Comparison of How Spain, France, Britian, and America Interacted with the Natives

The Spanish and New England colonies from 1492 to 1700 were significantly similar in terms of treatment of indigenous people. Admittedly, there was a difference in the treatment of indigenous people. The Spanish conquistadors used forced labor through the encomienda system, while the New England colonists did not have forced labor systems. This difference between the treatment happend because the Spanish ran large plantations and needed manual labor, while the New England colonists survived on subsistence farming and had no need for extra labor from the Indians. On the other hand there was a similarity in the forced conversions of the Indians to a Christian faith. This similarity occurred because The Roman Catholic Church saw the Indians as people who were in need of saving and insisted that the Indians

This section highlights that history has created a false narrative depicting the natives as a victimized people, which they were to some extent but only in the fashion that they did not possess the same technology for warfare, immunity of communal diseases transmitted, and they were not anticipating combat. All other factors considered, the natives stood to be a potential threat. In regards to knowledge obtained by Spaniards prior to arrival and knowledge gained from observation, it would be remiss had they not prepared for battle. This argument is not to be misconstrued in approving their actions; I do recognize colonization as an evil for both the reasons employed and its damaging effects, but rather to change the narrative surrounding that of the native people. While they did experience a tragedy, I feel that it is erroneous to write them into history as being incompetent resulting from their

Convinced of the superiority of Catholicism to all other religions, Spain insisted that the primary goal of colonization was to save the Indians from heathenism and prevent them from falling under the sway of Protestantism. The aim was neither to exterminate nor to remove the Indians, but to transform them into obedient Christian subjects of the crown. To the Spanish colonizers, the large native populations of the Americas were not only souls to be saved but also a labor force to be organized to extract gold and silver that would enrich their mother country. Las Casas’ writings and the abuses they exposed contributed to the spread of the Black Legend-the image of Spain as a uniquely brutal and exploitative colonizer. This would provide of a potent justification for other European powers to challenge Spain’s predominance in the New World.

Columbus’s invasion of the Caribbean in 1492 brought Native American and European cultures together for the first time in a startling encounter that reshaped the worldviews of both groups. In The Conquest of America: The Question of the Other, Tzvetan Todorov seeks to understand the ways in which the Spanish worldview shaped Columbus’s perception of the natives of Hispaniola, as he fashioned an other from his own sense of self. In Todorov’s model, the other is defined in terms of its correspondence, or lack thereof, to different facets of the self, including culture, language, physiognomy, religion, and knowledge; furthermore, the other is valued, distanced, and

In Bartolome De Las Casas’s ‘A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies’,De Las Casas brazenly criticizes the persecution of the inhabitants of the Americas by the Spanish colonizers- and makes it clear what he believes are the motivations behind their actions. De Las Casas effectively molds his language to provoke compassion towards the natives while establishing a feeling of animosity toward the colonizers. Making sure to not go as far as to alienate the king, he never argues for equal rights for the natives, but instead uses his positon as a priest to advocate for the saving of the natives lives to convert them to Christianity, and then uses this rationale to persuade the king to intervene.

For many years’ native people live quietly and peacefully in their homelands of America. That was until June 1540, Hernando De Soto, a Spanish explorer, came in contact with

Like Florida’s other native inhabitants, who numbered more than 350,000 at the time of the Spanish entrada in 1513, the lifestyle of the Tequestas changed radically, and for the worse, following the Spanish arrival. Victims of disease, war and other dislocations, the Tequestas, along with Florida’s other native populations, had virtually vanished

Bartolomé de las Casas was one of the first major fighters for human rights in the New World. In 1542, Las Casas wrote to the Spanish crown, who at the time was Charles V, “A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies,” which spoke of Spain's treachery towards the native peoples in the Spanish colonies, and asked for it to end.1 During the Spanish conquest of the New World—the region of North America and South America—the Spaniards establish dominance over the natives. They took their land, placed them without consent into the lower social class, and put them into labor. Las Casas was infuriated, especially by the hypocrisy surrounding the treatment of the natives; he felt that a society of Christian belief could never justify the behavior of the Spaniards.2 In Las Casas' letter to the crown, he denotes three key points, indicative of his goals. Las Casas wanted to end the downright enslavement of the natives, he wanted to end the war-like conquering of them, and he wanted the Spanish crown to act upon his requests—in the end, he found grand success.

