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The Europeans saw the Indians as nothing more than a resource and as savage, primitive
beast. At first though they were curious as to what they could do and what they knew. The
Europeans often called the natives Indians or country people.

The Europeans saw the Indian culture as something along the lines of paganism. The
Europeans thought it was strange that the natives would walk around naked. Most of the
interactions the Europeans had with ended with conflict between the village and the Europeans.
Except for the pilgrims, which at first they were more friendly with the natives that were around
them, but ultimately ended with conflict between the pilgrims and the natives. The Pilgrims
didn’t mind the natives at first because the natives were providing food for them and teaching
them how to farm on this land and what plants would grow here. In the chesapeake colonies the
Europeans had more trouble with the natives because they were not prepared for the harsh
conditions they settled in and it also did not help that they did not bring any farmers with them.
While the natives that lived near the colony had originally wanted to help the colony survive by
extending a helping hand; the people disregarded this because they saw the natives as nothing
more than primitive beast. They stole resources from them and because of this the chief’s tribe
moved away from the colony. They eventually formed a peace alliance by having Pocahontas
and John Rolfe marry each other. The chief of the tribe introduced tobacco to the colony and it
quickly became a staple crop. After 1-2 years of growing tobacco the soil will lose its nutrients
and because of this it threatened the way of life for the natives. The chief made a decision and
attacked the colony, killing ⅓ of its inhabitants and destroying the tobacco plants.

The Europeans did not see the natives as someone that deserved respect. Much less as
their equal. There are multiple reasons I believe this. First one being that with the puritans they
were highly aggressive with taking land and forcing their religion onto the indigenous people.
Completely disregarding their religious beliefs and culture. Even the native people helped the
colonies the people still did not give the natives the respect they deserved. Jamestown was a
perfect example of this. When Pocohantas married John Rolfe for the peace alliance they did not
give her respect. They treated her badly and paraded her around like an animal or a zoo
attraction. Even before this the people of the Jamestown colony had been stealing food from the
natives instead of accepting their help which the chief had gladly offered at first.

The natives reaction to first seeing the Europeans arrive at their shores was one of
astonishment and curiosity. As told by one of the natives when his grandmother had first seen a
French ship they had thought it was a moving island. Not knowing there were men aboard the
ship. When they had found out there were men on board the women immediately began
preparations to welcome these men. They were given a barrel of bread or biscuit and found no
taste in it and threw it into the water. The natives had sent a man to investigate the Europeans.
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He reported that these men were drinking blood and eating bones, not knowing that the were
actually drinking wine and eating bread.They were later impressed and curious about the
inventions of the Europeans. Some of them being the plow, windmill and the ships they sailed
on. They were amazed at the efficiency of the windmill and how it looked.

The Indians at first welcomed the Europeans with open arms and curiosity. Inviting them
to enter the houses that the women of the tribe had gotten ready for them. The natives had always
offered a helping hand to the colonies that formed around them at first. Teaching the Europeans
how to farm these new lands.

The Natives accepted the Europeans as guests and were generally kind to the Europenas
they encountered. It stayed like this until the Europeans started betraying their trust. The natives
curiosity of these foreign people made it easier for them to interact with them. When natives
came across new people it would seem that they would welcome them in the same way that they
welcomed the Europeans; with open arms and curiosity.

The beginning of the Jamestown colony was not a good one. The Virginia
Company was not ready to start a colony. They did not bring any farmers so they were not able
to grow any food leading to the colony suffering from the start. The first winter many people
died from not having enough provisions. The situation had gotten so bad that there was even
evidence of cannibalism. From the start the people had problems with the natives. They stole
food to survive from the natives and this angered the chief of the tribe. The chief pulled his
tribe’s helping hand away from the people and let them struggle on their own. In 1617 the
colony’s new leader John Smith made a peace alliance with the natives by having Pocahontas
and John Rolfe marry each other. With this peace alliance the tribe’s chief introduced the colony
to tobacco which became very popular in England and quickly became the staple crop of this
colony. Most of the people in the Jamestown colony were indentured servants. Upwards of ⅔ of
the people that lived there were indentured servants while the other ⅓ were farmers. After 1-2
years of planting tobacco the soil loses its nutrients and because of this it started to endanger the
way of life of the native people. Because of this the natives attacked the colony and killed
approximately ⅓ of its inhabitants.

