Death was rampant at this time. Diseases such as smallpox, measles, malaria, influenza, and yellow fever were transferred from the old wold to The Europeans had been exposed to these sicknesses before and had different cures and ways of fighting it. But when the Indians caught wind of these illnesses they were devastated by the effects. There tribes were very susceptible, through the air and through touch. They were a more isolated human, so when the Europeans came and took over there immune systems were not at all prepared to face and fight back al;l the diseases that came there way.
Literarily from 1492, Native Indians began to die in big numbers, either from war, enslavement, brutal mistreatment despair, or disease. While the Europeans have a more structured language and written literature, Native Americans spoke a wide range of languages which belongs to entirely different linguistic families (e.g., Athacaspan, Uto-Aztecan, Chinookan, Siouan, and Algonquian) and structured the societies in a very diverse form. By contrast to the Europeans, the Great Basin of the West, the Utes living in small, loosely organized bands are subsistence by hunting and gathering, while the inactive Pueblo peoples of the south west and the Iroquoians of the Northeast had highly developed agricultural economies and complex modes of political organizations. They also held diverse religious and mythological beliefs. It has been documented that among North American people alone, eight different types of creation stories existed and most of them quite different from Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Some Native communities became dependent of trade and began to live near European settlements, and their resettlement made them expose to the epidemics which killed many Aboriginal people who had no natural immunity. Moreover, alliances between Aboriginal people and Europeans often led to economic competition and sometimes caused wars. (e.g., Iroquois fought against Huron people to displace them in the trade with French). In addition, the custom of trading brandy for furs was a destructive aspect. Alcohol abuse contributed to violence in Aboriginal communities, to society disharmony and to the deterioration of an originally healthy Aboriginal population.
“La Relacion” and “Of Plymouth Plantation” describe the first encounters between the Native Americans and the Europeans from the Spaniard and English point of view. Many of the similarities these two narratives share include that in both stories when the Europeans steal food from the Indians they use the term “bring away.” This makes it seem like if they had borrowed it or like if God had given it to them. However, if Indians did the same, it would be considered as stealing. One of the few examples include when in “Of Plymouth Plantation” the Europeans find the Indian huts: “...the people were run away and could not be seen. Also there was found more of their corn and of their beans of various colors; the corn and beans they [the English] brought away, purposing to give them [the Indians] full satisfaction when they should meet with any of them…And here is to be noted a special providence from God…”.In both stories, the Indians make the first move towards peace and offer food.
However, the Indians were not the only people affected by these new-come epidemics. The Europeans suffered greatly from Syphilis. Syphilis, being a sexually transmitted disease, had the ability to hang on long after death. Simply put, syphilis did not go away. Even though the diseases such as small pox, syphilis, measles, malaria, influenza, yellow fever, and polio were contracted thru the human population, some animals had their share in the demise also.
The language barrier created confusion and conflict for the Europeans and Native Americans in 1492 when these two groups met for the first time. Neither group of people was familiar with the other group, nor were they able to speak or understand the language of the other group. Almost immediately, this created uncertainty and distrust between the Indians and the Europeans. Even though the Native Americans wanted to be allies, the Europeans felt the Native Americans to be inferior and naïve. Therefore, the Europeans decided to make the Native Americans slaves in order to create a cheap labor force.
In 1838, the US army forced the Cherokees from their homelands in the Trail of Tears into Indian Territory. As people moved west and Western Movement pushed on, more and more Indians were removed and eventually they were nearly annihilated from America. Western Movement is often given the stereotype by Americans as a glorious expansion of our brilliant country into the lands of the setting sun. But, this vision is not true. American expansion caused more harm than good.
He is viewed upon as a hero by Americans for these reasons, and has even received a day dedicated to him. He is also credited for beginning the colonization of America, which he indisputably deserves recognition for. However, when one looks into colonization more, he or she can realize that it was not that good of an era due to the problems faced against the Native Americans, which will be mentioned later. When Columbus arrived in the west, he brought many items from the east that introduced a negative side of cultural diffusion. These "new" items provided a "culture shock" to the natives and many did not know how to deal with the changes.
In colonial times, the earliest interactions between the Native Americans and the European settlers lead to different relationships between the two groups. But more often than not, the relationship wound up being negative, especially for the Native Americans. Two areas with negative relationships were the American southwest, controlled by the Spanish, and the Chesapeake Bay area, controlled by the English. In the southwest, as the settlers came into contact with the Native Americans, they became convinced that their every aspect was superior to the Native Americans. The main reason the Spaniards even bothered to interact with the Native Americans was to achieve their main goal in America, to find gold and other valuables.
Westward expansion brought about negative change in America. From economic troubles to harsh stereotypes, expansion has brought more harm than good. Expansion began with the unfair treatment of Native Americans in the 1800s, and lead to economic hardships such as the contamination of groundwater as a result of hydraulic fracturing. Westward Expansion affected the Native Americans’ freedom, safety, and their economy. This is important because although new settlers were gifted with new land and resources, Westward Expansion resulted in controversial disagreements and even more hardships.