In order to survive in population now mixed with Europeans, Native Americans had to incorporate European cultural aspects into their own societies. One way in which this occurred was through the acceptance of Christianity by Native Americans. Unlike the French, English, and Dutch who traded with Native Americans is the Southeast, the Spanish found great prosperity in Florida. In Florida, the Spanish’s main goal was to set up colonies of native people who had converted to Christianity. Through doing this, they could still have Spanish colonies in the New World, but would not have to transport Spaniards across the Atlantic, nor would they be angering native populations. Instead, they attempted to keep Native American culture relatively the same but change their entire religious beliefs. Many Native Americans went for it though. They converted to Christianity and prospered alongside the Spanish in these new founded colonies in Florida. However, other Native American groups to the north adopted a part of European culture that were not so beneficial in the long run: the capitalist market system. Through the creation of the Indian Slave trade in the American southeast, many Native American chiefdoms would end up collapsing and having to join together to form coalescent societies in order to stay afloat. In the case of Native Americans, it is easy to see that assimilating into a new society can be both

As stated before, the conquistadors traveled to the new world, claimed land, and captured native tribes. While claiming the land, the conquistadors also built churches. But, the conquistadors formed colonies around the churches, in favor of the Catholic religion. Because of the fact that religion was required for newly established colonies, the conquistadors were determined to convert the Natives to the Catholic religion.

Over the course of America’s history, audacious explorers from Europe sought to make an impact through setting colonies in the Americas during the 1500-1700s. The duration in which Europeans explored their outside world is referred to as the Age of Exploration. Despite the dangers, such as storms, no GPS, being lost, and diseases like scurvy, the motivation behind this era could be stated in three simple words: gold, glory, and God. The long lasting effects of the fifteenth and seventh century include contentious disputes, essentially, who truly discovered the New World, was Spain explorer Christopher Columbus an overrated American hero, or a conqueror regardless? These particular controversies are each primary components of the overall bewilderment, if the changes that occurred in the Americas a result of European exploration either had a positive or negative influence on the Americas. Although the impact on the Americas was both beneficial and negative, the negatives outweigh the positives. The escalation of diseases, servitude, and abuse of the Natives arrived from the events such as the Colombian Exchange, Middle Passage, as well as forced Christianity in the form of the Requirement.

Bartolome de Las Casas can be described as a friend and civil rights activist of the Native American people during the early 1500s. After Hernan Cortes conquered the new world; he exploited the generosity and riches of the Native America Population. This exploitation allowed Spain to gain major financial gain at the cost of Native America sufferings. This suffering would be due to a cruel system known as the encomienda’s system. In addition, many Native Americas died due to the atrocities of this systems.

The process of colonization in the Americas was a complex and complicated series of events, each driven by the varied interests of an array of European empires. For some, the Americas were a world of untold riches, while for others, this discovery allowed for missionary efforts to convert Native Americans to their faith. Regardless of the reason, violence against the many Native Americans who inhabited this “new land” was a common colonization tool to achieve these means. Direct violence is the most well-known approach, one that Spain wielded so effectively that the Black Legend was created to attest to their cruelty. Yet, the violence used was not all direct in nature. Cultural violence, which England employed itself, was used just as often. Overall, though the Black Legend has led to Spain being viewed as the most violent colonizer in the Americas, England’s use of indirect violence through engagement in the fur trade and missionary efforts was just as destructive to Native Americans.

Without Native Americans, Dunbar-Ortiz argues, the European settlers would likely have not survived in the New World at all, for “had North America been a wilderness, undeveloped, without roads, and uncultivated, it might still be so, for the European colonists could not have survived (46).” This is only the beginning of settler exploitation of Native Americans, though, as settler-colonialism later changes its stance of racialized logic to that of exclusion, leading to mass genocide and appropriation of indigenous land.

In our first discussion board, we learned about the Spanish empire and their effect on America. During the time of the Spanish reign “New World Orders” were set in place changing the old customs that were once traditional to the native’s land. Religion such as the Catholic Church, “Played a significant role in the administration of Spanish colonies” (Foner pg. 21) which was to initiate change and bring forth a new tradition amongst Native Americans as well as African Slaves. In the lecture (Pre-Colombian America), it said that, “Women who accepted Christianity and other European ways were depicted as proof and promise of success of the transplant of English culture in the New World.” During our second discussion board, we learned about the “Casta” paintings and why the Spanish artists depicted Native Americans and Africans as poor compared to the Spanish who were depicted as wealthy. It is said that the reason Spanish artists created these paintings was to ensure their wealth by sending off paintings to Spain in order to boast about their status of being noble class as well as their success in The New World. Although Spain’s authority in Europe began to weaken, an increase of immigration from Europe to America would later give rise to an everlasting effect when the English would soon colonize America.