English vs. Indians (assignment #3) Essay

Submitted By Sammidarling
Words: 507
Pages: 3

Sociology 114

"By 1700, the Angelo americans had replaced the American Indians as the "native" American group along the Atlantic seacoast. Those who came from the outside were regarded as "foreigners." The more nearly newcomers resembled the Angelo americans in appearance and in patterns of behavior, the more nearly "American" they were thought to be. The Indians and blacks had been defined as ineligible to participate fully in the developing society. Although Indians often could choose to remain physically within the boundaries of English colonial society, they usually chose not to. Blacks, on the other hand, were required to remain within those boundaries. In both cases, however, their physical inclusion was combined with social exclusion." (Romo, chapter 3) Well, in my opinion, everything the English did was wrong, or gone about wrong at least. When the English came to colonize, they didn't give the Powhatan's any options about what happened with the land that they had been using and maintaining for so long. The English wouldn't have even survived their first winter if it weren't for the Powhatan's giving them the supplies they needed. The English hoped that the Indians would, with their help, begin to assimilate into their culture of being Christian and civilize them by doing work for them on 'their' land. The Powhatan's could have easily overthrown the English, but chose not to and saw not long after that that wasn't the best choice. The English colonies attempted to force the Indians into working on the tobacco fields, and that's when the Powhatan's decided they had had more than enough. They launched an attack against the colonies and killed almost one-third of that population, not succeeding in driving the colonies out, but made it very clear that there wouldn't be any lasting accommodation between the English and the Powhatan's. The English continued to act against the Powhatan's, wanting them done away with. In 1644 the Indians fought back once again