Europeans exploited natives ever since they first met them in 1492. Columbus, who discovered America within 15 years of its discovery, was extremely effective. PBS says that scholars estimate there were between 20 and a hundred million natives in the Americas before Europeans arrived. By 1620 however, PBS claims 95% of this population had died. Gallup Independent states that there are still only 5.2 millions Native Americans today. Of these, 22% live in reservations and their conditions have been likened to those of the Third World. It is obvious that Europeans changed the Native American’s lives and treatment in both history and modern times.
Balboa’s voyage to the Pacific Ocean began after Balboa overthrew Darien’s governor in 1513. Sabina’s “Balboa”, a short story by Sabina explains the violence the natives had endured for years. Balboa, a Spanish general, had been on a genocide killing spree. Native Americans did not even have steel weapons, only bows and knives. They had also never seen a dog with a killing instinct or one that was as big and deadly like a mastiff. The dogs were even more impressive in their armor which protected them from native attacks. In their quest for riches in the New World, the Europeans killed anyone who stood against them. These diseases and pestilences were essential to the success of this campaign. Sabina Murray drew attention to another clever trick Balboa used, which was that his soldiers were spreading smallpox, syphilis, and other diseases. The introduction stated that 95% of natives died from smallpox or other diseases when the Europeans arrived. Their strategy was to infest and wait, then, as the native population dwindled, come in and start colonizing. This was terrible for New World because whole tribes and culture disappeared in a matter of years.
A second injustice that plagued America after Europeans arrived was racism. Charles Mann writes in “Coming of Age In The Dawnland” that Tisquantum would not have considered himself an Indian. He regarded himself as first and foremost a Patuxet citizen. The arrival of Europeans brought the words “Indians” (or “savages”), which were then acceptable terms to refer to Native Americans. The Europeans did not know of the Iroquois and Wampanoag. It was impossible to distinguish between Sioux, Cheyenne or Lakota Sioux. They were all grouped together under one banner, that of “Indian”, even though they did not live in India. This systemic racist grouping and dividing of different races into huge groups started with the Native Americans, but it is still going on today. Richard Rodriguez explains in “‘Blaxicans,’ and Other Revamped Americans” that OMB created five major racial or ethnic groups. The groups are white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Eskimo, and Hispanic”(Rodriguez). We cannot escape these generalizations about ethnicity, even in the modern-day America. It is not fair to say that Hispanic encompasses Spanish, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans as well as Brazilians, Portugueses or Chileans. The phrase is offensive because, although these cultures share similarities, they are very different. The same as a grouping of Germans, Russians and British or French people together. While they might be somewhat similar in some aspects, they are completely different.
Europeans as well as Americans seemed to be adept at enslaving people and driving them away from their native lands. William Shakespeare’s drama The Tempest depicts Prospero, a settler who takes the island from Caliban. Shakespeare says that Caliban said, “This is my island, Sycorax’s mother, and you have taken it from me” (Shakespeare). He says that Prospero is the same as the Europeans. They came to the island and taught them their language, their culture, and their religion. However, like Prospero, eventually they killed or enslaved the natives. Columbus, after he had killed all the natives of certain Caribbean islands and brought them to Africa, brought in black slaves who worked the land. Jamaicans today are therefore black. Europeans will do anything to gain land or slavery to maintain and grow their industries. Joy Harjo’s “New Orleans”, a poem she wrote, describes the violence of Creeks who had been utterly destroyed. Their culture was also ruined. The poem states, “There’s voices buried in Mississippi mud.” The pleasure boats that go up and down stir up currents which bury ancestors or future children. Some Creek were moved and removed from the lands they lived on. They were transported by steamboats to New Orleans. A steamboat collided with another, and hundreds of Creek drowned. Out of 15,000 people removed, 3,500 perished. When they arrived in Oklahoma, they found themselves living with tribes with whom they shared little or no similarity. They were also expected to live dusty, unproductive land. In 1823 the Supreme Court ruled that Native Americans may occupy US land, but they cannot own it. They could only occupy the land, as the US’s “rights of discovery” were more important. By 1837 46,000 Native Americans left their homelands to move west and live among strange tribes.
Those who claim that English pilgrims weren’t violent would like to argue that violence occurred primarily between Spanish and natives or Americans against natives. William Bradford wrote a short story called “Of Plymouth Plantation”, in which he states ,”…after receiving gifts and friendly entertainment, the natives made peace. ….”(Bradford). This could lead one to believe that Europeans were in peace when they arrived in Plymouth Plantation. However, historical research and the context of this story can dispel this. The settlers did not invite the natives to Thanksgiving and be friendly. The English celebrated their first successful crop by firing cannons, guns and other weapons into the air. This prompted the natives to show up. Natives came to investigate, and set up camp nearby. They were able to form an alliance with the settlers after meeting them. This was because they had been in a battle against another warring tribal group and discovered that the settlers armor and weapons were superior. This was essentially an alliance of defense. History.com states, “In 1675, Metacom, son of the chief that had signed an English treaty, called on all Native American groups to defend themselves and their homeland from the English colonists because they continued to encroach upon Wampanoag’s land. They cited the humiliating treaty made in 1671 in which the natives surrendered their guns. Metacom’s Rebellion, which was a series of victories by the natives but failed to last long enough against the Europeans supported by England and their allies, ended in failure. After the war, descendants of original Pilgrims began calling on Britain to eliminate the natives completely. Most see the conflict as one last desperate attempt to stop colonization and to fight for their ancestral homelands. The natives had the opportunity to kill the colonists when they first arrived. This would have spared them much pain in the future.
The settlers changed the Americas in many ways. They brought death, slavery, removal and racism. The settlers brought nothing but negative change to the Americas. They destroyed cultures and nearly wiped out a whole race. Even today, natives are still mistreated. While we glorify the blood of natives and praise them for their bravery, we don’t do anything to improve the conditions of these people.
