Download The History and Sociology of American Indians: European Arrival and Its Impact and more Slides Ethnic Studies in PDF only on Docsity! 1 American Indians History 1500-1900 Americans Before 1500 • Only indigenous Americans (AKA American Indians, Native Americans, indios) • Arrived 12,000 – 30,000 years ago (before agricultural settlements in Europe) • Long history of civilizations rising & falling before Europeans • Estimates 2-10 million in what is now US • 300+ languages spoken but significant trade and “trade languages” • Some hunter/gatherers, some settled agriculture • No horses [horses introduced by the Spanish] Sociology 220, Pamela Oliver Indian Nations pre-European The Europeans & Africans Come • Columbus 1492. Spanish & Portuguese in Latin America & Caribbean – Columbus & slaves – Conquistadores of African descent (Moors) • French and British trade in North America • European settlers & their slaves in North America in 1600s. Importation of slaves 1607-1808. • Settlers vs. armies of conquest. – Settlers ultimately more deadly to the Americans – Indios still survive in much of Latin America 1500-1776 Colonial Era • European incursions • European governments "claim" America and divide it among themselves. • Enslavement, pestilence and plagues, economic disruptions, warfare for the Americans. • South America: Spanish conquerors put a new layer on American [indio] populations; slavery • In North America, European settlers intrude on the land, ultimately displace. (Some slavery) Sociology 220, Pamela Oliver The Europeans • Religious self-views. The Promised Land. The New Canaan, New Israel. • Some thought they should live peacefully with native Americans and share the land. Some did. • Others took a Biblical view: enter Canaan & kill all the inhabitants. Saw disease and deaths of natives as a sign from God. Hostile reactions from natives increased European hostility to the locals. • Tiny proportion of colonists were Pilgrims & Puritans arriving 1620s, but they became icons of the national myth. Most Europeans arrived after 1800. Most colonists immigrated for economic advancement docsity.com 2 Sociology 220, Pamela Oliver European Claims 1750 Contact and Genocide • AmerInds: From 2-10 million before 1500 to 500,000 in 1800 • Military battles, especially Spanish (less so English, French early on) • Disease: killed 90%+ of many American populations, weakened others, made European settlements possible • Economic disruption: Fur trade, Horses, plains culture • Early contacts ambiguous: coexistence & conflict; intermarriage, contact between cultures. • Some AmerInds groups adopt European ways, even own slaves. • Others retreat west, regroup in the face of disruption 1776-1815 The formation of the racial state • Europeans (calling themselves Americans) create a new government of, by, and for "white people." • American Indians are excluded, treated as separate nations (generally as they wish to be). • Louisiana purchase: 1803. Buy from the French land that is inhabited by Americans. • War of 1812. Defeat of Tecumseh, British cannot block expansion. Sociology 220, Pamela Oliver United States 1816-22 Sociology 220, Pamela Oliver 1815-1860 The White State Expands • European migration accelerates, especially after 1830. Immigrant hordes create population pressures, westward expansion. Accelerated displacement, “cleansing” of indigenous Americans. • 1824 BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) created under the War Dept. Trail of Tears • 1830 Trail of Tears. • Forced relocation of "five civilized tribes" from Georgia to what is now Oklahoma. • Tribes had adopted European ways, religion • States unwilling to let “Indians” live even as individuals in “white” land • Thousands die in a thousand mile march. docsity.com
