Cultural Exchange can be referred
to as the absorption of a people’s way of life into one’s way of life. The
Europeans therefore after setting foot on American soil first met with the
indigenous natives whom they referred to as Indians. These indigenes showed no
fear of the Europeans when they first set foot on the soil. It was easy to
settle with them because there were not many settlers and there was enough land for them
to cultivate. Within this period to the time Europeans started to invade
America and beyond, there was said to be a cultural exchange. Below therefore
are some exchanges that went on between the Europeans and the Native Americans
First of all, the indigenous
Americans were introduced to innovative farming with new vegetables, fruits
and tools. Before the advent of the Europeans, the American Indians lived with
nature. They understood the land and the environment. They did not try to
change it. They might grow crops in an area for a few years, and then they
would move on. They would allow the land on which they had farmed to become
wild again but then the Europeans came and they were introduced to sophisticated
tools and exotic crops such as Corn, potatoes, tomatoes, sickles etc. Again, the Indians
introduced the Europeans to tobacco. Besides the farming and hunting techniques,
the American Indians taught the Europeans how to survive in their climate
weather.
Secondly, the settlers were also
taught the native language and customs. Language was a very important tool. The
Europeans had to find a way of communicating with the indigenes. Therefore,
being mostly literates, they sort to learning the language first by using
mannerisms then later by linguistic approach. They also sort to teaching the
indigenes the English language. Also, the Europeans had better cooking pots and
utensils so the natives were able to change their ways of cooking. Again, the
Indians also introduced the Europeans to muskets and other Indian customs. In
exchange, the Indians were introduced to ships and other sea-worthy vessels.
Thirdly, the Europeans introduced
the Natives to technology that brought them out of their seemingly perpetual
Stone Age state. The natives provided basic knowledge such as mine fields among
others and this was the foundation of a new great economy in which Europe acquired
raw materials in trade for the technology they gave. Some of this technology
included guns, swords, ammunition, cannons etc. this benefited the Europeans
and somehow the Indians because they were able to wage warfare against other
tribes that attacked them or against wild animals.
Though the impact of the Europeans
where positive, there were however some negative exchanges. For instance, some
of the settlers carried the bacteria that caused smallpox, although they
themselves did not get sick. Smallpox had caused deadly epidemics in Europe,
but it was unknown to the Indians. Their
immune systems had developed no protection against the disease. It killed whole
tribes. And smallpox was only one disease brought from Europe. There were
others that also infected the Indians.
Again there was the problem of religion. The
settlers in New England thought Christianity was the one true faith, and that
all people should believe in it. They soon learnt that the Indians were
satisfied with their own spiritual beliefs and were not interested in changing
them. As a result, many settlers came to believe that the Native Americans
could not be trusted because they were not Christians. They began to fear the
Indians and think of them as evil.
In all, it can be noted that, the
advent of the Europeans on the American soil brought various changes that were
not only positive but also negative.
Reference:
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