Page 114 - Blue Feather Book 2

The natives were friendly and very help- ful, and without them the colonists would not have survived in the new land. They were amazed by the novelties these white men carried (steel knives, mirrors, swords, cannons, etc.).
Another positive thing was the exchange of animals; some animals had never been seen in America before the Europeans ar- rived. Horses, cattle and pigs are just a few examples.
Sadly, it was not long before problems
arose. The natives were people who believed
in the respect of the land and nature, it was
the core of who they were, they saw nature
as a gift of the gods, but the white men only
saw nature as a way of getting what they needed, trees were for wood, ani- mals were for food or clothing, whatever they did not need they had no re- spect for. This way of thinking bothered the natives greatly and soon they began to see them as soulless creatures, even devilish.
Another big problem was all the diseases the colonists brought to the na- tive tribes. They brought cholera, measles, chickenpox, smallpox and many others. These were new to them so they were totally defenseless against them. As a result of this they started dying in great numbers.
The Native Americans knew they had the disadvantage of the overwhelm- ing number of colonists, whose only objective was to conquer and colonize the newly discovered land.
For the Europeans colonization meant disregarding the native language, religion, and culture and teaching theirs instead.
The Spaniards were among the first colonists to arrive to what it is now the United States. A few years later people from England and France sailed to
what was known as the New World.
The Blue Feather 111 Literature First Course