Colonists and Native Americans in America
Essay Question: What were the Europeans (explorers, conquerors, and/or settlers) and Native Americans like just before contact and what were their encounters like, as the Europeans struggled to establish themselves?
Europeans and Native Americans both had very distinct lifestyles and each viewed one another differently due to the encounters they experienced together during the era that Spain, France, and England were establishing themselves in America. These three European countries were each looking for solutions to their individual problems and each country treated the Native Americans differently for their own personal gain, which ultimately determined whether they treated the Native Americans good or bad. Both the Europeans and the Native Americans had much to offer each other in those harsh times. Europeans, mainly the Spanish, French, and English, as I pointed out earlier, were more into their own matters before America was discovered. In the 1400's, Spain began to explore the seas in search of the Asian trade routes (“The Silk Road” was one popular route) in order to find the wealth they needed to be superior to one another. Instead they stumbled upon the Americas. Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon) founded San Salvador (located in the Bahamas) and Cortes founded Mexico and eventually came to conquer the Aztec empire in 1521. The idea of exploration and enlightenment eventually arrived in other parts of Europe. In England, King Henry VIII only decided to follow the trend due to the profit Spain gained by going to the Americas. Europe at the time was going through the Protestant Reformation (1517) which was started by part of Martin Luther due to his disagreement of several Roman Catholic doctrines and his denying of the Pope's religious authority due to the fact that he believed the only source of God was the actual Bible. This led to many of the church lands to be possessed by the countries (including England and France) and used for more sufficient purposes due to the fact that many countries saw this as an opportunity to use the lands for more profitable means, which led to the servants that worked those lands to lose their jobs and to be forced into the streets to live as beggars and thieves. Sadly, this all occurred during a population growth, leaving even more beggars and thieves in the streets with nowhere to live and many more children to feed.
Body Paragraph 2: ? Pertains To: What were the Europeans' encounters like during their struggle to establish themselves? Thanks to one man, Richard Hakluyt, a solution was stumbled upon. His idea was to send all the beggars, thieves, and criminals to the Americas in order to establish colonies and produce raw materials needed by England to make merchandise. The majority of colonists that settled in the Americas came by ship and when they arrived they paid off the boat passage by serving anywhere from three to seven years as indentured servants to whoever paid their passage for them. The colonists struggled for many years and lost many people due to the lack of food, clean water, and proper housing or shelter. One other barrier between the s
Body Paragraph 3: ? Pertains To: What were the Native Americans like just before contact?
Body Paragraph 4: ? Pertains To: What were the Native Americans' encounters like during the Europeans' struggle to establish themselves?
Conclusion Paragraph:
Europeans and Native Americans both had very distinct lifestyles and each viewed one another differently due to the encounters they experienced together during the era that Spain, France, and England were establishing themselves in America. These three European countries were each looking for solutions to their individual problems and each country treated the Native Americans differently for their own personal gain, which ultimately determined whether they treated the Native Americans good or bad. Both the Europeans and the Native Americans had much to offer each other in those harsh times. Europeans, mainly the Spanish, French, and English, as I pointed out earlier, were more into their own matters before America was discovered. In the 1400's, Spain began to explore the seas in search of the Asian trade routes (“The Silk Road” was one popular route) in order to find the wealth they needed to be superior to one another. Instead they stumbled upon the Americas. Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon) founded San Salvador (located in the Bahamas) and Cortes founded Mexico and eventually came to conquer the Aztec empire in 1521. The idea of exploration and enlightenment eventually arrived in other parts of Europe. In England, King Henry VIII only decided to follow the trend due to the profit Spain gained by going to the Americas. Europe at the time was going through the Protestant Reformation (1517) which was started by part of Martin Luther due to his disagreement of several Roman Catholic doctrines and his denying of the Pope's religious authority due to the fact that he believed the only source of God was the actual Bible. This led to many of the church lands to be possessed by the countries (including England and France) and used for more sufficient purposes due to the fact that many countries saw this as an opportunity to use the lands for more profitable means, which led to the servants that worked those lands to lose their jobs and to be forced into the streets to live as beggars and thieves. Sadly, this all occurred during a population growth, leaving even more beggars and thieves in the streets with nowhere to live and many more children to feed.
Body Paragraph 2: ? Pertains To: What were the Europeans' encounters like during their struggle to establish themselves? Thanks to one man, Richard Hakluyt, a solution was stumbled upon. His idea was to send all the beggars, thieves, and criminals to the Americas in order to establish colonies and produce raw materials needed by England to make merchandise. The majority of colonists that settled in the Americas came by ship and when they arrived they paid off the boat passage by serving anywhere from three to seven years as indentured servants to whoever paid their passage for them. The colonists struggled for many years and lost many people due to the lack of food, clean water, and proper housing or shelter. One other barrier between the s
Body Paragraph 3: ? Pertains To: What were the Native Americans like just before contact?
Body Paragraph 4: ? Pertains To: What were the Native Americans' encounters like during the Europeans' struggle to establish themselves?
Conclusion Paragraph: