Effects & Consequences of Early European Contacts on...

Effects & Consequences of Early European

In this writing I will attempt to describe how early contacts with the Europeans effected the Native peoples of North America. I will also try to analyse if it effected their lives in any significant way, and if it did, in what way it might have altered them. And finally, I shall see if this contact produced any cultural conflicts or attempts toward mutual co-existence.

First of all, we need to see what drove Europeans out of Europe, and into exploration of the unfamiliar hostile seas. Curiosity, being a characteristic trait of the human race was certainly a factor, it supplied the constant need to explore and discover the unknown. But, in this case, the main reason for the early European expeditions was economic. A desperate search to find a new route to “the Indies” was underway. With the capturing of Constantinople by the Turks, the traditional routes to the Orient were cut off, and the highly sought after spices needed to preserve the meats in Europe became scarce, as well as many other exotic goods previously imported from the far East. So, explorers from the more powerful European countries were se

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In the end, however, the majority of the traditionalists mistrusted the Iroquois more then they did the French, and made the fatal mistake to remain with the Christian Hurons in alliance with the French. This, some Natives, suspected to some extend almost from the very beginning, but others as we observed, were totally oblivious as to where their societies were headed. With the European arrival, and the Natives introduction to all the goods the newcomers brought with them, (some built to ease life, others to take life), the Amerindians’ way of life changed forever. Christianity also differed from the Hurons’ religion in viewing the world as provisional and preparatory to the afterlife. The French brought a new, European desire for fur with them to America when they returned.

The French however, began to face strong competition in the fur trading industry, which caused many problems between different European nations and different native tribes. In the early 1690s, Canadian Iroquois fought beside the French against the League Iroquois. The French and British also fought many small, localised battles prior to a succession of important battles that would eventually decide each country’s position in North America. All new arrivals from France faced the danger of Iroquis raids, which resumed in earnest in the 1640s. The Montagnais obtained their furs from their partners in the interior at much lower prices than they charged the Europeans for them. The diversion of furs to the Dutch on the Hudson River and the consequent bypassing of the St. We saw that the Jesuits were indeed quite forceful in instilling the Christian gospel into the Amerindian’s society. They traded amongst each other needed goods. So, relations between the Five Nations and the French deteriorated even more as the Iroquois increased their raids against the Illinois, who were now French allies.

Approximate Word count = 5733
Approximate Pages = 23 (250 words per page double spaced)

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