to the Natives. The relationship between the two parties were strained and rife with tension due to the conversion of the natives and the constant abuse doled out by the Spanish. This subsequently led to the disintegration of native life and culture.

As the Europeans began settling in the Americas, thus began “the exchange of plant and animal species that have ultimately been a widespread benefit to the peoples throughout the globe” (Document 3). The Europeans brought many elements of their own culture, including their native plants and animals. They then introduced these things to the natives of the Americas and also adopted the natives culture into their own. The Europeans introduced different types of skills and jobs. In turn, “the Indian natives have successfully learned all the Spanish trades” (Document 1).

Upon the European’s discovery and colonization of the Americas an irreversible transformation was triggered. The extreme differences in the cultures of the Europeans and Native Americans would prove to be fatal to the way of life that existed before European colonization.

1). The Nations of Europe sought to expand their empire because they were on the verge of overpopulation.Between 1550 and 1600 the population grew from three million to four million people. Also, England and Spain were at a war for power. The Spanish attempts at colonizing the New World had been extremely successful, for they had gained both wealth and power. The English did not see such success, as their ships would crash, be lost to the seas, or their colonization efforts would cease to be useful. Through the Spaniards control over the Americas they had gained a massive naval army, noted as the Spanish Armada. The Spanish attempt to invade England in 1588 failed which lead to the beginning of the fall of the Spanish empire in the New World.

When the Europeans arrived in the Americas they were looking for riches, spices, and new trade routes to India. When they found this new world and the Native Americans that lived there, they deliberately mistreated them. Looked at as obstructions, the Natives were driven from their land and homes and pushed west. Europeans that encountered the Native Americans had different ideas about them depending on their political and religious beliefs but none were positive. Those ideas ranged from pity for them as non-Christians to be converted (Doc. A2) and treated as children to a lower status of human to be taken advantage of for profits. The Natives were forced to mine precious metals, and farm sugar cane and tobacco. They were not viewed or treated as equal persons. They were considered part of the wild land to be conquered, enslaved, killed, and beaten into cooperation.

1. What fundamental factors drew the Europeans to the exploration, conquest, and colonization of the New World? What was the impact on the Indians, Europeans, and Africans when each of their previously separate worlds “collided” with one another? What caused the shift from indentured servant to African slaves as the dominant labor force in the southern colonies?

In the 16th and 17th century, the Americas was being explored by Spain, Britain, and other countries. Many of these countries set up colonies in the Americas where Native Americans were living. Europeans moved into colonization of the Americas and brought changes to the land and its people. Europeans traded, hunted to warfare and personal property. As Europeans established their colonies, their societies also became segmented and divided along religious and racial lines. Most people in the societies were not free. They labored long hours as servants or slaves to produce wealth for others. As more Europeans came to settle the land in the Americas, their presence had a tremendous effect on the native peoples who were living in the Americas. The Native peoples’ life in the Americas provided lots for the Europeans to use. They traded cattle, chickens, horses, pigs, sheep, sugarcane, and wheat, for chocolate, pineapple, potatoes, pumpkins/squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco. The diets of the Natives and Europeans widened as different food types was being traded. The Natives were very open to the Europeans as they came into their land and communicated with the Natives. Over time, the landscape changed as more European communities increased. The Europeans held on to their idea of land ownership while the Natives idea of the land was for the person that need it. Also, the Europeans hoped to change the Natives to Christianity but also trick them into being slaves for the

The discovery and colonization of the “New World” was one of the most significant and influential events in the known history of mankind. It has shaped our present by changing the course of our past and is a time of such great significance that it would be all but impossible to understand today without at least some comprehension of the why 's of yesterday. What was it that drove such a myriad of people to risk so much to tame the wild and vast lands we now know as and call the Americas. What were the reasons, motivations, causes, events, and possibilities that captured the minds and hearts of so many different peoples from such divers backgrounds? What led them to leave their friends, families, and

European colonization of the New World began during the European age of exploration and following the discovery of resources in the New World. The various motives of the Spanish, British, and French imperialists were reflected in the political, economic, and social changes that occurred in the areas each government claimed. These changes are very distinctive and led to drastic changes in their respective areas.

Great observation, the relationship between the French and Native American of the early colonization were very successful. Therefore, both sides needed each other in order to exchange their goods in order for survival. At first, the Native Americans were receptive to the French building their colonies because they viewed the French as partners and they would protect them against other Native Americans. As we learned in the text, “that the support to the Huron tribes in their efforts against the confederated tribes of the Mohawks and Iroquois (Reich, 2011, p. 37). However, the French tried to impose their culture onto the Native Americans by trying to convert them to Christianity. In fact, the Indians were not too keen on this idea and as

Throughout history there has been a constant conflict between viewing the interactions of the Europeans and Native Americans as a moral question rather than historically. Many people view this topic as something that is very controversial due to the history between the two groups. The fact that the Europeans practically re-wrote history by arriving in North America is something that should be undisputed when mentioned as a historical matter, instead of the spreading of diseases being viewed as a moral matter. The Europeans coming in contact with Native Americans brought many changes to both Europe and North America that would have never happened if they did not set sail for North America. These changes include the spread of agriculture in both North America and Europe, new trade routes in both North America and Europe, and the spread of Christianity to the Native Americans. Although the treatment of the Native Americans by

long before the Europeans arrived the first nations people had been active traders and had well established trading patterns and alliances through north America.

This chapter, “Europeans Colonize North America, 1600 – 1650,” explores the social, political and economic reasons which prompted European countries to invade and colonize North America. These European groups included the Spanish, French, Dutch and English. England however hoped to recreate and improve the society they had left behind. They all had different reasons for exploring the Americas. Nevertheless, Europeans possessed and benefitted a little until they adapted and established successful relations with Native Americans and with each other.

The founding of the New World fascinated many Europeans because of the possibilities of the economic, political, and social growth. Europeans packed their belongings and boarded the boat to new beginnings. Arriving in the Americas was not what they had expected. Already pre-occupied in the land, were the Native Americans. The Native Americans refused the Europeans colonization in the America’s, but not all colonies in the Europe just wanted to colonize with the Natives. The intentions of the Europeans colonies were all different, as the Dutch solely came for business transactions. The Dutch business transactions resulted in the change of economic, political, and social movements, changing the lives of the Native’s.