I think it's fascinating to speculate about what would have become of North America had our European ancestors simply "stayed home." What kind of continent would the Native population have created?

But it wasn't to be. It just wasn't in the cards. Is it sad? Possibly. Is it wrong? Arguable I suppose, though personally I don't really think the term applies.

Is it criminal? No. It's just the way history played out. One group, with technology, dominated another group that didn't have technology to match. The complex issues surrounding these events have largely arisen in hindsight, making it both unfair and unproductive to apply our present-day notions of ethics to our ancestors of centuries ago.

There were Native North Americans who, prior to European arrival, were just as aggressive and ambitious as any white colonizer. There were wars between the Aboriginal "nations" which were bloody and awful; if lacking in the European "meatgrinder effect," it was only because they were also lacking the European ability to direct technology into the destruction.

My point is, many would have us beleive that before Europeans arrived in North America, it was a haven of peace and wisdom under the gentle hand of the Native population. Nonsense. Hatred, arrogance and aggression was commonplace. Wars were fought and violence done on as grand a scale as they could muster. Native North Americans did not--and do not--have the market on wisdom cornered.

The European ascendancy in North America was a case of one aggressive people acheiving dominance over another. Human nature + time = history. A simple equation.