The colony was originally established for the completion of three goals. These goals were
to find gold, find a water route to Asia (N.W. Passage) and to trade with the indeginous people
for pelts and other stuff like that. The reason the colony settled in a bad area was because they
thought it was the entrance of the N.W. Passage. England wanted control of both the entrance of
the exit of the N.W. Passage so they could tax any boat that wanted to go through it and because
this area was easily defendable. Not knowing that the N.W. Passage did not exist. Eurpeans
hearing the stories of Spain and how rich they were getting had thought that the New World was
littered with gold. This was the reason that the finding of gold was the first goal given to the
colony. The third goal of trading w/ indians was given because the natives had furs and pelts that
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could no longer be found in Europe because of the mass hunting of animals with fur. The only
reason England allowed the formation of this colony was for the purpose of monetary value.

The life of an indentured servant was one of hard labor with no reward. The indentured
servants were somewhat like slaves. People became indentured servants willingly, being hired by
farmers in the New World and brought over by ship. In exchange for the farmers paying for the
voyage and providing basic necessities the indentured servants would work for the farmers to
work off the debt they accumulated. For a man this would take roughly 3-5 years. For a woman
the average time it took to work off their debt was 6-8 years. The reason being that there were
roughly 75% men in the Jamestown colony. Because of this most of the women who were
indentured servants were sexually assaulted and raped which led to them becoming pregnant and
not being able to work for several months/years. After working off the debt they accumulated the
people had one of two options. One being to gain more debt to work for more water, food and
clothing or to move west and live on the Indians’ land which they could potentially be killed by
them. The reason being that the indentured servants had nothing to their names when they came
to the New World. Indentured servants served a huge role in the growth of the Jamestown and
Chesapeake colonies. They were a cheap form of labor and once the person worked off their debt
they could simply hire new indentured servants and work them to their heart’s content. The
farmers used them in the plantation they had. Often the indentured servant, once free, would
write letters back to their family in England and ask for any sort of help because they did not
have anything to their name in the New World.

Religion played a huge role in the early years of the New England colonies. The main
reason these colonies were created were because the people did not want to follow the Catholic
Church. They believed that the Catholic Church had to many Catholic practices to it. For
example, the Pilgrims left for the New World because they were disappointed with the results of
the English Reformation being that they were protestant. The Pilgrims wanted less catholic and
hierarchical practices in the church. The same could be said with the Puritans of the
Massachusetts colony, but instead they believed mainly that the Church had to many Catholic
aspects in it. The Puritans believed that everyone should follow the same religion and it strongly
influenced the government in the Massachusetts colony to the point that if you were not apart of
the Church you could not participate in political matters. Important meetings were held in the
church by the Puritans. Because of the increased focus on more text based religious practices the
literacy rates of both colonies were quite high compared to those of the southern colonies.
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There are many differences and similarities between the Chesapeake and New England
colonies. For example, the southern colonies focused more on agriculture as a means to collect
money. Meanwhile the New England colonies only needed money to pay the taxes of the
charters they were granted by the king. Also New England colonies had its origins focused more
on religion rather than being profit-oriented like the Chesapeake colony. Although the Pilgrims
did have some friendly relationships with the natives at first, both the New England and
Chesapeake colonies ended up having many problems with the Indians. One of the biggest
differences between these colonies were how they were governed. The New England colonies
had more people participating in the government than the Chesapeake colony at the time.
Religion was a huge part of the New England colonies, being the main reason most of
these colonies were formed. The Puritans thought that everyone should follow the same religion,
not mattering if you already were apart of a different religion altogether. Because of this they
forced everyone in the Massachusetts colony to be apart of the church if they wanted to
participate in the politics of the colony. They even tried forcing their religious beliefs upon the
Indians that they had taken land from.