The Europeans Negative Effects on our Ancestors History

From 1450 to 1750, it is no mystery why the indigenous people of the Americas
felt unjustly mistreated at the hands of the colonizing Europeans. The Natives history
began to evolve in whats similar to a sailboat in the ocean, lost in a rainstorm where the
natives - so utterly flustered by what was going on around them - represent the sailboat,
and likewise, the Europeans are representative of the overwhelming storm. Although the
foreign Europeans brought over beneficial innovations, consequently, they flooded the
Native Americans with their culture, religion, disease, and unique gender roles,
abandoning them in an ocean of doubt; the Native Americans had to alter their way of
living and leave behind their traditions. Although they dreamed of their previous ways
back at the shore, they were left amidst the rain in the isolation of the sea. Despite the
Europeans positive contributions, it stands true today that the new culture - including
Christianity and gender roles - and the introduction of diseases negatively affected the
native peoples of the Americas. We must stand up for our ancestors!
The atrocities brought on by the colonizing Europeans like Christianity and the
idea that women are inferior to their male counterparts has made us forget that our origin
in the New World began within Native American culture. The repercussions of the

Europeans Christian religion left women feeling compelled to convert to this new
restricting religion for the sake of the community. When the natives were alone on their
land, women had a communal work lifestyle and controlled many domestic and social
situations. When the foreigners from Europe came, the patriarchal culture transformed the
native society to mirror the one back in Europe. For the men, Christianity brought several
new roles in the community as well as newly formed independence, but as for the women
they received little advantage in Christianity and felt imposed on by unfamiliar and
unwelcome restrictions placed on them (Devens 475). Some women resisted the
modifications on their lifestyle but by doing so it brought social and religious tension
between the sexes. Others involuntarily converted, as it was a protective measure aimed
at preserving social and religious autonomy (Devens 469). By bringing over their
policies of social injustice, the fundamentals of previous societies - built on harmony and
equality - dispersed as humanity became corrupt at the hands of the Europeans. However,
as shown in history by eastern empires, it is possible that overtime the natives could have
transformed humanity in the same way, but the Europeans vastly decreased the time it
took to reach inequality; this, consequently, changed the course of our American history
for the worst. As the two genders divided, the boat that is the Native Americans had been
split in two and began to sink at the mercy of the Europeans. Thus, we Americans forgot
that the harmonious culture of the Natives before the Europeans is what we should be
resembling today.
Besides bringing gender inequality from the western world, the incoming
Europeans spread illness to the vulnerable Native Americans, nearly depleting our
ancestors. When coming into contact with Europeans, the indigenous people, who had no

prior exposure, drowned in the Europeans fatal diseases such as smallpox. Historians
have recorded that in a short period of time, in the hands of the Europeans, ninety-percent
of the Native American population had died by disease. We Americans have forgotten the
impact our ancestral founders had on us because their cultures had been lost, partially
due to colonization, but mainly to European disease (Rivera 25). The Great Dying nearly
exterminated all of the Natives, yet the Europeans continued to push forward and
persecute the remaining for the sake of gold, God, and glory. The Europeans had good
intentions for themselves and Eurasia; however, they ultimately destroyed previous
civilizations in order to become a dominant power in the world. The ruthlessness of the
Europeans in this manner led to such a tragic and immense loss of cultural identity that
today, history is seen in a Eurocentric point of view and not in the perspective of the
underdogs (Rivera 24). The Native Americans had a disadvantage when defending their
land because of the Great Dying brought by the colonizing Europeans; thus, the
Europeans were able to swoop in and take advantage of the vulnerable societies. We
should take a moment to remember our ancestors who defended our land before it was so
heartlessly taken under the control of the European monarchy.
It is agreeable that the colonizing Europeans modernized the New World with
brilliant innovations. However, it stands true that our ancestors culture and legacy has
been lost due to the Europeans dissonant values and the diseases that drowned the
Natives into near extinction. We must remember the impact our ancestors had on the
beginning of the New World so humanity does not continue to sink deeper in inequality
and dissonance.