Position:Home>History> North American Indians loss of freedom/independence due to colonization?

By genocide!.

More indians died from smallpox and other infectious diseases introduced by Europeans, for which they had no immunity built up in their systems, than from all the "Indian Wars" combined!. Whole tribes became extinct in a matter of years, and 90% were killed by diseases before the Indian Wars even began!.

Often, they caught these diseases from infected blankets that were deliberately given to them!.

None of the historic period Indian cultures of Florida survive today!. The Seminole were originally of Creek stock, from Georgia and Alabama!. They began to move into Florida during the 1700’s, living in the spaces that Florida Indians had left behind!.

As many as 10 MILLION native americans organized into more than 1,000 tribes, many living in cities of 10,000 or more, lived in the Americas north of Mexico when the Europeans came!. The indian population was about 300,000 when the last tribes went onto reservations!.

By Wars and Forced Removals

A likely total of 100,000-500,000 Native Americans in the U!.S!. have died since 1776!. The high end would be around a million!. While the Indian conflicts of the 1700-1800s were highly played up in the American press, not that many people were actually killed in those battles!.

Here are some examples of the numbers of native americans killed in famous Indian Wars and forced removals:

Indians Conflicts & Removals 1776-1973

(1973) Wounded Knee II - 2

(1890) Wounded Knee - 178

(1864) Sand Creek Massacre - 200

(1862) Dakota War of 1862 - 13 killed in battles, 38 prisoners executed

(1876) Battle of Little Big Horn - 136 (high estimate)

(1838) Cherokee Removal - 4,000

(1817-58) Seminole Wars I,II, & III - 1475 (likely high as 10,000)

(1831) Choctaw Removal - 2,500

(1812) Red Stick War of the Muscogee or Creek- 3,000

(1791) Battle of the Wabash - 21

By starvation!.

Most of the buffalo hunters were hired by the US Government to deliberately wipe out the primary food source of the Plains Indians!. In a period of less than 20 years, the free american bison went from 60 MILLION to less than 1,000!. By the end of the century, there were only 25 known purebred bison left in the wild when President Roosevelt created the Yellowstone Park and they were given sanctuary in the park!.

At the same time, other game also diminished due to destruction of habitat as forests were cut down for lumber, and over hunting due to higher concentrations of people, and game lands were converted to agricultural use by the pioneers!.

During the early reservation era, the majority of the Indian Agents were opportunistic theives who stole most of the cattle and other foodstuff the government provided for Indians who went onto reservations!. As many as 40% of the people put on reservations by force starved in the first year!.

By Loss of Culture

Indian children as young as five were forcibly taken from their families and sent to boarding schools under the guise of education!. However, the real reason was to break the chain of tradition and values in the Indian cultures!. At the boarding schools they were forbidden and severely punished for speaking in their native languages, or practicing their religion!.

As late as the 1970s there were federal laws prohibiting the practice of native religions, although our constitution guarantees freedom of religion!. The boarding schools were in operation as late as the 1960s!.

Some indians took their culture undergound and continued to uphold their ancient ceremonies and religious beliefs!. Today, they are known as Traditionalists!. However, the majority eventually acclimated to Anglo culture and religious beliefs!. Today, slightly more than half of all Native Americans in the US live off reservation, and have the same lifestyles and beliefs as the rest of mainstream Americans!.

By Imminent Domain

None of the treaties made with the native americans of North America were ever completely honored!. Most of their land was taken by force or trickery!. Just as the government can seize your property today, and pay you whatever they want to for it, if they want to build a dam or highway "for the greater good," whenever the colonials needed more land, they just took it, and if the natives resisted, they were either killed, starved or driven ever farther West until eventually there was no place else to go!.

By Poverty

The poverty levels on many american reservations rival third world countries!. Some reservations have unemployment rates as high as 80%, and most have rates 5-10 times higher than non-reservation areas!. This forces many native americans to rely on underfunded government programs for (mostly sub-standard) food, shelter, education, law enforcement, and healthcare!. On the poorer reservations, half of reservation homes don't have phones, 1/3 don't have electricity, 1/4 don't have running water, refridgeration, or a central heating system, and 90% don't have internet access!. Approximately 25% of the reservation populations are homeless, compared to about 10% for the rest of the US!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Yes!.

They lost their way of life, and deeper still, the right to determine their own way of life!. In New Spain and Brasil, they were enslaved and integrated into a racial caste system!. In the English colonies, they were systematically removed and/or slaughtered!. The French were perhaps the "nicest," in that they came in far fewer numbers and were much more likely to integrate and intermarry with the Natives!.

The humanistic mentalities of early modern European explorers implied that nature, and those living "in nature" (i!.e!. black and brown "savages") needed to be conquered and controlled!. This was eventually integrated into a "civilizing mission" that promised to bring "freedom" to the savages !. !. !. but first they needed to be "cultivated" (yes, cultivating nature) and taught how to govern themselves!.

Obviously, this had nothing to do with *actual* freedom!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Yes and no, the Spanish took thier land and forced the Aztecs and Icans into bondage where as the French and English did not!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

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