Native Americans and Europeans
People had lived in the Americas for at least 13,000 years before Europeans
began arriving in the 1500s.
The 1492 exploratory voyage of Christopher Columbus opened Europe to a whole
‘New World’. By the 1500s, European countries were mounting major
expeditions to the Americas, competing with each other for lands and riches.
Contact with the Americas brought about major cultural and intellectual changes
in Europe.
European expansion marked a dramatic period in Native American history.
Epidemics decimated entire communities and settlers displaced Native Americans
from their lands.
Native Americans waged wars and negotiated alliances with the invading powers.
They adopted European goods, such as horses and guns, when it suited their
purposes, but maintained – and continue to maintain – their
cultural traditions.
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