European history is based on the blending of two great civilized traditions: the JudeoChristian religious tradition and the GrecoRoman civilized tradition. The Judeo-Christian religions taught Europeans that they could have an individual relationship with a god, that one’s morality here on earth would determine how the gods treated you. The Greco-Roman civilizations taught Europeans that they were capable of rationalizing, just like the gods: the ability to think could solve problems here on earth with the gods’ help. Blending these two traditions yields an ethic, perhaps best defined in the famous American phrase “God helps those who help themselves.” It’s an admirable ethic, the roots of rugged individualism, the “can-do” spirit that has led to the development of the United States. However, it has its negative aspects too. Starting in the late fifteenth century, that ethic led Europeans to begin sailing to the Americas and helping themselves to the land of Native Americans.