The Impact of European Colonization in North America on Native Americans
Vincent Leisey
COM/156
October 10, 2012
Melissa Zantello

Abstract

Many colonizers succeeded in their conquest for riches and as a result the tribal nations of North America became domestic dependent nations that have had to rebuild themselves from near annihilation. Once the Native Americans were forced on to reservations their struggle to sustain life began. The Europeans’ strategies of targeting American Indian children for assimilation began with violence. The Europeans negotiated many treaties with the native people, but all were later discovered to be unfavorable for the indigenous people. As the European Americans grew larger in numbers, their quest for land and riches spread further into the plains of North America, requiring them to find new ways to travel causing them break treaties with the Plains Indians. Much of the forced removal of Native American tribes was a result of two major events: the Indian Removal Act and the Trail of Tears.

The Impact of European Colonization in North America on Native Americans
The European colonization of North America proved to be detrimental to the existence of the Native Americans. The colonizers conquered and domesticated the natives and as a result almost completely decimated the tribal nations. The natives were purposely infected with incurable diseases during this time. The Indians’ vision of slavery was corrupted into something they could never have imagined. The European Americans negotiated many treaties with the Native Americans but all treaties were found to be unfavorable to the tribes and later broken. The Indigenous people were forced onto reservations, as a result of the colonists need for expansion, thus where their struggle to sustain their lifestyle began. Before all was over there was at least one major