The European Invasion of North America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The European Invasion of North America - Essay Example The invasion of the European immigrants into North American forced the Native Americans to cope with the new environments, intercultural social relations and to a new environment in general. This paper will explore the kind of life the native residents of North America before the European Invasion, there life after the invasion, and how they coped with the new environment with reference to the book ‘The American People Creating a Nation and Society’ by Gary Nash and other authors. The Invasion Before the European invasion of North America, the natives had divisions of many different polities which involved bands of families to large business empires. Primordial paradise is the term used to refer to the lives of the Native Americans today. This effectively means that the native residents lived a life free from any restrictions. Before the invasion of the Europeans in North America, there was no clear evidence of Christianity among them. The broad generalization way of pai rs of philosophical principles leads to the quality of the native culture. The American Indian religion was wrapped together in a multidimensional cycle. These natives believed in the power of gods, performed and gave sacrifices to them in the belief that the gods were naturally supreme powered. This religion contributed towards peace and harmony among the native residents as they developed a sense of belonging towards the gods they worshipped. However, this does not necessarily mean that harmony was always maintained. Conflicts arose from various issues but were easily solved by the governance units that were already in place. Another remarkable feature of the Native American cultures was the degree of symbolic and moral convergence or homogeneity among the people who socially and geographically disparate. Perhaps this displays a common history and explains the fate that eventually ensued from the European invasion and the ultimate conquest for the bands and empires that were assoc iated with the native North Americans (Nash 108). The European invasions, as anyone would expect, caused more conflicts than they were before. The native residents were not ready to surrender that easily to the invaders. They had to stage up a fight in order to avoid losing the land they regarded to as a paradise to the European invaders. The Indians undoubtedly had to devise ways on how to cope or merge with the culture that came along with the European invaders. More importantly is to note that the European invasion brought along what they call the western civilizations even presently. Before their invasion as outlined in the second paragraph, the native residents worshipped gods. It was their way of religion, but after the European invasion, Christianity is widely spread as the major method of worship. The acceptance of the Native Americans showed towards Christianity as the religion means that the native Indians were not necessarily rebellious to the culture that was introduced by the European invasion (Nash 212). The different European nations that invaded the Indian Territory in North America made different approaches to invading North America. After the invasion of the French into North America, there is evidence that trade thrived fairly well between the French and the Native Americans. For instance, the French developed an interest in beaver

The Civil War Produced More Radical Changes in America than the Essay

The Civil War Produced More Radical Changes in America than the Revolutionary War - Essay Example Here in this essay, I would discuss that whether the civil war produced more radical changes in America or the Revolutionary war. REVOLUTIONARY WAR: The ideology of John Locke impressed American Colonies and provoked them to fight for their rights. Locke wrote in â€Å"Two Treaties of Government† that it is beyond humanity to rule individuals and rejected the claim of kings and queens of having a divine right to rule masses. Locke infused the spirit of liberalism and democracy. (John Locke, 1821) The main idea of Revolutionary movement was to address the differences that lay within a mother country like religious, traditional and social differences. He stated: â€Å"The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but to have only the law of Nature for his rule. The liberty of man in society is to be under no other legislative power but that established by consent in the commonwealth, nor under the dominion of any will, or restraint of any law, but what that legislative shall enact according to the trust put in it.† (John Locke, 1821) Evolutionary War was more than a political agenda and took course during 18th century which initiated in 1763. The seed was sown earlier after the British forces enforced the series of taxes on the American Colonies which was imposed in the name of defense and security cost. American colonies felt the discrimination that was made by British regulatory authorities as British person were not made liable to pay tax. The discrimination enraged American Colonies and in retaliation their Thirteen Colonies in North America collaborated and stood united to form a separate nation which would have no influence or governance from the British Empire. To make their move official, they rejected the rule of Parliament of Britain and together they cast out the royal officials. The colonies demanded for an elected representative in the ruling Brit ish Parliament and within the span of two years, American colonies formed Committees for Correspondence which would direct their own Provincial Congresses in majority of the colonies. The advantage of committees was enormous as it was easy for individuals to share and comment on different issues between British community and American Colonies. With a little more efforts, the provincial congresses proved to be effective and dismissed the parliament and replaced all British ruling bodies. In response to this political setback, British government tried hard to assert pressure and reform authority by dissolving local governments with the help of British troops and to impose rule directly from Royal officials. British troops were confronted by American militia in 1775. George Washington was chosen as commander in chief to guide and lead the army as American Militia lacked in almost every essential skill or training. Washington finely used both army and militia for his strategies to defea t British combat troops. Blacks were promised to be freed if they serve the army and soon blacks in large numbers were recruited in both the armies. Large number of blacks escaped and joined the British Army against Americans. After a constant fight between both nations, the Independence of America was declared on July 4, 1776. The main purpose was to achieve liberty, democracy and equality among the nation which was severely lacking in the British Empire. CIVIL WAR: (Nicolay, 2009) In the middle of 19th Century, Abraham Lincoln was chosen