Why did the Native Americans failed to unify against the Europeans Research Paper

Why did the Native Americans failed to unify against the Europeans during the 1800's - Research Paper Example They arrived from where we now call Alaska2. Their culture was substantially different from the Europeans that arrived and later colonized the Americas and the differences led to much tension and conflict between the two races. By the 1800s a short time after the revolutionary war the colonists were beginning to push heavily west, encroaching on Native American land in an aggressive manner, causing heavy casualties in the already decimated population and forcing relocation on many Native Americans from their native lands to reservations as well as the enforcement of the colonists ideas and ideals on the natives3. One question that can be asked of this is why did the Native Americans not band together and fight back against their oppressors? The answers to this question are varied and complex and will be addressed in the following sections. The first is as a consequence of the culture and dispersed nature of the race. In addition, they paid a heavy price for any rebellion against the Europeans demands, and by this point in time the Native American population was already heavily decimated. ... The arrival of Columbus to the Americas, or as he identified them, the Indies, introduced a new form of culture and values into the area. As a race the Native Americans had a substantially different culture than the Europeans. Native Americans focused on the community as a whole, there was no ownership of property or possessions, rather these were shared among the tribe in order to meet needs6. Culture and history was largely passed on through oral tradition which involved the telling and re-telling of stories and lessons rather than writing, and as a consequence few documents remain from the race. In contrast, European culture centered on money, private property and individual ownership. The Native Americans were not one uniform race as the Europeans generally viewed them as. Instead they consisted of many distinct tribes and villages, although aware of each other’s presence, there was little interaction between them except during war. Tribes living on the plains were nomadic in nature, moving frequently in order to follow their sources of good. In contrast, Native Americans in the Southwest lived in brick villages and depending on farming as a food source7. Native American religion was not clearly defined, but there was a strong concept of a Great Sprit which provided for everyone and to whom every individual needed to show respect. This was in contrast to the European culture which held faith in a single God. Europeans were aggressive in nature and towards the religion too. They believed that it was their duty to convert the natives into Catholicism or Protestantism8. Both the Natives and the Europeans had completely different social structures as