Three Cultures Collide
More than 500 years ago, a few frail ships crossing the waters of the Atlantic Ocean first
brought Europeans to Native American shores. Africans torn from their homelands soon
followed. At that time regular contact – often violent and darkened by misunderstanding – began
among the three cultures. What does that encounter mean to us? It is the beginning of an answer
to pressing questions: Who are we? Where have we come from? Where are we going?
It is important to explore the major cultures of the people who would be affected by the
implications of European exploration of the new world. An investigation into the religious,
political and economic beliefs of these separate cultures will show why and how they were
bound to clash and collide with disastrous consequences for some of them.
Europeans
Europeans took the most active role in the collision with Native American and African
cultures, partly because of the technology they possessed. By the end of the 1400’s they had
large, seaworthy ships in which they could sail great distances and return safely with the cargoes.
Gunpowder, invented by the Chinese but known to Europeans since the fourteenth century, gave
Europeans an advantage in warfare. Printing with movable type had been invented and this
caused a revolution in communication to take place in Europe.
Yet, the mere possession of these technologies did not drive Europeans to cross the
Atlantic and confront Africa and the Americas. One thing motivated them: the desire to win
wealth through trade. Their trade, however, was very different from Native American trade and
flourished in a very different society. This difference would lead to misunderstandings and
mistrust.
Family Life/Structure
Europeans in the 1400’s depended heavily on farming for survival. Generally, however,
land was scarce and people were numerous. Land was owned and controlled by relatively few
people. Europeans believed strongly in the idea of hierarchy – meaning that everything had an
order of importance. At the head of most European hierarchies was a father figure. The
Christian God was considered the supreme Father and most governments had a parent-like ruler
at the head, most often a king. In European families each father ruled over his dependents – his
wife, children and in some cases, servants or apprentices.
Europeans assumed that the superior status of men they saw in their society was part of
nature. Families were based on this strict family structure. This type of male-dominated social
organization is called a patriarchal society.
Families provided the focus for the daily life of Europeans, as it did for Native Americans
and Africans. In the English household, at least at the level of farmers and tradespeople,
everyone performed economic activities for the good of the whole. Unlike most modern
American homes, the primary purpose of the English household was production rather than
consumption. In other words, people worked long hours in and around the house to provide for
their basic needs. The survival of the household depended upon the willingness of all its
members to put aside their individual interests for the good of the whole. In this respect,
European households were like Native American families.
Europeans had little time for play or leisure. Their belief was that people are meant to be
working all the time. Children were seen as possible economic gain, and were not treated to
childhoods filled with fun. European parenting was very strict Even children had to work from
a very early age.
Land ownership
Land ownership was desirable for the Europeans, as land meant power and income.
Land in Europe was scarce and it set apart the land owners from the workers. Land was seen as
something that must be owned. Land was to be shared with no one, unless there was economic
gain for the owner.
Competition for Trade
Competition for trade was intensifying among European nations in the 1400’s. England
was a good example of the growing energy of European trade. The people of this island nation
developed an extensive trade with the rest of Europe, and they were not alone. Merchants from
all over Europe were scouting for new markets. This fierce competition illustrates a crucial
difference between the Europeans and Native Americans conducted trade. Unlike Native
Americans, Europeans tended to see trade as a simple material exchange that did not create any
positive social obligations between people. Europeans goal in trade was simple: increased
wealth and individual gain. Native Americans traded for need out of friendship and respect.
They valued cooperation and mutual satisfaction. The difference would lead to bitter
misunderstandings when Europeans and Native Americans finally met across the Atlantic.
Religious Life
During the 1400’s the predominant faith in Europe was Christianity. European Christians
believed that they could communicate with their all-powerful God through prayer and ceremony.
Plagues and starvation had scared many Christians that God’s plan was to end the world. It
created a sense of fear and doom. The Europeans believed that Man is naturally evil and needs a
God to correct him. Christians felt threatened by other religions, particularly Islam. They felt It
was their obligation to spread Christianity throughout the world. This made Europeans resolute
in their desire to see all others converted to their religion and to view “heathens” as evil.
Native Americans
For the Native Americans, European settlement would have profound, devastating effects
on their way of life. Before the cultures of North and South America collided with the cultures
of the Europeans and Africans, the world of the Native Americans was filled with variety as
many different societies lived on the continent. But nothing wiped them out like the invasion of
settlers from the European continent.
