European & Native American Clash of Cultures - Was the Outcome Inevitable?

M

mkendrickj

New member
If there could be a ‘redo’ in how the European explorer’s and settler’s engagement and interaction with the native Americans could have unfolded, how could it (or more importantly how should it) have been handled differently so all involved came out winners? Or was this even possible? Was this 'clash of cultures' and its ultimate outcome inevitable?
 
it was avoidable but not without a major change in attitude. if we had intended to destroy all of the invaders we wuold have never helped them survive. we could have crushed them early on. it is not our way to turn away someone in need and so it goes....

so ask yourself today. is what continues to be done to indigenous people avoidabel or is this just inevitable too? sounds like a major cop out and excuse for the continued theft of our lands and resources not to mention the destruction of our children and lives.
 
The European/Native American clash is hardly unique. If you could find a Canaanite, you might ask him how he felt about the Hebrews showing up and saying "hey, this is our Promised Land." The ancient tribes of Hispania had the Phoenicians and then the Romans move in on them; the Gauls had the Romans; the Ainu had the Japanese; the Uighurs and Tibetans today have the Han Chinese. And so it goes.
 
look! nothing is ever 'inevitable' but there are those who would disagree. it's their choice. my personal take on the historical situation is that when a larger more 'pushy' force meets a lesser , less 'pushy' force; yeah you'll have a problem. the europeans had a different look on real estate and sharing was not in their vocabulary. to the natives, nobody owned real estate and when learning about European settlers' ideas about that, the natives couldn't believe anyone owned the earth or pieces of it. to them, it was shared and enjoyed. a clash of cultures, for sure. that, and color of skin, trading differences, culture, religion...a whole bunch of differences could've been bridged and compromises reached but only on a small scale. separation of cultures would've been inevitable but the killing, replacement, removals ... all that could've and should've been avoided. a black mark on european expansion history . sad chapters in history.
 
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