Chapter 2

1542

In the early years of European settlement of the New World, specifically that area north of Mexico and south of Canada, there was a noted difference in the reasons for such difficult transport of men and materials across a wide and dangerous body of water. The primary countries involved in the exploration and settlement chapter of North American regions of the New World were Spain, England, France, Portugal, and Holland (the Dutch). I should not fail to mention some minor participation by Russia in coastal areas along the Pacific coast stretching from Alaska to California. Of course, Alaska has been excluded from this look at the conflict between the American Indian Tribes and the European Settlers and the minor posts established by the Russians will be addressed in part 3.

We can break down this assortment of European settlers into three main groups. The first group would be England and France as the main actors in the settlement phase north of the Rio Grande and exclusive of all areas not contained within the existing lower 48. England and France were just as much in competition with each other in the New World as they had been for centuries in the European regions. The Spanish and Portuguese influences that comprised the second group were targeted into Central America and South America and the Islands that sit offshore like Haiti, Cuba, Puerto Rico and many others too numerous to mention. The third group (The Dutch) were intense in their exploratory efforts but centered their attention on the area of New York City which they named New Amsterdam. It should be noted that The Dutch also did exploration and settlement of a number of Islands sitting offshore of the American Continent along with the French, the British, and the Spanish and Portuguese as well. Some of the islands were uninhabited when they got there and others had a sort of migratory population of Indian tribes that traveled from Island to Island in search of food and water to ease their lifestyle.

At risk of a generalization, the main thrust of the British and French settlement efforts was to establish a new territory under control of the mother country with allegiance to the ruler of their respective countries. The emphasis was on expanded commerce and religious freedom as well as the creation of new markets for goods supplied by the homeland. The expansion of their influence was a plus for their economies and seldom represented a drain on their resources.

On the other side of the coin, the Spanish and Portuguese explorations and settlement efforts were primarily aimed at stripping wealth and resources from the conquered territories and shipping it back to the homeland for consumption of the homeland populace. In some respects, the Spanish efforts were linked to the Catholic Church's desire to gain converts to the faith although more often than not that was merely an excuse to pillage and exploit the native populations in the name of civilization. That is not to say that most of the followers of Christ in the New World were of evil intent. In fact, many good works were accomplished by the Church established both for the Roman faction and the non-Papist faction all the way from the shores of New England to the rugged coast of the Pacific Ocean. Even in modern times, the preeminence of Catholicism is notable in most of the Central and South American regions outside the scope of this relation. The region of study as we previously discussed eventually created a new nation established on the foundation of religious tolerance for all religions with no benefit for one favored following. The religious struggles between Rome and the anti-Papist forces still retaining an adherence to Christian thought based on Judeo-Christian teachings carried over to the new world but without the fanaticism displayed on the European continent.

From the very beginning, the settlement of the New World appeared to be on a path that assumed the American Indian Tribes were "Heathen" or "Savages" in need of being led to the truth of Christianity. To a large extent, the hostility displayed between violent confrontations of the American Indian Tribes and the White Settlers was based in this concept of treating with inferior beings in need of salvation. The combination of language barriers and cultural chasms added to the chaos of interaction and created a cauldron of festering discontent that often exploded into savage mayhem.

In this period of fifty to one hundred years after the so-called "Discovery of America" by Christopher Columbus, the American Indian Tribes come to grips with the fact that the invading European settlers are not as altruistic as originally thought and the foundation was set for a four hundred year struggle that witnessed population declines from pestilence and disease delivered without malice aforethought by the European settlers, the bloodletting of battles based in ignorance and weakness of human nature and the loss of both land and life in the face of overwhelming odds and inevitable defeat.

The following fictional account is an attempt to describe the importance of the "Creek" nation that arose throughout the southern states of the not-yet created United States. This confederation of tribes was politically and socially decades ahead of their time and made a major impact in all three parts of this story. Not only did they encroach upon the Florida lands of the declining Calusa Tribe but they formed the core of the emerging "Seminole" nation that eventually became the thorn in the side of the United States in a later century. The forced relocation of the "Creek" nation to Oklahoma Territory was in large part punishment for their support of the French with long-suppressed designs on the entire Mississippi Valley basin from the Alleghenies to the lands west of the Mississippi river itself. The sheer deviousness of the French plans to prevent American expansion beyond the original thirteen colonies gave rise to suspicion that their assistance in the American Revolution was based more on eventual take-over of the "Louisiana" empire of the middle kingdom of the United States with French being spoken from New Orleans to the French regions above the Saint Lawrence River. In any event, at this point in time, in the mid-sixteenth century, the tribes in South Georgia and (now) Alabama regions were encouraged to raid and weaken the Calusa tribes in Florida to allow the introduction of English settlers into the region to replace the half-hearted efforts of the Spanish to settle the area. The Creeks were given firearms which gave them an edge against the physically fit Calusa tribes whose superior strength could not match the power of the "fire sticks". Generations later, the rise of the Creek nation came back to haunt the English speaking settlers when they faced them in conflict in the wilderness.

In part two, we will look at the beginnings of the French and Indian Wars in that critical period prior to the American Revolution against King George and we will see how the influence of European politics played an important role in the conflict between the American Indian Tribes and the European settlers.

ALONG THE SHORES OF THE SUWANEE RIVER

Grey Wolf sat hunkered against the solid bark of a thick tree in a drizzling rain that sent a little chill up his back even though the temperature was comfortable to his skin. He cradled his beloved "fire stick" that had been given to him by the white traders who seemed so enthralled with his piles of pelts that filled his hut with demanding presence. The others in his raiding party were mostly dozing in the gentle shower unperturbed by the wet and the damp as they were used to such things in the wilderness. He longed for the mounds of his familiar home to the north but they had struck a deal with the traders to look for loot in the lands of the Florida tribes and in return would receive more of the fire sticks to hunt for larger game and to vanquish their enemies.