From the very first interaction, the social and political relations between the Native Americans and the Europeans had begun with much tension. Many Europeans came to the Americas with the intention of discovery. However, when it became apparent that these new lands were inhibited the motives changed, and then the natives were colonized, abused, and in many cases killed. From then and throughout the impending periods of time, the relations between the natives and the Europeans had a few points of mutual peacefulness, but were overall negative. Many of the very first interactions between the natives and Europeans lead to the natives becoming brutally murdered or enslaved. The account from Bartolomé De Las Casas depicts the
Later, the natives begin to die of smallpox, and Bradford claims that some of the English helped them. He also talks about the alliance made between the Narragansett tribe with the English, against the Pequot Indian tribe. Overall, according to Bradford, the first tribe of natives and the settlers got along fairly well. Bradford’s attitude towards the natives seems to be one of respect and thankfulness, at least towards the tribe they encountered and made a civility pact with. He doesn’t really mention interactions with any other tribes, besides when he talks about the war and the alliance made. That interaction was certainly not peaceful, however it cannot be expected that every interaction would be. In his writing, it is implied that the group of natives they interacted with reciprocated the respect. They actually helped the settlers survive by providing them with the skills essential to living in America. His approach to the natives seems to be one of peace; if you don’t hurt us, we won’t hurt you. He wants everyone to get along, and his account of what happened seems to be creditable. It is unlikely that he would suppress the truth if the settlers were getting killed, and if they were killing the natives, the chances of their survival would have been extremely slim. Mary Rowlandson had a much different experience with the natives than the other authors. Her narrative entitled “A