European explorers arrived in the ‘New World’ in the early 1500s, and they were fascinated by the opportunities that the new land presented to them. As for the natives, the foreigners' intentions were not immediately clear since some Europeans approached the native communities with respect and dignity while others were aggressive and brutal to the native communities (Shi, 2019). The Europeans and the Native Americans had different cultures and lifestyles, and as expected, their interactions had different impacts on either of them. The arrival of Europeans had effects such as introducing new diseases, environmental changes, the discovery of new plants and medicine, the introduction of new culture and religion, and the emergency of new trades on the Native Americans.
The introduction of new diseases was the most devastating impact of the arrival of Europeans on the Native Americans. The arrival of Europeans introduced new microbes in the native inhabitants that the Native Americans had no immunity to, such as smallpox, influenza, and measles (Shi, 2019). The new diseases lead to the death of many indigenous people, the most vulnerable being the old and the very young people. Some of the Native Americans perceived the disease as a weapon against them by the hostile spiritual forces. As a response to the diseases, the Europeans introduced the native Americas to new ways of curing disease using their medicine. Europeans also introduced the natives to new plants (Mann, 2011). Some of the new plants brought to the new world by the Europeans included sugarcane, tobacco, and potatoes.
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Another impact of the European arrival was a change in lifestyle as a result of environmental changes. Before the arrival of the Europeans, the Native Americans generally hunters and gatherers. However, the colonials' largescale farming, privatization of lands, and decrease of wild animals due to overhunting with the new weapons introduced by the Europeans forced the Native Americans to adapt to new lifestyles as hunting was becoming unsustainable (Nunn & Qian, 2010). In addition, Environmental changes such as the extinction of beavers, loss of fish ponds, and decrease of forests where animals like bison lived, as a result of European activities in the new land, made hunting a difficult affair for the native Americans (Mann, 2005). The Native Americans turned their focus to farming as a way of survival.
The arrival of Europeans also led to the introduction of the Native Americans to new religion, culture, and emergency of new trade. The Europeans perceived their culture and religion as superior to Native Americans and sought to impose their religion and culture on the indigenous people (Nunn & Qian, 2010). As a result, the natives were introduced to Christianity and European culture. The Europeans used assimilation and force to impose their culture and religion on the natives (Oswald et al., 2020). The introduction of new religion and culture led to the loss of the indigenous culture and way of life. Also, European arrival led to the emergency of trade between the Europeans and the Native Americans. The native Americans traded animal hides with the Europeans in exchange for cloth, weapons, and other goods.
In conclusion, the arrival of Europeans to the 'New World' had both negative and positive impacts on the Native Americans. On the positive, the arrival of Europeans led to the introduction of new medicine, European goods that were traded, and new plants that were valuable. While, on the negative, the arrival of Europeans led to the introduction of new diseases that killed many indigenous people, changes in lifestyles, and loss of the indigenous culture due to the introduction of European culture and Christianity.
References
Mann, C. (2005). 1491: New Revelations of the Americans Before Columbus. [Video File], C-Span. https://www.c-span.org/video/?188924-1/1491-revelations-americas-columbus
Mann, C. (2011). 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created. [Video File]. C-Span.https://www.c-span.org/video/?301825-1/1493-uncovering-world-columbus-created
Shi, D. E. (2019). America: A Narrative History. Brief Eleventh Edition 1 Volume. WW Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-66896-4
Oswald, W. W., Foster, D. R., Shuman, B. N., Chilton, E. S., Doucette, D. L., & Duranleau, D. L. (2020). Conservation implications of limited Native American impacts in pre-contact New England. Nature Sustainability , 3 (3), 241-246.
Nunn, N., & Qian, N. (2010). The Columbian exchange: A history of disease, food, and ideas. Journal of Economic Perspectives , 24 (2), 163-88.
