Native American

Native Americans were highly civilized and coordinated; they had a large, diverse and unique culture, society, and a rigid set of law codes long before the Europeans arrived in the Americas. They developed advanced farming techniques that allowed them to manage forest and grassland resources, hunt, and irrigate in their respective environment. On the other hand, Europeans’ technology failed to help them when they arrived in the New World. Despite all this, Europeans were ignorant of Native Americans’ advancements and labeled them as barbaric, uncivilized, and uncoordinated, either due to arrogance or greed.

One of the many factors that make up the Native American civilization is its simple and effective law code and rules. It shows how coordinated all Native Americans are, similar to other societies at that time. In Document C, Gary B. Nash said that the Iroquois “maintained a strict sense of right and wrong”, and that punishments such as being “shamed” were given for wrongdoings. This shows that Native Americans, such as the Iroquois were more organized and humane than the Europeans who arrived. This is due to the fact that the Iroquois’ rules and punishments were simple, but surprisingly effective. In Document B, it was said that there were no marriage law and wives may leave husbands without jealousy or anger. This shows that the Native Americans do not have useless and unneeded laws and that they are more forgiving than the Europeans. This again shows how they are much more civilized than many believe. Lastly, in Document F, the Natives resisted Europeans’ from imposing their laws on them. They replied logically with “you are here strangers, and come into our country, you should rather conform yourselves to the customs of our country than impose yours upon us”. This shows that they are also much more civilized than the Europeans, as they were clearly more logical. It can clearly be seen that Native Americans were much more civilized and organized due to their simple, effective, and logical rules and punishments.

Another factor that makes up the organized Native American civilization is their diverse culture. In Document A, Europeans found “a number of ornaments, tapestries, clothing, and beds of native cotton called hammocks. They even discovered many books.”