American History up to 1875

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American History up to 1875

The American history records tremendous changes that define the journey taken in shaping what the country looks like today. The Indian-European conflict was common in the 17th Century in the North America. The issue of slavery got intense and many Indians fell in the hands of the European. Slaves were mistreated, overworked, and tortured to an extent of them dying at the farms. The introduction of Christianity by the Europeans meant that the Indians had to do away with their old fashioned ways of worship. The Indians and the European immigrants had different religion and beliefs that had to be unified for a common existence. The interaction between people of different races, religions and beliefs has been a great aspect of the American history. It was until later in the 20th century that European exploration and colonization of America that brought change in how the Old and New Worlds interacted.

The settlement of the Indians in America was a vital mark in the development of native culture. The Indians established their lifestyle blended with rich culture and religion. The Indians on the East Coast had a more civilized life and well-established trade systems. The first encounter between the Europeans and the native Indians took place in the 1500s.[1] The Europeans discovered America as they engaged in fishing of whales and other sea exploration activities. The first encounters between the Indians and he Europeans involved trade activities and this gave the whites a chance to learn about the new world. The Europeans also hired the Indians to work for them on their farms. In his speeches, Pontiac points out that a move by the Indians to rebel against the invasion of the Europeans was faced with a brutal challenge and killings of the slaves.[2] The Europeans believed that their actions in North America were justified as they acted on good will to improve the lives of the locals and make them have a decent religion. The Europeans first believed that the locals or the Indians had a crooked way of life that needed huge changes. The colonization of America was also facilitated by the need to introduce religion to the pagans. The Europeans, therefore, moved to North America in a bid to expand their empire and spread their religion, Christianity to the Indians who were perceived as pagans.[3]

To solve the issues that were already cropping up between the Indians and the Europeans, treaties and legal arrangements had to be put in place. The Laramie Treaty of 1851 was a credible point of peace that was meant to address the issues at hand. The formulation and designing of the treaty saw a large number of Native Americans camps and talk with the American representatives.[4] The treaty called for the government to respect the Indian people and allow them, to carry on with their livelihood and cultural activities. The local tribes had to be unified and allowed to conduct their way of life including religion.[5] In exchange, the natives had to allow the governed carry on with national projects like building roads and forts. The conflict between the Indians and the whites was thus reduced allowing for a more harmonized living and interaction.

The Europeans moved in great numbers to North America in the 1700s and grabbed land owned by the Indians. The issue brought hostility and the Indians continued suffering in the hands of their masters. Indians were deprived of their freedom of cultural value and religion by the European settlers. The issue brought a lot of suffering as the Indians had to offer forced labor to the whites that was accompanied by other mistreatments.[6] This laid the foundation of colonization that became extensive with the increase of European immigrants. The Indians lost their land to the whites and were later to work for the settlers as slaves.

Slavery was intense particularly in the 1800s where the native Indians were forced to work in the Europeans farms. Slaves were also denied the freedom of movement and this gave the Europeans more power to control them. The Indians protested and agitated or their rights through the formation of movements to help raise their concerns to the whites. Such movements were crushed and their leaders murdered to frighten the slaves.[7] The slaves were expected to offer free labor at no cost while the Europeans took control of most vital sectors of income earning. The slaves could only be fed as a reward for their labor while the Europeans received the pay earned from the sale of the harvest. The Europeans made it hard or the Indians to move from place to place as they treated them as slaves. Such mistreatments intensified the hostility between the Indians and the Europeans thus creating an extreme atmosphere and a cruel living for the Indians. Other native Indians and other American people started selling war captives to the white men as slaves. The Europeans were ruthless as they overworked the Indians thus intensifying hostility between the two groups. The Indians had various issues that affected their freedom particularly when they were captured as slaves. The slaves were expected to adapt to the white man’s way of life influencing religion.[8]

In the early 1800s, the Europeans intensified the call for the Indians to learn English to enable them to communicate fully with their white masters. It was also a way of inducing full control over the Indians through language and abolition of native ways of worship.[9] The freedom of worship was also interrupted by the Indians as the Europeans considered them as pagans. The Europeans saw a need to change the way of worship for the native Indians and this led to the introduction of Christianity. The Indians were mainly doing their worship in shrines and this was considered very informal by the Europeans.[10] The Indians had little power over the issue thus taking on Christianity as they alternative religion. To learn Christianity, one had to do away with the language barrier that existed between the whites and the Indians. Consequently, the Indians were forced to learn English to enable them to learn and communicate properly with the Europeans.

