Topic > Indian-European Interactions - 2123

From the time contact was established between Europeans and Native Americans, differing perspectives made these civilizations' interactions difficult and often sparked conflict. Europeans saw the world from a completely different point of view than that of Native Americans. This article will use three situations that occurred between Europeans and Native Americans to illustrate how different the two perspectives often were. These situations were: the Treaty of Casco Bay of 1727; the Treaty of Lancaster in 1744; and Georgia's dispossession of Cherokee property from 1828 to 1835. This article will answer some basic questions about the situations, such as: the reasons for the misunderstandings; events resulting from different perspectives; and who was the “winner” of the situations. Finally, this article will draw some conclusions about how ideas influenced the functioning of power in these situations. The Treaty of Casco Bay of 1727 was intended to resolve tension that had occurred between the English and several tribes of Abenaki Indians in Maine. The Abenaki had apparently carried out attacks on English settlers in the region. The English finally forced the Abenaki to sign a treaty in which the Indians promised to “cease and endure all acts of hostility, injury and discord towards all subjects of the Crown of Great Britain” and to “maintain a firm and constant amity and friendship with everyone." the English." The story could have ended there; however, the official wording of the signed treaty turned out to be different than what the Abenaki thought they had negotiated. The English transcribers of the treaty depicted the Abena... in the center of the folio... 744", in The World Turned Upside Down: Indian Voices from Early America, ed. Colin G. Calloway (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1994), 101Canasatego, 101Canasatego, 102Canasatego, 102Katherine Osburn, “Indian Removal: Policy Issues and Implementation,” 5.Perdue, Theda and Michael D. Green. The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents, (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005), 85-86.Perdue and Green, 3Cherokee Indians “Memorial of Protest of the Cherokee Nation, June 22, 1836” in The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents, ed. Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green ( Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005), 87Cherokee Indians, 88Cherokee Indians, 91Atiwaneto “Speech Resisting Colonial Expansion 1752,” in The World Turned Upside Down: Indian Voices from Early America, ed. Colin G. Calloway (Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin's, 1994), 127