Question

Contrast the views of Europeans of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with those of Native Americans they encountered on such topics as the environment, social relations, religious beliefs, and slavery.

Answer 1

Native Americans were very connected with their environment - they nurtured it and used it as much as they needed, so as to survive. On the other hand, the settlers depleted all resources they could, razed everything to the ground in order to build their homes, as opposed to Native Americans who lived in nature. When it came to social relations, Native Americans were all equal (except for their chieftain). Europeans were also considered to be equal, however - they truly were not. Native Americans had their own beliefs and Europeans tried to force their religion onto Natives. When it came to slavery, there were no slaves with Native Americans - as I said, they were all equal. However, Europeans had no qualms about having slaves.