HIS321 M3D2: Spanish and French Colonies

Follow ALL directions. There are 3 posts of 250 words each. Must use references and NO plagiarism. Must be complete by today in 6 hours or ASAP. The posts are as follows:

POST 1:

You Cut Me Deep

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“Few Europeans considered Native Americans their equals, because of differences in religion, agricultural practice, housing, dress, and other characteristics that—to Europeans—indicated Native American inferiority” (Holmes Pearson, n.d) Spanish interaction with Native Americans was mostly focused on their economic desire for increased valuables of gold, silver, and agriculture – the Spanish accomplished through enslavement similar to their Caribbean approach. The Spanish placed considerable more effort in converting Native Americans to Catholic religion through numerous missionary outposts and interaction. The Spanish also married Native American women at a higher rate than other Europeans creating a multicultural bond not seen with English and French.

The French took a transactional approach with the Native Americans along the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes region. Rather than enslaving or fighting with the tribes they created an economic relationship based on trade. The French established trading post where they exploited the Native Americans as middlemen, the Indians brought furs from beavers, wolves, bears and other animals and the French traded textiles, weapons, metal tools and other desired items to the Indians (Teaching History, n.d). This transactional relationship did offer opportunities for the French to minister Jesuit (Catholic) religion practices to the Indians having good success with the Huron tribes.

English interactions with Native Americans were broader and reflected differences based on timeframes, personalities and geography. There were some distinct similarities with how the English viewed and treated the Indians. The English had a more tenuous relationship with the Indians based on their constant desire for land, pushing the Indians from hunting, farming and traditional land. This created more lethal engagements with the Indians and fostered a miss trust that fueled Indians to resist the English more and more as time passed. King Phillips War is a great example of mistrust leading to violence and eroding of relationships (Tougias, 1997).

All the Europeans had difficult interactions with Indians and all took different approaches to finding avenues to exploit the Indians. The activities that resulted in the decisions made by the settlers and by the European masters resulted in deep cutting wounds in the European and Indian relationships. Lots of reasons for these wounds, but the most likely culprit in all of this are greed and lack of seeing the Indians as equals to the Europeans.

Holmes Pearson, E. Teaching History.org, home of the National History Education Clearinghouse. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2017, from http://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/25447

Tougias, M. (1997). King Philip's War in New England. Retrieved March 14, 2017, from http://www.historyplace.com/specials/writers/kingphilip.htm

POST 2:

Native American relations

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Spanish for the most part failed at establishing any permanent settlements unless you consider St Augustine in Florida which remained an empty outpost.  The Spanish sought riches all along the southern border of America and considered Natives as heathens that needed to be converted to Christianity.  Reich (2011) writes “The Native American tribes of California, who were nomadic, were herded into these missions in order that their souls could be saved and their labor exploited” (p. 27). 

English relations with the natives started out productive for trade and survival of the settlers.  The English started to colonize and continued to occupy more land which did not settle well with the natives.  Reich (2011) writes “The new chief, Opechancanough, was justifiably upset by the continued seizure of his people’s lands by the settlers” (p. 63).  These tensions transitioned into combative conflicts which the natives attacked the settlers.  This type of behavior would repeat itself throughout the early history of America.

French fisherman began trading with the natives for beaver pelts and had much better relations.  The natives would rather trade with the Dutch due to lower prices which was an issue for the French.  Reich (2011) writes “in 1665 a governor, an intendant, some settlers, and, most importantly, over a thousand soldiers, arrived in Quebec.  Within a few years these troops broke the Iroquois blockade of the fur trade, and peace and relative prosperity were enjoyed in New France” (p. 38).   

Reich, J. R. (2011). Colonial America (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Routledge.

POST 3:

Spanish & French

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     The Spanish colonists conquered almost all of Central and South America. However, other expeditions took place in Eastern North America during the 1520s. During their colonization period, the Spanish encountered many Native Americans’ communities living in remote lands. The major Spanish objective was to claim new lands to expand the Spanish Empire, find new treasures such as gold, and spread Catholicism among the inhabitants of the New World. Spanish used violence to seize their territories and destroyed most of their villages. As Spanish colonists interacted with Native Americans, colonists were expected to "Christianize and civilize them" (Reich, 2016). Spanish missionaries preached in their towns convincing them that "their soul could be saved" (Reich).  As Spanish expropriated their land, many Native Americans were used for their labor. Spanish taught them their language, methods of farming, raising domestic animals, and craftsmen's skills to improve Spanish colonies' economy. Some Native Americans converted to Catholicism while others resisted initiating warfare that ended in tragic deaths. Many war prisoners were forced into slavery while others were exploited and sold in different locations. The Spanish viewed Native Americans as savages and inferior individuals (Reich). Moreover, Spanish gave them diseases, took their land, freedom, and interrupted their way of life.

     France’s first interaction with Native Americans was different than the Spanish and English. The first French colonists that came to North America were fishermen who settled in Canada. As French began interacting with Native Americans, they became interested in fur and began trading relationships with them. They traded European goods for fur; however, their interaction was not as violent and tragic as the Spanish and English. By 1660, Canada became a royal colony and settlers began controlling the fur trade. French colonists were more interested in the fur market than controlling and interfering with Native Americans way of life. Contrary to Spanish and British colonists, the French settlers lived with them and learned from their costumes, adopting their way of life. The Jesuits tried to convert many Native Americans but did not succeed because most Native Americans were attached to their roots. Moreover, since the French concentrated on the trade market and their lands were unsuitable for cultivating crops, French colonists did not have the need to use Native Americans as slaves (Reich, 2016).

     British interaction with Native Americans ended in the destruction of their communities, culture, and way of life. It was the beginning of the end of their civilization. British colonists’ contact with Native Americans was similar to the Spanish because English settlers also intended to dominate them. When the first English colonists arrived in the New World and interacted with them, the British viewed them as savages and began violent warfare against them. Even though Native Americans helped many English colonists survive in the wilderness, the English continued taking their lands to start settlements. Deforestation, the extermination of their food supply, diseases, and continuous warfare contributed to the decline of the Native American population (Sletcher, 2005). Similar to Spanish, the English colonists desire to seize lands from Native Americans which provoked many wars between them. Consequently, a higher number of Indians died and others were captured for slavery. For example, during the tobacco boom in Virginia and Maryland, many Native Americans were used as slaves to work the land in deplorable conditions, while others were sold as slaves to slave companies. English colonists felt superior to them, so they exploited and starved Native Americans to the point where they died. The idea of Christianizing "savages" was also shared by many Puritan settlers of New England colonies. English colonists tried to convert Native Americans by civilizing and Christianizing them. However, many Native Americans refused to abandon their faith and their culture. As many settlers came to America and more colonies were born, Native Americans were forced to live on reservations (Sletcher, 2005). Overall, the arrival of Europeans in the New World challenged Native Americans' way of life. They were displaced from their lands, captured, and made slaves, forced to assimilate other cultures and beliefs, and moved to reservations. Native Americans' identity was lost, and Europeans gained control of the New World (Reich, 2016).

References:

Reich, J.R. (2016). Colonial America (6th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge

Sletcher, M. A. (2005). Native Americans, North America. In W. Kaufman, & H. S. Macpherson (Eds.), Britain and Americas: culture, politics, and history. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Retrieved from http://vlib.excelsior.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/abcbramrle/native_americans_north_america/0