Question
Use the primary source documents below to answer the following question:
What were some of the impacts of European colonization on the Indigenous peoples of North America?
Describe at least three impacts using evidence from the sources and complete sentences.
Make sure you have at least three impacts in your answers and that you include which sources you are using. You can use any/all of the sentence starters below to help you write.
One of the impacts of European colonization was….
There is evidence of this impact in Source _, which shows….
Source_ shows another impact was….
Another impact of colonization was…
Source_ shows ….
Overall, the impact of European colonization on indigenous peoples in North America was …..
(6 points)
0 / 10000 Word Limit0 words written of 10000 allowed
Primary Sources
Source A: These are primary source quotes from Bartolomé de las Casas (1474-1566), a 16th century Spanish missionary who witnessed the way colonizers treated Indigenous people as they attempted to convert and enslave them.
"The reason the Christians have murdered on such a vast scale and killed anyone and everyone in their way is purely and simply greed. . . . The Spaniards have shown not the slightest consideration for these people, treating them..as brute animals - all the millions that perished having gone to their deaths.
In this time, the greatest outrages and slaughterings of people were perpetrated, whole villages being depopulated…. They were robbed of their kingdoms, their lands and liberties, and of their lives, their wives, and homes.”
Bartolomé de las Casas, Historia de las Indias, written 1550-1563
Source B: This painting by Douglas Volk (1905) depicts Father Hennepin in front of St. Anthony Falls, which he had “discovered.” It shows Father Hennepin and his French companions preaching to try to convert Native Americans to Christianity.
Source C: This image shows a 16th-century Aztec drawing of smallpox victims. Smallpox was one disease from Europe that impacted Indigenous peoples during colonization.
A smallpox epidemic that gradually spread inward from the coast of Mexico in 1520…reducing its population by 40 percent in a single year. The loss of the older generation meant the loss of knowledge and tradition, while the death of children only compounded the trauma, creating devastating implications for future generations. In the 1630s, half the Huron and Iroquois around the Great Lakes died of smallpox.
Source D: In this 1681 portrait, the Niantic-Narragansett chief Ninigret wears a combination of European and Native goods. This shows how trade impacted groups.
European goods had begun to change Indian life radically. In the 1500s, some of the earliest objects Europeans introduced were glass beads, copper kettles, and metal utensils. Native people often adapted these items for their own use. For example, some cut up copper kettles and refashioned the metal for other uses.
As European settlements grew throughout the 1600s, European goods flooded native communities. Soon native people were using these items for the same purposes as the Europeans.
European guns started an arms race. Tribes with ties to Europeans had a distinct advantage in wars with other tribes because muskets were so much more effective than bows and arrows. Guns changed the balance of power among different groups and tribes and made combat more deadly.
Source E: This is a quote from John Underhill, a settler from the Massachusetts Bay Colony who fought in the Pequot War. In 1637 the Massachusetts Bay colonists assembled their Native allies and launched a brutal assault. He provided the following description of the slaughter that became known as the Mystic Massacre:
“Many were burnt in the fort, both men, women, and children. Others forced out, and came in troops to the Indians, twenty and thirty at a time, which our soldiers received and entertained with the point of the sword. Down fell men, women, and children… It is reported by themselves, that there were about four hundred souls in this fort, and not
above five of them escaped out of our hands. …”
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What were some of the impacts of European colonization on the Indigenous peoples of North America?
Describe at least three impacts using evidence from the sources and complete sentences.
Make sure you have at least three impacts in your answers and that you include which sources you are using. You can use any/all of the sentence starters below to help you write.
One of the impacts of European colonization was….
There is evidence of this impact in Source _, which shows….
Source_ shows another impact was….
Another impact of colonization was…
Source_ shows ….
Overall, the impact of European colonization on indigenous peoples in North America was …..
(6 points)
0 / 10000 Word Limit0 words written of 10000 allowed
Primary Sources
Source A: These are primary source quotes from Bartolomé de las Casas (1474-1566), a 16th century Spanish missionary who witnessed the way colonizers treated Indigenous people as they attempted to convert and enslave them.
"The reason the Christians have murdered on such a vast scale and killed anyone and everyone in their way is purely and simply greed. . . . The Spaniards have shown not the slightest consideration for these people, treating them..as brute animals - all the millions that perished having gone to their deaths.
In this time, the greatest outrages and slaughterings of people were perpetrated, whole villages being depopulated…. They were robbed of their kingdoms, their lands and liberties, and of their lives, their wives, and homes.”
Bartolomé de las Casas, Historia de las Indias, written 1550-1563
Source B: This painting by Douglas Volk (1905) depicts Father Hennepin in front of St. Anthony Falls, which he had “discovered.” It shows Father Hennepin and his French companions preaching to try to convert Native Americans to Christianity.
