Takaki Chapter 2

The author’s main point in this writing is that the Native Americans were not ready to have their way of life changed by some newcomers who they have never seen or met before. They were used to living their own way of life and providing for themselves. For as long as the Native Americans have been in the United States they have been living there by themselves and on their own terms. When Columbus and his crew arrived they completely changed the history of the Indians and also of the United States forever. The Native Americans treated the expedition crew like they were gods because they truly believed that they were. The Native Americans would give them anything that they wanted and they were willing to trade whatever they had no matter how valuable it was. In my opinion they were too friendly which made them susceptible to anything the new colonists wanted to do to them. As time progressed the Native Americans were treated worse and worse and the colonists were starting to push them from the territories that they wanted to own. They also forced the Native Americans into slave labor either in the United States or they sent them back over to Europe. The Indians finally started to realize that these two completely different types of people had no chance of living together in peace. The Native Americans began to rebel and they started trying to be hostile towards the colonists and they began to have wars with them. The Europeans also brought over many types of diseases that the Native Americans have never dealt with before which in turn killed many of them very quickly. The Indians have also taken all of the good farming grounds with the fertile soil by the time the foreigners arrived and this also became a problem. This situation lead to the Europeans either fighting the Native Americans for this land and taking it over or in some cases they moved in next to the Indians and crowded them out. How could the Native Americans perhaps have prevented being taken over by Columbus and his crew and everyone else eventually? Were the Native Americans too friendly to the explorers from the beginning which caused them to be taken over easily? In my opinion the explorers had no right to do this to the Native Americans who did nothing but be kind to them from the moment they stepped foot on this continent. The explorers returned their kindness with slavery, stealing and many other things which they did not deserve.