American and European Settlements Essay examples

Submitted By Ashleyboo1
Words: 715
Pages: 3

Ashley German
Mrs. Thomas
AP US History
6/14/13
American Indians and European settlers first encountered each other when the European settlers explored and settled on American Indian soil for the first time during the early 1600’s. At first the Indians welcomed the settlers hoping that they would protect them from their native enemies. They also generously shared their belongings, supplies, and food with the settlers, but in return they were given disease and other things that would cause harm or death to the Indian population. Within ten years of the arrival of the settlers the warm welcome given by the American Indians had worn out. The Indians realized the only thing the settlers wanted was to secure the land of the Indians, kill the Indians and convert the Indians to Christianity. As a result, there was much conflict between the Indians and the colonists resulting in a series of wars in the New England area. During the late sixteenth century two colonies emerged from England, the Chesapeake and New England colonies. The Chesapeake region of colonies included Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey. These settlers were on a quest to find gold, silver, and a northwest passage to Asia. On the voyage to find a passage to Asia many of them died because of lack of food, shelter, disease, and other natural causes. The lucky few who survived the voyage joined the Powhatan Indians who they turned to for food and shelter. The New England Colonies included the region north of Chesapeake Bay. It included the Massachusetts Bay colony, Plymouth, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. These people were looking for religious freedom. They had traveled from England because of the split of the Church of England (Anglican Church) and the Catholic Church. The Chesapeake Bay area colonists wanted to establish a new colony, to find a cure for syphilis, and to find a trade they could take back to England for profit. This colony was an economic driven society. The area had limited vegetation during the early years of the colony development which resulted in minimal survival rate of the colonists. The colonists included mostly indentured slaves initially but later included black slaves bought over on slave ships to work in the fields. This caused the colonist to rely heavily on the Indians for survival. They used the Indians to learn how to raise corn to prevent starvation. The Indians also showed them how to grow tobacco which became their main trade for economic growth for sale back in England by the colonists. The Chesapeake region was lead by the colonist John Smith. He eventually married an Indian named Pocahontas which strengthened the relationship between the Indians and the colonists which increased