Peacock, Hodgin

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Eric Peacock, Christopher Hodgin
Mrs. Bennett
Humanities 2-4
29 January 2016

Why it was the Native Americans that Provoked Conflict

During the years 1450-1650, the newly found continent of North America
started to become a bubbling hub of commerce and mercantilism due to the efforts of the
courageous European explorers. Plentiful crops and resources made it possible for a
lasting economy to flourish under the protection of the colonists. Unfortunately, a
disruption in the peace occurred when the Native people of the land, the Indians, resented
the benevolent colonists despite their gifts of an advanced society and a civil way of life.
Like it or not, it was the Indians stubbornness and inexplicable hatred of the
entrepreneurial colonists that resulted in an excess of war between the two cultures. Yes,
admittedly the Europeans did colonize the land of the natives, but this does not justify
the hostility with which the natives treated the Europeans.
As trade blossomed in the New World, the Native Americans became increasingly
upset with the Europeans attempts to improve upon the Natives culture. This growing
dislike for the Europeans eventually grew into an unbridled hatred, and was, without a
doubt, the reason that the Native Americans facilitated a majority of the conflict that
occurred in North America. On one occasion, the Europeans found themselves in an
unfavorable situation in Virginia, as their [exhibition] was destroyed when all of the

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[colonists] were killed by the Indians (Gradie 1). This rancorous behavior from the
natives reveals the fact that, despite the Europeans numerous efforts to create a more
tranquil ambience, the Indians provoked the Colonists, simply because they refused to
accept any change, be it cultural or economic. It is true that tension between the
Europeans and the Native Americans was created, but we believe that this is primarily
due to the Europeans fear of the Indians from past experiences. Indian violence was well
known throughout the colonies of settlers, as seen in the Plymouth colony, in which the
immigrants [knew] from [Governor William Bradford] the lurid tales of Indian savagery
then circulating through Europe but they [seemed] to have trusted in captain Miles
Standish to improvise a system of defense after their arrival in America (Bushnell 193).
This only further proves the fact that If it had not been for previous Indian malevolence,
the European colonists would never have had to build a defense against the native threat,
and peace could have been maintained.
Despite European attempts to make peace with the Indians, the resentfulness of
the Natives persisted. Colonists, desperate in their attempts to pacify the enraged
aborigines, created an intricate system of trade between the two societies. However, this
trading system backfired for the Europeans, as the Europeans brought rum, and this
drink caused many problems for some tribes (Kincheloe 8). The Europeans merely
attempted to bring another important good to the natives but, instead, the Natives took
advantage of the presence of alcohol. They grew more and more addicted to the substance
that, eventually, a vast majority of Native Americans were savage drunkards. This severe
addiction to European goods proves the fact that the Native Americans were an
unnecessarily selfish and encumbering group of people. As the trade with Europeans

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continued, Indians eventually gave up hunting for food altogether. Due to the Natives
desire for European goods, the tradition of simple hunting for food began to become less
important than getting animal hides to trade. Soon American Indians depended on
European items for daily needs. (Kincheloe 8). The Natives enjoyed the simplicity of
trading for their food as opposed to hunting for it themselves. This overindulgence of
luxury goods caused the implosion of the Indian societies in North America.
As this conclusive evidence is interpreted, it becomes clear that a prodigious amount of
the fault accompanied with the conflict in the Americas lies with the Native Americans.
Undoubtedly, the Native Americans lacked the ability to control themselves when it came
to European. This lack of control inspired the tense relations with the colonists as elder
Natives in command grew furious at the self intoxication and lack of restraint
demonstrated by members of the Indian culture. It is obvious how this anger was then
directed towards the Europeans, so as to make them a scapegoat for the Indians lack of
self-control and civility.