INTRODUCTION
As the first English settlers arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, they knew they would likely develop relations with the neighboring Native Americans whose land they were encroaching on. As the cultures of these two very different groups collided, the English settlers and the Native Americans interacted in ways that impacted each other’s lives significantly. Though these interactions between first English settlers and the Native Americans altered both group’s cultures and daily lives, the English found themselves facing a relationship with the Native Americans that had not been expected. An almost total reliance on the Native Americans was not part of the English settler’s original plans in the New World, yet the Native Americans became an essential asset to English survival.
The first encounters between these two groups were important for setting the stage for their relationship as time went on. The two groups possessed very different views of each other, and their preconceived notions would effect how the acted. As the European ways invaded a land that was always known as “free” to the Natives, they were troubled. Just as concerned were the English. They had never seen such an “uncivilized” group, and they knew they would be forced to interact with them. Little did they know that these interactions could make or break their fragile Jamestown settlement.
Conflicts both small and large arose somewhat often between the Indians and English. According to Eric Foner in his text, Give Me Liberty 4th ed, Volume 1, he states that the first few years that the Natives and the English coexisted were relatively peaceful after initial raids subsided (59). As time passed on and tensions built, peace between the groups was always on the verge of being broken. Smaller raids implemented by the Natives had the power to ruin harvests for the settlers. In these early times, acts like these gave the natives the upper hand. The survival of the English was threatened every time tensions got high because the Indians possessed important crops and agriculture knowledge. Peace was able to be kept by the good relations built by Englishman John Smith. Though on his return to England, conflict arose again in an even larger outbreak of violence (Foner, 59). Larger conflicts continued and lead to deaths on both sides and many starving times. It proved very hard for the two groups to always coexist peacefully.
Trade between the Native Americans and the English settlers also had an impact on both groups. The first winter was hard for the settlers, who didn’t know the ways of the land. The food that was traded to them by the Indians is what kept them alive. According to Colonial America: From Jamestown to Yorktown, written by Mary K. Geiter and W.A. Speck, the Natives were even kind enough to simply give the settlers necessities like corn and furs before tensions got too high. They can tribute their survival in the New World mostly to the corn provided by the Indians.
The Anglican Christians possessed ethnocentric views that their religious beliefs were superior to those of the Native Americans. The settlers witnessed the Natives ways of worshiping, called Animism, and did not trust them because their religions were so different. The English took their religion very seriously and thought that if they converted the Indians it would be doing them good. They tried to influence Native American religious culture with their strict European ways.
Pocahontas was the key to a critical relationship between the dominant Native American tribe the Powhatans, and the English settlers. The relationship between these two groups could determine the wellbeing of people from both parties. Pocahontas was essential to keeping the peace during the times when the Powhatans and the English were allies. Her skills pertaining to language translation and training were essential to the English. As Eric Foner explains, “Pocahontas became an intermediary between the two peoples, bringing food and messages to Jamestown.” (59) Her act of marrying “white man” John Rolfe and integrating the two cultures in the process proved that the Indians and the English could see eye to eye at times and live together as one.
All of different social and cultural interactions combined had the ability to alter both the Native Americans and the English settlers cultures and daily lives.
As the first English settlers arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, they knew they would likely develop relations with the neighboring Native Americans whose land they were encroaching on. As the cultures of these two very different groups collided, the English settlers and the Native Americans interacted in ways that impacted each other’s lives significantly. Though these interactions between first English settlers and the Native Americans altered both group’s cultures and daily lives, the English found themselves facing a relationship with the Native Americans that had not been expected. An almost total reliance on the Native Americans was not part of the English settler’s original plans in the New World, yet the Native Americans became an essential asset to English survival.
The first encounters between these two groups were important for setting the stage for their relationship as time went on. The two groups possessed very different views of each other, and their preconceived notions would effect how the acted. As the European ways invaded a land that was always known as “free” to the Natives, they were troubled. Just as concerned were the English. They had never seen such an “uncivilized” group, and they knew they would be forced to interact with them. Little did they know that these interactions could make or break their fragile Jamestown settlement.
Conflicts both small and large arose somewhat often between the Indians and English. According to Eric Foner in his text, Give Me Liberty 4th ed, Volume 1, he states that the first few years that the Natives and the English coexisted were relatively peaceful after initial raids subsided (59). As time passed on and tensions built, peace between the groups was always on the verge of being broken. Smaller raids implemented by the Natives had the power to ruin harvests for the settlers. In these early times, acts like these gave the natives the upper hand. The survival of the English was threatened every time tensions got high because the Indians possessed important crops and agriculture knowledge. Peace was able to be kept by the good relations built by Englishman John Smith. Though on his return to England, conflict arose again in an even larger outbreak of violence (Foner, 59). Larger conflicts continued and lead to deaths on both sides and many starving times. It proved very hard for the two groups to always coexist peacefully.
Trade between the Native Americans and the English settlers also had an impact on both groups. The first winter was hard for the settlers, who didn’t know the ways of the land. The food that was traded to them by the Indians is what kept them alive. According to Colonial America: From Jamestown to Yorktown, written by Mary K. Geiter and W.A. Speck, the Natives were even kind enough to simply give the settlers necessities like corn and furs before tensions got too high. They can tribute their survival in the New World mostly to the corn provided by the Indians.
The Anglican Christians possessed ethnocentric views that their religious beliefs were superior to those of the Native Americans. The settlers witnessed the Natives ways of worshiping, called Animism, and did not trust them because their religions were so different. The English took their religion very seriously and thought that if they converted the Indians it would be doing them good. They tried to influence Native American religious culture with their strict European ways.
Pocahontas was the key to a critical relationship between the dominant Native American tribe the Powhatans, and the English settlers. The relationship between these two groups could determine the wellbeing of people from both parties. Pocahontas was essential to keeping the peace during the times when the Powhatans and the English were allies. Her skills pertaining to language translation and training were essential to the English. As Eric Foner explains, “Pocahontas became an intermediary between the two peoples, bringing food and messages to Jamestown.” (59) Her act of marrying “white man” John Rolfe and integrating the two cultures in the process proved that the Indians and the English could see eye to eye at times and live together as one.
All of different social and cultural interactions combined had the ability to alter both the Native Americans and the English settlers cultures and daily lives.