war tactics of native americans during the colonial period
The term Native American is used to cover a very broad culture of individual groups and tribes that inhabited the Americas before the discovery of the new world. At the time of Columbus’ arrival the Native Americans spoke at least 375 distinct languages and by conservative estimates, they had a population of over seven million people.1 This great diversity lent itself to constant conflicts and all out wars between the tribes before, during, and after the colonial era. Native Americans fought not only with their Native American counterparts, but also with the European settlers that began arriving in the late 15th century. ... ) on one side and the Native Americans (Powhatan, Iroquois, Algonquin, Wampanoag, etc. ... Most battles that were fought in the colonies previous to the American Revolution were fought between a particular European nation and its Native American allies. ... France and the Algonquin) and another European nation and its Native American allies (Ex. ... The French and Spanish both succeeded in converting numbers of Native Americans to Christianity and every first grader can relay the cooperation of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans at the first Thanksgiving. And finally, Europeans did use the Native Americans against its enemies, but the Europeans were also used by the Native Americans as allies in rivalries that dated back many years before the arrival of settlers. ... King Philip’s War (1675-78) was next and was the costliest war ever seen on the continent.4 The great Native American Chief King Philip (aka Metacomet) attempted and nearly succeeded in driving the settlers of the Chesapeake colonies into the Atlantic. The final full scale war before the War for Independence was The French and Indian War. This conflict was the final war over control of the colonies and was fought between the French and their Algonquin allies and the British and their Iroquoian-speaking allies. The settlers were shocked at the Native American culture because it was backwards to them. ... While the Europeans looked upon farm work as a man’s duty and hunting a leisure activity of the rich, men of the Native American communities spent their days hunting and fishing while leaving the women at home to work the fields. ... Also strange to the new settlers was the native’s form of government. ... Unlike the Europeans, the leaders of Native Americans don’t receive gift from their subject.