Anthony Skillen Lia Spicer

Shaqueita Tanner

Section 2

Native Americans of the 1400's The Native Americans of the 1400's lived very different then the Africans and the Europeans in the 1400's. Their society was the main factor of it. They managed to govern themselves and they were successful at doing it. They made innovations that we use today. All of the innovations that the Native Americans used we use today. And there government was the best part of it. As I stated before, they managed to govern themselves and they were successful at it. Let’s take more of an indebt look at it.

Society The Native American society is way different then what people expect it to be like. According to books, they were Christian. These Americans believed in a great male god and divided him into three parts. These three parts are the father, the son, and the Holy Ghost. Not a lot of people were peaceful with the Native Americans. Whites were saying that the Natives were granted the land. They also lived a peaceful life. They were always peaceful and were never harmed. Native Americans believed that nature was a spirit they felt safe and secure this way humans were in the Americas for thousands of years maybe even 70,000 years. Scientists studied this information and there are text book pages that are up to date that states this information. Some Native Americans would rather plant seeds then go hunting for food. They felt safe, secure, and comfortable this way. Native Americans believed everything was a spirit, literally everything. They thought that every form of life had a spirit, even earth and air. This meant that they were polytheistic. The Native Americans were to first to divide god into three parts. They split their male god into three parts, the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. They were misunderstood in the area of religion. No text book ever recognizes them as “Judeo-Christian”.

Innovations The Natives invented the sport of Lacrosse. They would practice fighting with sticks and balls that would help with fighting. They also named mountains and food. Europeans would ask the Natives what was the food called and what were mountains called. The Native Americans were a part of the trade union; they traded goods with the French, Dutch and British. Soul food also comes from Indians, the natives have ties to the African Americans and now native’s crops are being grown around the world wide. The Native Americans were good farmers. They developed non- primitive ways of doing things, but the methods that the Native Americans used for farming were not primitive. They developed new farming methods. They drew three or four times more nourishment from the soil that they grew their crops in. Much like we do today. They

found other people, and branched out with trade. They traded with the Dutch and the other tribes that they found.

Government A speech was told in 1775. It was signed by John Hancock and quoted the Iroquois Indians. There was arguing. John Mohawk argued that Natives were responsible for the public-meeting tradition. They were taught how to govern. Through 150 years, Iroquois were taught how to govern themselves. When the Europeans came to the Americas, they protected the king. The Europeans choose to do this; it was their choice in a way. The American Indians are responsible for the Bill Of Rights. John Hancock wrote down the Iroquois advice in 1744 and the congress even wrote that they wanted to teach the kids to follow their advice. The Indians influenced our democracy, the Iroquois gave advice on how govern the people democratically. They developed their own laws and rules. They learned how to govern a large domain democratically. They formed a union all together. Then there came the constitutional convention. They were a part of the speech made out to the Iroquois tribe. Why does it matter now? This matters now because the government that we have today is different than how the Native Americans governed themselves. They also made innovations that we use different today. And the society is different.

Key Terms: Spirits: the idea of conscious life, the vitality of humans. Polytheistic: the belief in more than one or many gods. Judeo- Christian: pertaining to the religious writing, Main idea Native Americans had a successful trade, they were excellent farmers, and they contributed a lot to United States' Government. Questions 1. Critical Thinking Explain how the Native American Trade process would happen?

2. Contrast Contrast on how the Native American Government is different then today’s government.