Prompt Describe the causes and consequences of conflict between settlers and American Indians in early Washington history.

Thesis 1

Initially, white colonists viewed Native Americans as helpful and friendly. They welcomed the Natives into their settlements, and the colonists willingly engaged in trade with them. They hoped to transform the tribes people  into civilized Christians through their daily contacts. The Native Americans resented and resisted the colonists' attempts to change them. Their refusal to conform to European culture angered the colonists and hostilities soon broke out between the two groups. The violence of their confrontations with the Native Americans resulted in a shift of English attitudes towards other races. Colonists blames their failure to assimilate the Native Americans into their culture on racial differences and began to associate all people of color with negative characteristics.

From "White Man to Redskin" (1982)

By Alden T. Vaughan