The Cultural and Economic Responces of British Colonists to Native Americans

The cultural and economic responses of the British colonists to the Native Americans were different in each region of the New World, and they changed as time progressed. For example, in the Chesapeake region, particularly in the colony of Virginia, there were great differences in the way they treated natives during different times. At first, they wanted to create a society that was integrated with both English and Native American societies. However this failed to work, as the Indians did not understand the British way of life, and the British did not understand the Native American way of life; this is so because their culture was completely different: clothing, daily life, religion, technology. The English imposed Christianity and the English culture on the Indians, however the Indians did not want to adapt their society with  that of the British (Morgan). This caused many disputes between the two societies, which influenced British opinion of the people as “savages.” When colonists suffered from hunger and starvation, they would force the Indians to give them food, or steal from their villages. Since the onset of the colonies, colonists traded with the natives for corn and other agricultural products, because they did not have a means to make their own food efficiently or successfully. However, as time passed, the colonists no longer used diplomacy, and used force. Another cultural response of the colonists was in respect to land. The Englishmen saw the Indians as inferior, and in English society, land meant power, wealth, and the “important evidence of their superior culture” (Nash). Therefore, the Englishmen dehumanized the Indians, so that they could control the land, as was the right of an Englishman. This caused even more disputes between the two civilizations because the land originally belonged to the Indians, and westward expansion of the British created uneasiness. As time progressed, the easiness grew, until, in places like Virginia, there were constant fights between the Indians and the colonists. The puritans particularly clashed with the Native Americans because they believed that they natives were people who were condemned by God and that it was God’s will for them to die and make room for the Puritans (Takaki). However, the colony of Pennsylvania, under William Penn, established a society that was on good terms with the Indians; this was primarily due to Penn’s ideas that no person had the authority to dictate ones religious views (Bonomi). All in all, the colonists exploited the Indians economically in order to survive, and for the most part, completely failed in culturally understanding the views and behaviors of the natives, which led to fighting and rebellion.