Native Americans Shaping the Beginning Essay - 560 Words

The historical context of the documents complicate the narrative of the United States colonial beginnings because it shows that the original treatment of the Native Americans shaped the United States beginning, much more than what most are lead to believe. This is shown through the timing of certain events, the issues that caused the events, and the people who helped make many of the events happen or end. The timing of the events, shown through the documents helps uncover some of the where and whys about why the treatment of the Native Americans shaped America’s beginnings. The main timing and reason was colonization. As the European settlers began to colonize the Americas, they saw that they could use the Natives and treat them†¦show more content†¦This, as mentioned before, caused the Native populations, the Pueblos for example, to revolt and try to get rid of all symbols of the invading Europeans. Although in that example the Spanish reconquered New Mexico, many Natives did succeed to dispel the Europeans, even if it was for a short time. These stories of vicious and â€Å"savage† Natives helped make the colonists more wary of these unknown people. Many Europeans helped put an end to the slavery of the Natives, though not throughout the Americas. One such person, Bartolomà © de las Casa, saw what was happening to the Natives and help end it by writing about what he saw and letting the King as well as the public see what he saw. This made the King step forth and make laws that made it illegal to enslave the Native Americans. This did not happen very often. Many times the people caused more harm to the Natives. Most colonists further condemned the Natives for things that they didn’t understand, for example, their religions, calling them devil-worshipping, and further instilled fear and disgust in future colonists’ heads. This, along with constantly calling the Native Americans â€Å"savages† made many colonists feel superior to the â€Å"savages† and feel like they could treat them anyway they wanted because it was a small mercy to even be acknowledged. The documentsShow MoreRelatedThe Origins Of North America812 Words   |  4 Pagesslowly began to melt and loosen up the soil and rocks. Ray Louis writes, â€Å"†¦the glaciers smoothed, polished, and scratched the rock outcrops, producing a more subdued landscape† (Louis). The soil and rock would then become an abrasive and was the beginning of shaping the landscape. The glaciers melting wore down the hilltops and valleys began to fill up. The melting of the glaciers also began to carry large rubble of different sizes and would clog the rivers with gravel and sand. 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