Question

Explain how cultural interactions between colonizing groups, africans, american indians, in the colonial era impacted the development of american colonial identity.

Answer 1

Few Europeans among the colonizing groups considered American-Indians their equals. However, most Europeans recognized the importance of Indians in their quest to exploit America's resources. As such, they still had to interact with them. Africans were only considered useful for their labor by Europeans. As such, assumed European superiority saw spirited efforts to alter the beliefs and worldviews of the other two groups. However, Indians strove to maintain their political and cultural autonomy through resistance which often led to conflict. On the other hand, Africans remained subjugated by the institution of slavery. This led them to lose a huge part of their identity. Nevertheless, Africans managed to form linguistic and cultural adaptations resulting to varying degrees of cultural autonomy and preservation. The emergent colonial system especially in English colonies was therefore marked by rigid racial hierarchy. However, in other colonies ruled by other powers such as the Portuguese and Spanish a hybrid colonial identity emerged especially where these groups intermarried.