Apush Essay

APUSH Summer Assignment

Essay 1

Christopher Columbus, one of history's most successful failures, probably did not realize the consequences of his accidental discovery of the Americas, the massive land barrier separating him from the fabled Indies. The Columbus exchange, or the transfer of goods, diseases, and crops between the European settlers and the Native Americans, drastically changed the course of history. 90 percent of the native population was wiped out in the centuries following Columbus's “discovery.” In Virginia, specifically Chesapeake, colonists faced the pugnacious natives and starvation was a constant worry. However, the natives had no problem surviving on the abundance of crops and animals the land had to offer. In New York, some native tribes were powerful in that they were more organized and unified than most. Not only did they have their knowledge of the land as an advantage against the colonists, but they had each other to fight them off.

The English landed in Virginia in 1607, only to find that they were unprepared to fend for themselves against the unfamiliar people and land. The colonists, become desperate out of starvation, began raiding the natives, whom they called “Powhatans.” This only made the relationship between the two groups more tense, despite Chieftain Powhatan's attempts to remain conciliatory. The atmosphere became even more strained when Lord de Warr arrived in 1610 on orders from the Virginia Company to declare war against the Indians. His soldiers destroyed the Indians property and killed many of the natives until a peace settlement ended the first of the Anglo-Powhatan wars. After the marriage of Indian Pocahontas and Englishman John Rolfe, the settlers and the Indians experienced a period of peace. However, the Indians found themselves still oppressed by the colonists diseases and desire for more land. They struck back in 1622 and continued to fight although the Virginia Company called to end the natives as a...