Was the destruction and decimation of the American Indians (Native Americans) genocide?

Question

The "settlers were mostly "European"
The foundation of America based on genocide?

Not including Inca and Aztec in this Question - even though similarities

Does greater force and greater power = more civilised

Answer 1

Yes, it was genocide. If you weren't Christian, you weren't human, according to the majority of good Christian folks, who could not be wrong. There was also the aspect of who would make the best use of the land. Using the land to support the most people was considered the best use of the land. So, we cut down all our forests, and killed off species, and yet we beg other countries not to do this. Certainly we made a mistake, but we really can't be so hypocritical of other countries doing the same thing we did.

Answer 2

"Genocide" is the established narrative of the story, any departure from which is taken to be proof of racist thought. That history has several secrets, though.

"Americans" had nothing to do with the first 250 years of conflict. because the nation didn't exist. What followed was war, treaties, broken treaties, more war and finally reservations in lieu of integration and assimilation. Exterminatory policy was used by Spain at first until the Catholic Church prevailed, and economic incentives took hold. The French and British manipulated, mislead, and otherwise mistreated unto death when necessary all natives in the new continent, just as they continued to do in their imperial endeavors elsewhere, joined by Dutch, German, and Belgium adventures.

Tocqueville, Democracy in America, observed the chief difference between black American slaves and red Indians to be their assessment of European civilization. For blacks, it was the "school of slavery," the means by which to become free masters of themselves. For Indians, a proud determined rejection even unto extinction of European life and culture.

Worse still for the stereotyped view, American Indians were not the noble savages of Rousseaun fantasy. They too had their imperial expansions, their own ruthless warriors and slave holders, as well as practitioners of slash and burn agriculture. Even the "Old Ones" of the western pueblos appeared to have practiced ritual murder and cannibalism..

Answer 3

Basically the Europeans instituted a welfare program;

that entailed converting the stone age Natives to Christianity, for the good of their souls;

introduction of modern farming and livestock production, the buffalo is not an efficient grazing animal so had it to go;

the civilizing influence of alcohol;

the chance to live a traditional way of life amongst their own kind on dedicated reservations.

You decide...

Answer 4

I wouldn't say it was in the true sense of the word. From what I remember it was not centrally planned wholesale slaughter - though some would disagree.

There were some individual events that could be classified as genocide but in most clashes of cultures there always is.

Disease I think was the main cause for the destruction of the native Americans (Are you including Inca & Aztec?)

Answer 5

Jacksona... contradicts himself by saying no and then describing the process of genocide that took place. The smallpox example is the best because there are documented cases of deliberate infection of the native americans.
http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/amherst/lord_jeff.html

Answer 6

Of course

Answer 7

Yes

Answer 8

I will personally say no. Someone was bound to conquer America, it just happened to be the highly advanced white man. Indians fought wars with their new conquers as any nation would do when they have people taking over their land. The white man just happened to be light years ahead of the Indians. The decimation of American Indians was mostly caused by foreign diseases that they were newly exposed to, the most fatal one being small pox. Sure there was a small isolated number of cases where there was going to be some Innocent lives lost but that's just the price of war.

If Europeans had not conquered America, do you think a Chinese, African, Arab or Russian conquer would have yielded different results? If Europe would not have conquered America, its my belief that Indians would have been wiped out completely. Europe was far more advanced in accepting multiculturalism and promoting democracies. Do you see the Arabs or Chinese allowing Indians to have reserves and a chance to live amongst their new conjurers?

I don't want to sound racist but Europe did a pretty good job in my books. There would have been mass deaths of Indians now matter who conquered America, that's just the way it is.

Answer 9

Yes. They also used biological warfare deliberately to whipe out the resident population (Small Pox).

Luck

Answer 10

Far from it...the Indians mostly died of disease, not from being killed directly or indirectly by any actions of the settlers.