Arrival Of The Europeans example essay topic

Every country possesses within itself a history as deep and rich as its cultures and traditions. The United States of America, for instance, was founded on the very principles of conquest and dominance, and for the most part, still holds true today. It would be fair to assume that although most people have a general knowledge of how this great country of ours came into existence; they do not comprehend the creation of it to the fullest of its nature. When Christopher Columbus set sail for India he inadvertently landed in America. Believing that he was in India he had mistakenly named the Native Americans "Indians". As the Europeans started arriving in the 16th and 17th century, they were met by the Native Americans with enthusiasm.

The Native Americans viewed Europeans with awe because of their different style of dress, beards, and winged ships. What was particularly interesting to them was the technology that the Europeans possessed which included "steel knives and swords, fire-belching arquebus and cannon, mirrors, hawkbills and earrings, copper and brass kettles, and so on". If our country today is indeed considered the "bully" of the world then the arrival of the Europeans served as a prelude of what was to come. This is because the Europeans had, instilled within them, a cultural arrogance that was coupled with their materialistic view.

Unlike the Indians they did not see nature as being something spiritual and enlightening. They viewed it simply as a commodity. "A forest was so many board feet of timber, a beaver colony so many pelts, a herd of buffalo so many robes and tongues. Even the Indians themselves were a resource - souls ripe for the Jesuit, Dominican, or Puritan plucking". The Indians however had beliefs in the spirit of the land and all things, and therefore the Indians have come to also believe that "money and power has taken over spiritualism for non-Indigenous peoples". Essentially, this is materialistically ignorant view of nature and the world is what started the great conquest of the Native Americans.

Europeans, being accustomed to the idea of ownership of land, would lay claim to these lands. They ignorantly assumed that the "Indians" had no real interest in this sort of land ownership because of their nomadic lifestyle. This caused the initiation of the "Indian Wars, the Indian Removal Act empowered by president Andrew Jackson in 1830 and other acts instituted by the Europeans in order to accomplish their objectives". The Indians were at a huge disadvantage because of the overwhelming number of Europeans whom had migrated. Although they were already greatly outnumbered their unwillingness to cooperate with other tribes proved to be an even more fatal mistake. Merely being outnumbered, however, was not their only problem.

The Europeans, upon arrival, brought diseases such as, chicken pox, small pox, and the measles with them. Being previously unexposed to such diseases the Native Americans were defenseless and were wiped out in grave numbers. The diseases that the Europeans brought with them complemented by the advanced technology that they possessed helped make the war a rather effortless victory. The battle at Wounded Knee, South Dakota in 1890 turned out to be the final defeat of the Indians by the Europeans.

In considering how much bloodshed and slaughter has occurred throughout the course of our history one has to wonder if the very essence of our history has been trivialized by the fact that we have built this great nation upon the principles of conquest and domination. We hunted and slaughtered another race until the brink of near extinction simply to further establish our supremacy within this world; simply because co-existence was incomprehensible to us. Because of this it is no surprise at all why we are viewed upon as the "bully" of the world. This history does not remain in the past either. The American way of life continues to effect the Indigenous peoples living among us. Forced to live on lands that have not been plentiful for them, they say that "without land, they cannot function as peoples".

They also have their caribou herd threatened by oil drills, a source they depend on. These oil drills and unnatural processes that are being introduced to their lands are also killing the trees and ruining the lands of the Amazon. To peoples to view everything as spiritually and live by the land, this is a disaster. Furthermore, their lack of land to work with, their caribou herd depleting, and their nature dying leaves them to starve now.

Their past, present and future is affected by what the non-Indigenous peoples are doing around them. Having started teaching the Indigenous children in Western ways also, even the heritage and culture of the Indians is threatened to disappear. This is stolen from their peoples all for economic gain of other peoples, and it is no wonder they abandon the celebration of Columbus Day. They say, "We will not celebrate what stole our land, massacred and kidnapped our peoples.".