Source C: This image shows a 16th-century Aztec drawing of smallpox victims. Smallpox was one disease from Europe that impacted Indigenous peoples during colonization.
A smallpox epidemic that gradually spread inward from the coast of Mexico in 1520…reducing its population by 40 percent in a single year. The loss of the older generation meant the loss of knowledge and tradition, while the death of children only compounded the trauma, creating devastating implications for future generations. In the 1630s, half the Huron and Iroquois around the Great Lakes died of smallpox.
Source D: In this 1681 portrait, the Niantic-Narragansett chief Ninigret wears a combination of European and Native goods. This shows how trade impacted groups.
European goods had begun to change Indian life radically. In the 1500s, some of the earliest objects Europeans introduced were glass beads, copper kettles, and metal utensils. Native people often adapted these items for their own use. For example, some cut up copper kettles and refashioned the metal for other uses.
As European settlements grew throughout the 1600s, European goods flooded native communities. Soon native people were using these items for the same purposes as the Europeans.
European guns started an arms race. Tribes with ties to Europeans had a distinct advantage in wars with other tribes because muskets were so much more effective than bows and arrows. Guns changed the balance of power among different groups and tribes and made combat more deadly.
Source E: This is a quote from John Underhill, a settler from the Massachusetts Bay Colony who fought in the Pequot War. In 1637 the Massachusetts Bay colonists assembled their Native allies and launched a brutal assault. He provided the following description of the slaughter that became known as the Mystic Massacre:
“Many were burnt in the fort, both men, women, and children. Others forced out, and came in troops to the Indians, twenty and thirty at a time, which our soldiers received and entertained with the point of the sword. Down fell men, women, and children… It is reported by themselves, that there were about four hundred souls in this fort, and not
above five of them escaped out of our hands. …”
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Answers
GPT-4o mini
European colonization had profound impacts on the Indigenous peoples of North America, significantly altering their societies and ways of life.
One of the impacts of European colonization was the devastating loss of life due to violence and disease. There is evidence of this impact in Source A, which highlights the large-scale murder and depopulation of Indigenous communities: "whole villages being depopulated…. They were robbed of their kingdoms, their lands and liberties, and of their lives." This indicates that colonizers not only killed Indigenous people directly but also displaced them from their lands, leading to a dramatic decline in population and loss of cultural heritage.
Another impact of colonization was the introduction of European diseases, such as smallpox, which decimated Indigenous populations. Source C shows a 16th-century Aztec drawing of smallpox victims and explains that this disease reduced the population by 40 percent in a single year. The result of such epidemics was catastrophic; it "created devastating implications for future generations," as the loss of older generations meant the loss of crucial knowledge and traditions that were vital to Indigenous cultures.
A further impact of European colonization was the transformation of Indigenous economies and social structures through trade and the introduction of new goods. Source D discusses how European goods such as glass beads, copper kettles, and guns radically changed Indian life. The introduction of firearms, in particular, created an "arms race" among tribes, shifting power dynamics and making intertribal conflict more deadly. Native peoples adapted these new items, which altered their traditional practices and ways of living.
Overall, the impact of European colonization on Indigenous peoples in North America was overwhelmingly detrimental, resulting in significant loss of life, cultural disruption, and changes to social and economic structures. The combination of violence, disease, and trade effects fundamentally reshaped the landscape of Indigenous communities.
One of the impacts of European colonization was the devastating loss of life due to violence and disease. There is evidence of this impact in Source A, which highlights the large-scale murder and depopulation of Indigenous communities: "whole villages being depopulated…. They were robbed of their kingdoms, their lands and liberties, and of their lives." This indicates that colonizers not only killed Indigenous people directly but also displaced them from their lands, leading to a dramatic decline in population and loss of cultural heritage.
Another impact of colonization was the introduction of European diseases, such as smallpox, which decimated Indigenous populations. Source C shows a 16th-century Aztec drawing of smallpox victims and explains that this disease reduced the population by 40 percent in a single year. The result of such epidemics was catastrophic; it "created devastating implications for future generations," as the loss of older generations meant the loss of crucial knowledge and traditions that were vital to Indigenous cultures.
A further impact of European colonization was the transformation of Indigenous economies and social structures through trade and the introduction of new goods. Source D discusses how European goods such as glass beads, copper kettles, and guns radically changed Indian life. The introduction of firearms, in particular, created an "arms race" among tribes, shifting power dynamics and making intertribal conflict more deadly. Native peoples adapted these new items, which altered their traditional practices and ways of living.
Overall, the impact of European colonization on Indigenous peoples in North America was overwhelmingly detrimental, resulting in significant loss of life, cultural disruption, and changes to social and economic structures. The combination of violence, disease, and trade effects fundamentally reshaped the landscape of Indigenous communities.