Various laws were induced that made the situation worse for the Indians as they had little or no representation in the government. For example the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1973 was a huge setback to the fight against slavery as the Indians continued to work under pressure and orders from the Europeans.[11] The Indian were defined as aliens in their land and this meant antagonism in the fight for their freedom that was much curtailed by the Europeans. The Constitution acknowledged the whites as the legal settlers and owners of the land while the India were regarded as aliens and this striped them off their autonomy. Native Americans, particularly the Indians were entirely outside the constitution system that seemed to favor the whites neglecting the needs of the other races.[12] The whites’ issues were greatly addressed in the constitution while the Indian remained curtailed by the constitution. It denied them the right to express their wishes and this meant an extension of the indirect form of slavery practiced by the Europeans. The American constitution also hampered the fight for freedom and appeared to pressure the Indians. The federal treaties signed between 1700 and 1850 were the sole legal platforms through which the issues of the Indians were addressed. The federal treaties and statutes denied the Indians any legal claim over the property and land lost to the Europeans thus making them permanent dependents on the whites[13]. The constitution was much for the Whites or the Europeans who were also in control of the government.

In conclusion, the entry of the Europeans meant that the Indians had to pave the way for the whites who came in large numbers particularly in the 1700s. Forced labor was a critical aspect of the European domination over the Indians as they subjected the locals to hardships and suppressed their rights. Indians had a little taste of freedom as the whites overtook vital areas of development like land and forced the Indians to offer free labor. The whites also affected the ways of life and religion for the Indians through the introduction of Christianity. The American constitution also appeared to favor the Europeans as it rarely addressed the issues of the Native Americans. The Indians lost their autonomy as the constitution mainly acknowledged the Europeans as the legal dwellers and owners of the land. The issue of slavery sparked division between the Europeans and the Indians for decades.

References

Henry, Alexander. Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories between the Years 1760 And1766, (1809), from Voices of Freedom (Toronto, 1901), p, 44.

Walker, David. To The Colored Citizens of the World. David Walker’s Appeal. (1829)... from Voices of Freedom. (3rd, ed.: Boston, 1830), pp. 3-5, 9, 22-24.

Parkman, Francis. The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian Wars after the Conquest of Canada from Voices of Freedom. (6th ed., Boston, 1874). Vol 1, pp. 204-07.

Hector, John. “What Then Is The American?” Letters from an American farmer from Voices of Freedom. (London, 1782), pp. 48-56.

Magdalena, Naum. "Re-emerging frontiers: Postcolonial theory and historical archeology of the borderlands." Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 17.2 (2010): 101-131.

Jacquelyn, Rahman. "The N Word Its History and Use in the African American Community." Journal of English Linguistics 40.2 (2012): 137-171.

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[1] Naum, Magdalena. "Re-emerging frontiers: Postcolonial theory and historical archeology of the borderlands." Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 17 no. 2 (2010): 121.
[2] Magdalena. "Re-emerging frontiers: Postcolonial theory and historical archeology of the borderlands." 116
[3] Ibid. 118
[4] Rahman, Jacquelyn. "The N Word Its History and Use in the African American Community." Journal of English Linguistics 40 no. 2 (2012): 147
[5] Jacquelyn. "The N Word Its History and Use in the African American Community." 151
[6] John Hector. “What Then Is The American?” Letters from an American farmer from Voices of Freedom. (London, 1782), 55
[7] Francis Parkman. The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian Wars after the Conquest of Canada from Voices of Freedom. (6th ed., Boston, 1874). Vol 1: 206
[8] Jacquelyn. "The N Word Its History and Use in the African American Community." 150
[9] Ibid. 151
[10] David Walker. To The Colored Citizens of the World. David Walker’s Appeal. (1829)... from Voices of Freedom. (3rd, ed.: Boston, 1830), 23

[11] Jacquelyn. "The N Word Its History and Use in the African American Community." 163
[12] Alexander Henry. Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories between the Years 1760 And1766, (1809), from Voices of Freedom (Toronto, 1901), p, 44.
[13] Henry. Travels and Adventures in Canada and the Indian Territories between the Years 1760 And1766, (1809),