Indian And European Conflict In The New

World Essay, Research Paper

INDIAN – EUROPEAN CONFLICT IN THE NEW WORLD

Since 1492 to late into the17th the century there was perpetual struggle between the power hungry Europeans and the natives in the New World. Pitted against each other, the Dutch, English, French, Spaniards, and Indians struggled to maintain control of what they viewed as rightfully theirs. The English, were struggling to settle on the eastern coast and had no use and respect for the Indians or their land and way of life. At first maintaining a tentative relationship, the English, in the case of the Quakers and Puritans, soon realized that the Indians had very little to offer and were an obstacle on the path of their progress. Spain was primarily interested in missionary activities and conquered the natives of south western America and Mexico because they were seen as obstacles on valuable land. What peoples the Spaniards did not deliberately destroy, disease finished off. The extremely powerful Dutch had goals of commerce, conquest, and complete exploitation of American resources. They did all they could at first to maintain peaceful exchange with the Indians, being vastly dependent on the natives for the fur trade. Further north, along the St. Lawrence River, the Indians were vital to the French.. Relations were kept better than anywhere previously in the New World. Yet Southern French- Indian relations were sadly much different, as evident in the interaction with the Natchez in 1722 ultimately, interaction with the Indians of North America was solely dependent on the needs and goals of the invading Europeans.

Quakers fleeing from the oppression of England, were initially dedicated to non- violence between all races and religions. In the 1670.s they settled in East and West Jersey, Eventually moving into Pennsylvania, believing that they could form a utopian society which they called the .Holy Experiment.. A man named William Penn initiated the peaceful interaction in 1682. He approached the neighboring tribe, the Delaware, .The King of the Countrey where I live, hath given unto me a great Province therein, but I desire to enjoy it with your Love and Consent, that we may always live together as Neighbors and friends….. As Nash describes, Penn believed the land belonged to the Indians, and the colonists must purchase it from the natives before settling it, and imposed a ban on the sale of alcohol. The land Penn.s colony inhabited had comparatively few Indians, but this was subsequently beneficial because there was less of a chance for rivalry and competition. As long as Penn played an active roll in the happenings of his colony, there was little conflict or cause for complaint by both the settlers and the Indians. After 1712 however, as Nash has pointed out, Penn had little role in the affairs of Pennsylvania. In 1710 Swiss and German settlers arrived, whom did not share Penn.s and the Quaker.s pacifistic attitude, and .who.s land hunger and disdain for the Indians undermined the Quaker attitude of trust and love for the natives.. Nash pg.98

These new settlers came to the New World to escape the oppression of their homeland, Eventually settling in Philadelphia. But these new peoples were not willing to live peacefully and cooperate with the Indians whom they settled alongside. The only benefit of having the Indians settled on the land to them, was the fact that they had cleared the land for their crops, and that the natives had made hunting trails that they could exploit. To them, the Indians had primed the land for their disposal. To add insult to injury, they poured alcohol into the Indian negotiators, whose decisions could then be manipulated and swayed according to the whims and benefit of their own interests.

Seeing that they could no longer live in a place where there was no more welcome, the Delaware migrated westward with resentment. Eastern Pennsylvania was empty of Indians by 1750. The settlers turned tribe against tribe to acquire more Indian land and to rid themselves of the last tribes. The Quakers vision of harmony was trampled under the feet of selfish intruders.

The Puritans at first had the most interaction with the Algonkian tribes. Living between the Kennebeck River and Cape Cod, the tribes numbered more than 100,000, consisting of the Pawtucket, Massachusetts, Abenaki, Pequot, Narragansett, and Wampanoag. The puritans arrived in 1620, initially settling in the Cape Cod area in a place called Plymouth. The Pilgrims had come with a fear of the natives. Their fear was to be nurtured, as death had soon rendered the colony to 50 people, Their vulnerability led to Indian attack. The Wampanoag soon signed a treaty with the Colonists in 1621 which included mutual assistance and protection from the Narragansett. The English saw the treaty as a weakening of the Wampanoag. With the mischief of just a small number of new colonists, an offensive was raised against the unsuspecting Massachusetts. The goal was to encourage fear and dominance among the natives so that the English could gain power and land.

The Massachusetts Bay Company had a goal to convert all .heathens. and to .wynn and incite the natives of (the) country, to the knowledge and obedience of the onlie true God and Savior of mankinde, and the Christian fayth.. As Nash highlights. Yet no missionary actions were to take place for another 13 years. The sachems (leaders) of the Algonkian