Family Life/Structure
The Native American way of life revolved around families. Families fulfilled all social
needs, and the natives lived together in groups. The families provided education for the young
and religious instruction for all. They believed that Man is basically good, and were taught to
live in harmony with each other and nature. There was a sense of cooperation and concern for
the whole community. For the Native Americans, the family usually was not just parents and
children, but a kinship network. This was a group of relatives or kin, such as parents, children,
grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and those who had married into the family.
Labor was divided among men and women and there was equality among the sexes. In
some Native American societies, women were the head of the clan. Children were valued and
parenting was lenient and kind. Children were taught about life through games and stories.
Trade
Native American trade routes crisscrossed North America by the 1400’s. All Native
American groups, no matter how large or small, traded food or goods within their group and
outside it. They traded not only for items they needed or wanted, but also to demonstrate
hospitality and friendliness. Trade was considered a friendly thing to do, because sharing was a
sign of respect. The Native Americans traded as a way of showing friendship and respect. Trade
was for mutual benefit of the trading partners, not a competitive activity aimed at making a profit
at the other person’s expense. It was a social activity and it was an honest, honorable thing to do.
Religion
Families frequently joined together in ceremonial celebrations of their spiritual life.
According to the Native American view, the most powerful forces in the world were spiritual.
There was no organized religion, but the Native Americans believed in spiritual things. Their
religious beliefs taught that the land, like all of nature, deserved respect. Harmony and balance
with nature and the surrounding environment was valued. There were many spirits, not just one
God. Native Americans relied on powerful oral traditions, passing on their history and beliefs
from generation to generation by word of mouth. Old people told young people stories, songs,
and instructions for ceremonies. People believed different things, and differences were tolerated.
Land View
Although Native American might give away possessions as gifts, they never traded away
land. In their view, the land could not be owned. They believed that people had a right to use
land and could grant others the right to use it too. But to sell land outright as people in other
countries did at the time and as we do today was unthinkable to Native Americans. It belonged
to the generations to come. It was not theirs to sell.
Also unthinkable was altering the land so that it would no longer support the Native
American way of life. Unfortunately, these ideas about land were very different from the
European settlers. For Europeans, owning land meant being wealthy.
Africans
By the end of the 1400’s Africa was a land of powerful kingdoms, ancient learning, great
religions and the wealth of thriving trade. The forest kingdoms of West Africa were complex
and wealthy cultures. West Africa had an extensive trading system and there were already welltraveled routes across the Atlantic used by European traders looking for profits.
Family life/Structure
Most societies were made up of people who lived in towns and supported themselves
primarily through farming. As in the America, kinship networks were the major social units in
this part of Africa. When men married, they became part of the woman’s family. There was
also a hierarchy system, with slaves on the bottom and nobility on top. Tribal chiefs were men,
chosen by women for the job. There was no sense of dominance by either sex, as men and
women were seen as equals. Children were cherished and their play revolved around
unstructured games. Play with adults taught them about the world.
Trade
Trade was active and well established in West Africa. The African people traded out of
need. They exchanged goods for other items that they desired. The Africans were not too
competitive, trading was fair. By the 1400’s there were extensive trade routes and the Africans
were trading with Europeans. In some areas, Africans traded humans. They would sell people
kidnapped from one region of Africa to another and enslave them. These slaves were a key part
of the trading system, as the enslaved workers did much of the trading work. Women slaves
were highly valued because they could bear children that would increase the size od he lineage
and because women did most of the farming. Enslaved men were soldiers and administrators,
although men, too labored in the fields. Thus, enslaved people played a major role in African
life. After the collision of the Atlantic cultures, they would also be forced to go to the Americas,
where they would take part in creating new societies.
Religion
There was variety in the religious aspects of life in West Africa. The religion of Islam was
practiced in many areas, while other forms of religious worship were present. Some of the
Africans believed in spirits in nature, and they were connected spiritually to the land. Some
African societies believed in one supreme God who creates lesser gods.
Land View
While Africans believed in land ownership, land was abundant in West Africa, so land
ownership was not competitive. In Africa, no one could become wealthy and powerful by
claiming a large area of land because land was so abundant there. For this reason, land
ownership did not equal power and status like it did in Europe. It was treated more casually.