Indigenous Societies The history of the American continent does not start at the point of arrival of Europeans to the continent. A very long time prior to their arrival, this continent was inhabited by greatly developed civilizations like the Incas, Aztecs and Mayas. These civilizations were not simple uneducated tribes, they had enormous cities, well developed science and enormous achievements in agriculture. These civilizations were very rich due to the big natural deposits of gold. The Europeans, with their arrival in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, have changed this situation to the core. The main places of location or these civilization were along whitewater rivers where they had good means of transportation, excellent fishing, and fertile floodplain soils for agriculture.
In the first century of European presence, the Amerindian population was reduced by 90%. Most of the remaining people lived in the interior of the forest either pushed there by the Europeans, or traditionally living there in smaller groups. (1) Europeans, when they have arrived at the continent, regarded the people who lived there as savages, but this statement cannot be regarded as absolutely true. Although, these people did not have metal weapons they still were very developed. In some ways they were a lot like the Europeans. The primary similarity that can be traced is the way religion was treated in both of the societies.
Of course the very set of beliefs were in core different, but the way both types of people believed in it were exactly the same. Both nations regarded their sets of beliefs being the only correct one, with praising it and lifting it to the top. Although there was a difference in the way these people treated their religions. Amerindians did not try to convert the newcomers to their own religions, while the Europeans primary mission was to convert all the Indians to Catholicism, and those who did not want to convert were punished. With the course of time many Europeans, mostly the French started to want to learn the culture of the people they were living next to. They learned the language and were accepted into the tribes, they were more readily accepted due to the fact that they were not missionaries, and that they were not trying to change the lifestyles of these people. There can be drawn a parallel between the political structure of the European society and the Amerindian society.
The Essay on European and Asian continents
The author Jared Diamond in the book Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies writes that the alternative title for his book would probably be a short history about everyone for the last 13,000 years. This topic will explain the author’s main argument as well as cite a passage where he states his points clearly. We will also give two proximate and two ultimate factors to support his ...
The head of the Amerindian society was the chief of the tribe, a similar figure in the European society of that time was the king. The chief, more than the king, made sure that the people followed the laws. The laws in the Amerindian society were drawn up is such a manner that each person had their position in the tribe and they all worked together for accumulative prosperity. The European laws also protected the people, but in some cases they made the people not to be individuals, more a mass that was working for the prosperity of the king. The traditions of these two societies were completely different. There were similar ideas: for instance in both societies there was the institution of marriage, but the way that the marriages took place were completely different, but if to look closely we can even make a parallel between the celebrations. After the religious part (that of course was completely different for the two societies) followed the festivities part with dances (the actual festivities and the dances were absolutely different), but the actual fact of them taking place was present in both of the societies. The languages of the Europeans and the Indians were completely different, but they were used in both cases to convey ideas and interests.
There was trade developed in both societies, in European one it was developed to higher scale, in the Amerindian not so. In general, looking back at the history, we do not have any historical recording, which would actually tell us objective truth of the way that the life was going on in the Amerindian societies. Most of the records are high subjective and were greatly influenced by the sets of beliefs that the Europeans tried to convey. Nonetheless, we can deduce that the two diametrically different societies had many similar ideas, many similar ways, and traditions. The way that these ideas and ways were performed was different, but the aim of them could have been highly the same. Works Cited American Peoples of the Rainforest. Retrieved from http://www.mongabay.com/0704.htm Description of the New World.
The Essay on Early Human Society Beings Ideas Government
Early Human Society Between the years of 1500 and 1789, was a period of growing societies, government, culture, and the values of human beings. Many great English philosophers during this time such as John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Thomas Hobbes wrote and collected their ideas that depict the nature of human beings and how they come together to form a society in which governments are ...
Retrieved from http://www.collectionscanada.ca/jesuit-relations/h 19-220-e.html.
