The Relationship between the Natives Americans and the Colonies

The Settlers and the Natives The Colonie's relationship with the natives of the land that they colonied effected the way that the colonies evolve. From as early as the discovery of Roanoke in 1585 by Sir Walter Raleigh who captured two Native American back to England, bad blood had formed between the Chesapeake Colonies and the Native Americans. The New England Colonies had a very different relationship with the Natives, one which involed alliances and trade. Throughout history, these alliances and revolts has effected the way the colonies develop from Jamestown to Connecticut.

Raleigh's plan failed the first time and it is suspected that the Native Americans that once lived in Roanoke and the surrounding territories had slaughtered the first English Roanoke settlers that are reffered to as the Lost Colony. Due to the Native Americans the London Company settled in the marshy penninsula that is named Jamestown because the settlers feared that they would be attacked by the Native and thus assumed that it was safe. they were surrounded by wood, beyond which as occupied by the powerful powhatans. uring the period of 1609-1610 which was known as the starbving time, the settlers raided the Indians for food. in retribution, the local indians killed all the livestock and kept the colonists barricated. a decade later, due to the tabacco trade, jamestown was expanded into the indian's terratories. this was permitted only because of the effective supprssion of the local indians. for a few years Sir thomas dale led assualts agaist the indians until he captured the powhatan chief's daughter pocahontas. opechancanough did resume the terriorial attacts with the colonist. n 1622 the powhatans slaughtered 347 settlers were killed before they were defeated by the English. As Jamestown expanded further west into the indian lands, more and more border assults resulted. in 1644, Sir William Berkeley set up the group that captured the cheif opechananough, and kills him. this major event leaves the indians vulnerable yo the english and berkeley agrees to prohibit the colonists from settling west of the border that he made with the tribes. this was a failed attempt. for because of the civil war in england at the time, more people migrated to virgina creating a population of 40,000 people. hese peole created 3 new counties that were underepresented by the burgesses and became the backcounty. Nathaniel Bacon was on the governing council and a representative of the baccounty. and the backcounty is often plagued with indian attacts. bacon was angered because the government is not talking caution to prevent these attacks and also because berkeley excluded bacon from the Green Fields and from the lucrative fur trades with the indians. the indians attack backcounty again killing one white servant. the colonists strike back attacking the offencers along with a very powerful indian tribe. oth sides attack back and forth. until bacon defies berkley and forms rebellion and attacks indians without berkley's consent. he is declared a rebel and removed from the council. in retribution he burns jamestown. bacon's rebellion was the proof of the colonie's reluctance to define the boundaries between the natives and the europeans and the native's reluctance to give up their lands to the europeans. Unlike their neighbors, the Maryland colonists experienced no hostility of any kind from the Indians. like the maryland colonists, the new england colonists were allies with ethe natives. his was mostly because the natives were already weak from diseases spread by the colonists and they realized that they need alliances with them in order to survice and also because the colonist were less hostile than the virgianians. al times the survival and development of the colonist depended on the indians. the indians taught the colonist how to adapt and survive in the new lands. they taugh them how to gather shellfish, hunt game, and cultivate corn. then there was squanto an english speaking natiove american that helped form the treaty with the Wampanoags lead by the Cheif Massaoit. fter the first sucessful harvest in 1621, they celebrated the alliance with Thanksgiving. the pilgrims also developed a fur trade with northern indians which eveorthntually halped to pay off their debts. the native american were gettin weaker due to their vulnerabily to the epidemics bought from europe with the settlers who had immunity to it. the natives were a greater force in the south thanin the north. those who were left after the epidemics often sold their land to the english and coverted to christianitry and became a part of the puritan society. he native american soomn became a huge part of the market that bought manufactured good to the point that each goup influenced the other in crutial ways. however in other foreign settlement the people's demands to expand into indian territory became a major conflict as the main goals of the settlers was to raise livestock since the wildlife was over hunted. thus the colonists needed new lands to feed their livestock. before long, the new england colonists saw the indians as savages and barbarians as well and a threat to their society. hey wanted to reform rthem by converting them to christianity and introduce them to european culture. some puritans even just wanted to eliminate then outright. many conflys arose as the colonist took up even more land and their livestock riuned the crops of the indians until they converted to chrisanity because they were slowly all dying out from war, fod shortages and the ever present epidemics. in the year 1637 the pequot war broke out between the connecticut valley settlers and the pequot indians over trade withe the dutch. he brutalitry inflicted by the english led by Captain John Masonincluded buring their villages and strongholds to the ground and burning them alive. those who managed to escape were hunted down and sold. another war known as King Phillip's War broke out in 1635 between the Wampagoags's Metacomet and the massachusett's colonists because metacomets believe that guns were the only thing protecting their tribe from further invation into their terratory by the colinists. and despite the treaty of 1621, they attacted for years on the cities of massachusetts. he colonists finally fought back beginning in 1676 along with the Wampagoag's enemiess, the Mohawks. they depleted their food and supply source and left them powerless, after which they were sold to slavery. the history between the indians and the colonists started out rocky and got worse for the chesapeake colonies. the new england colonies started out friendly with the indians and that lasted more than 50 years until the indians felt threated and attacked the colonist. although the colonists defeated the Wamponoags, there are still possibility of attact from other surviving indian tribes.

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