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The American Colonial History

Following the discovery of the New World in the 1600s, European settlers' migration led

to an interaction of two different cultures, the European and the Indian cultures. The European

settlers considered their culture supreme to the Indian American societies. As a result, both

European settlers and the Indian Americans portrayed varying perceptions of each other's way of

life. These differences and similarities are strongly embedded in their social, economic, and

political beliefs. Most importantly, they strongly influenced the ideologies used to support the

eventual hostility between the two groups. It is thus important to make comparisons and

contrasts between the views of the two in order to better apprehend the history of colonial

America.

The European settlers, as well as the Native Americans, had varying views regarding the

use of land. Upon the entry of the Europeans into North America, they did not find any form of

land boundaries to conform to ownership. As a result, they viewed the New Land as free for

grabs, including the already present game life (Lombard and Richard). Besides, they used their

Christianity beliefs to support the claim that the newly discovered land was their divine right. As

a result, the Europeans divided the lands among themselves and set boundaries via fencing

techniques.

In addition, they disregarded the presence of the Native Americans and exploited the

land for varying resources. On the other hand, the Native Americans viewed the land as divine,
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whose resources were never to be privately owned. Despite both groups using the land for

economic purposes, the Native Americans respected it and preserved its resources (Lombard and

Richard). Certainly, the lack of respect for the newly discovered North American land and the

issue of private ownership led to bloodshed between the European settlers and the Native

Americans.

Next, the European settlers and the Native Americans differed on the issue of gender

differences. The views of the European settlers were highly impacted by Christianity's teachings

on gender differences. On its own, Christianity religion promotes the supremacy of men over

women (Paul). As a result, European women played strictly reduced roles within the settlers'

societies in contrast to their male counterparts. Therefore, the notion of women as domestic

keepers was promoted to the Native Americans upon interaction. The strong patriarch system of

the Europeans forcefully tried to cement the authority of the men via force, leading to animosity

with the Native Americans.

On the other hand, the Native American culture promoted equality between both men

together with women. According to the Native American creation beliefs, women were valued as

they served the divine role of giving life in two ways (Paul). First, women could give life by

giving birth. Second, they had the ability to produce life by creating earth which produced both

plants as well as animals. Therefore, women played a central role in the well-being of their

societies. Unlike in the European settlers' communities, the women in the Native American

communities had equal rights to engage in economic activities such as farming and even in

political activities like holding leadership roles.

Subsequently, the European settlers and the Native Americans held varying religious

beliefs. Despite both groups sharing the common perception of the belief in a higher and divine
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authority, the two had varying religious ideologies. The European settlers believed in the

existence of a single divine power, unlike the Indian Americans, who believed in the existence of

several divine powers (Lombard and Richard). As a result, the Europeans viewed the Indian

Americans' religion as primitive and hence sort to convert them to Christianity religion. These

missions of spreading Christianity to the Native Americans were carried out via peaceful means

but mostly through violent ways.

Furthermore, the European settlers and the Native Americans had varying social

ideologies. The European social system promoted individual accomplishments together with

economic independence (Paul). On the contrary, the Native American social system promoted

the need to share communal accomplishments. Therefore, they viewed the Europeans as selfish

and less humble people whose interests emerged from personal needs in society. Meanwhile, the

European settlers ridiculed the Native Americans as unorganized and uncivilized. As a result, the

existence of greater social beliefs and diversity led to increasing hatred and animosity.

In addition, the European settlers made several attempts to eradicate the social beliefs of

the Native Americans. To the European settlers, the Native Americans had savage social beliefs

and, thus, were less intelligent (Lombard and Richard). They thus facilitated the establishment of

their social beliefs in regard to clothing, religion, and even lifestyle practices. These practices led

to a great stereotyping of the Native Americans' common way of life, and thus responded

violently. Indeed, the hatred between the two groups led to different consequences in American

colonial history.

Certainly, the European settlers and the Native Americans had varying views on social,

economic, and political matters during their interactions. On most occasions, the differences led

to the emergence of violence, which greatly affected the manner in which the two groups
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interacted. The European settlers undermined the cultural, social, and political ideologies held by

the Native Americans. Therefore, they saw them as primitive people who were less intellectual

and thus did not have the right to remain independent. On the other hand, the Native Americans

saw them as greedy and invasive people who had a mission of stealing their freedom and natural

resources.
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Works Cited

Lombard, Anne, and Richard Middleton. Colonial America: A History to 1763. John Wiley &

Sons, 2011.

Paul, Daniel N. We Were Not the Savages, First Nations History: Collision Between European

and Native American Civilizations. Fernwood publishing, 2022.