History

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The first war against Native Peoples was launched by what history calls the “discoverer” of America, Christopher Columbus, and the Spaniards. We have a day on the calendar to “celebrate” Columbus’ “discovery” of the “new world”. This “discovery”, however involved fighting the Native Americans for land and killing them. The Spanish believed that the Natives were savages and they had to become civilized. After Christopher Columbus, Spanish settlers went to Mexico and migrated towards what would later become the southwestern part of the United States (Brown). Many more settlers after that continued to come, forcing their religion of Christianity upon the Natives, as well as their language. If the Natives did not speak their language or have their religion, they were considered savages and uncivilized. The settlers thus brought it upon themselves to make the Native Peoples “civilized” (“Protecting”).

If the conquered Native People could not be civilized, they were enslaved. Few know that Native people were enslaved, just as the African Americans were, and they were treated just as horribly. The white settlers gave Wahun Sonacook-his daughter was Pocahontas-a crown and called him “King”; they convinced him that he should make his people work to supply the white settlers. Because he complied, he is considered by other Native people to be more English than Native because he sided more with the English than his own people (Brown). This story illustrates that, at times, enslavement was done with the consent of the Native People.

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