Paradoxical aspects of early American immigration and colonization

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There are numerous paradoxical aspects of early American immigration and colonization that are quite difficult to comprehend. Early American immigration and colonization saw the Europeans who had felt persecuted in their homeland for their religious and political beliefs become the persecutors and colonizers of indigenous people in the New land (Clark, et al. 2019). It is also the immigrants who became the profiteers from the slave trade and forceful evictions of indigenous communities while in Europe they had considered themselves victims .

The first paradox is how the people who had escaped religious and political persecutions in Europe turned out to be colonizers and persecutors of indigenous people in the American continent. For many Europeans who made the journey across the Atlantic Ocean, the American continent promised to offer them an opportunity to live their lives as they wished without the risk of persecution for their political or religious beliefs. It was also an opportunity for most of them to pursue economic opportunities without any limitations that were present in Europe. It became paradoxical when the same people ended up being colonizers of the indigenous communities and the sources of persecutions. For instance, the Puritans had moved to Massachusetts, North America in pursuit of religious freedom and they ended up creating a theocracy that did not put up with any dissent. The Pilgrims had also migrated from Plymouth, England in the 1620 escaping religious persecution although they also ended up persecution those who did not share their religious beliefs. In all these cases, religious immigrants from Europe did not want to offer the same religious freedoms that others wanted to enjoy in the new world.

The paradox can also be observed in the manner early American colonialists who were immigrants from Europe treated the indigenous groups on the American continent. Although the colonialists had moved into America in search of economic, religious and political opportunities, they did not want to extend the same to locals (LaVeist, et al. 2019). During the colonial era, many native communities were deprived economic and political opportunities. Many of them were displaced by the European colonialists which led to their economic and political marginalization. The white settlers did not have any regard for the indigenous communities and they grabbed their land and forced the local communities to work in their farms as laborers for poor or no compensation. In summary, the early immigrants who came to America to escape atrocities they faced in Europe ended up being the same people who committed similar atrocities without any remorse to those they oppressed (Krause, 2021).

In conclusion, the early American immigration and colonization was of a paradoxical nature. which forms a complex and interesting topic to explore. The interactions between European immigrants and the local communities across North America testify that when people are pursuing freedom or economic opportunities, they might be too blinded to notice the harm they are causing. This was the case for the many European immigrants who escaped to North America and established a capitalist market economy that favored them to the detriment of the local populations.

References

Clark, J. J., Birch, J. A., Hegmon, M., Mills, B. J., Glowacki, D. M., Ortman, S. G., … & Ware, J. A. (2019). Resolving the migrant paradox: two pathways to coalescence in the late precontact US Southwest. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 53, 262-287.

Krause, U. (2021). Colonial roots of the 1951 Refugee Convention and its effects on the global refugee regime. Journal of International Relations and Development, 24(3), 599-626.

LaVeist, T. A., Fullilove, M., & Fullilove, R. (2019). 400 years of inequality since Jamestown of 1619. American journal of public health, 109(1), 83.

Saharso, S. (2020). Ethnic identity and the paradox of equality. In Ethnic Minorities (pp. 97-114). Garland Science.