Healthcare Privacy and Security Essay

American History: Discussion

Today, the existence of America is often assumed to be obviously good because of the existence of American democracy and positive American democratic values exported all over the world. However, that was not always the case. The American colonists did not find untouched, virgin land but land that was already occupied by native peoples with unique cultural worldviews. Because the Indians did not 'own' land in a manner that was comprehensible to the Europeans the colonists viewed the territory as effectively 'up for grabs.'

The initial motivation of many of the early colonists was purely mercenary such as in Jamestown: "The colony was sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, a group of investors who hoped to profit from the venture. Chartered in 1606 by King James I, the company also supported English national goals of counterbalancing the expansion of other European nations abroad, seeking a northwest passage to the Orient, and converting the Virginia Indians to the Anglican religion" ("A history," 2014). The Massachusetts Bay Colony, in contrast, was founded by dissenters from the Church of England who wished to create their own society based upon their interpretation of the Bible.

Regardless of such motivations (neither of which, strictly speaking, was democratic in its impulse), the fact remains that even though the Native Americans extended aid to colonists during the early, hard years they spent in the Americas, ultimately the native way of life was encroached upon and ended by white settlements. Rather than peaceful coexistence, the colonists demanded domination. While it is true that some native tribes were quite warlike and participated in European conflicts (such as the Iroquois) it is also difficult to deny that the American presence fundamentally destabilized relations between native tribes and effectively came with an 'unfair advantage' (including communicable diseases to which the native population had no immunity) that ultimately vanquished all the tribes. The American Revolution marked the end of the most powerful Native American influence, the Iroquois League: "The League as a political entity was severely damaged by the conflict, and the war itself brought death and devastation to the member tribes. After the war, American retaliatory raids destroyed Iroquois towns and crops, and drove the people from their homelands" ("Iroquois League," 2014).

References

A history of Jamestown. (2014). Jamestown. Retrieved from:

http://www.historyisfun.org/jamestown-settlement/history-jamestown/

Iroquois League. (2014). Every Culture. Retrieved from:

http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Ha-La/Iroquois-Confederacy.html

Management Information Systems for Healthcare Managers: Discussion…