Essay #1: Christopher Columbus had been sailing for years learning the different patterns of the ocean, the way the wind moved and the current of the ocean. Christopher had thought that finding a shorter route to Asia would help the trade in European colonization’s. He began to seek for financial support and eventually he set sailed. In Europe, they believed that trade was how to make them wealthier, and to gain power in their nations. When Europe and Asia traded goods, there was other countries in the way blocking direct trade between them. This wasn’t the only reason why Europeans began exploring, a period of time the Europeans lived through the renaissances. They wanted to know how the world worked and what was out there. When the Europeans arrived in the “new world” they all tried to colonize it differently. “The French worked out a complex series of military, commercial, and diplomatic connections, the most enduring alliances between Indians and settlers in colonial North America. They neither appropriated substantial amounts of Indian land, like the English, nor conquered native inhabit ants militarily and set them to forced labor, like the Spanish.” (Foner, 32) In the quote above it shows how when the Europeans came to the “new land” they wanted to control the Indians as if they were there first, they didn’t care about the Indians. The Spanish Europeans treated the Indians as if they were their slaves and had them do labor for them. They made them mine for gold and
There were initially two to ten million natives in the United States prior to European contact. Those numbers dwindled down drastically in the years that Europeans came and started colonizing. The Europeans came to explore the New World in search of land, spices, gold, God and glory. Among these colonists were the Spanish who colonized most of the southwest of the United States. Evidence of their settlements can still be seen today in the missions scattered across the land. These missions were started with the purpose of converting the Native Americans to Christianity. Try to put yourself into the shoes of the Native Americans, imagine living your entire life with a particular set of beliefs, based on what was handed down by your ancestors and culture. Then suddenly a group of foreigners would come and proclaim that your views are all wrong and that you must follow their beliefs for the salvation of your soul. This is exactly what the Spanish colonizers did to the Native Americans as they invaded their territory which is the reason why the relationship between the two parties were strained and rife with tension. The conversion of the Natives and the constant hostility by the Spanish conquerors subsequently led to the disintegration of native life and culture.
The chapter, 1493 in the book “Lies My Teacher Told Me,” by James W. Loewen discusses how Christopher Columbus’s “discovery” of the Americas led to the meeting of new cultures. Columbus was not the first to discover the Americas, but rather he was the first European to. His expedition was fueled by the desire for wealth; he wanted to exploit and conquer. He claimed the riches and land the Native Americans had as his own. His interaction with the natives of the land were abusive for he tortured and enslaved ones who did not perform his labor. Columbus almost caused the extinction of the natives through the Europeans introduction to horrible diseases and mass suicide because of their horrible conditions. In fact, textbooks do not focus on what
Columbus mistakenly found the New World in 1492, when sailing from Europe in hopes of sailing to Asia. He hit shore on what is now Virginia, and came in contact with the Indians, who were already settled. Columbus came with a group of colonial men and brought with him “cotton, parrots, javelins, and other things too numerous to mention,” (Doc. 1). The Indians perceived the colonial men as a different culture and welcomed them by inviting them into their religious faith, this way there would be no tension between the parties. Consequently, both parties ended up fighting over control over the land, the Indians with bows and arrows and the colonial men with swords and armor (Doc. 5).
When Columbus saw the people on this land, he assumed they were people from the West Indies, therefore he called them “Indians”. In Columbus’ letter to Lord Sanchez, he described the people as “savages, [who are] naturally timid and full of fear” (document 13). In document 2, his letter to Santangel, he goes so far as to say that when he tried to establish trading relationships with the Indians they acted primitive and uncivilized. Columbus also states in document 2 that he hopes they will become fond of the Spanish and establish trade relationships as had been requested. Obviously this would be a difficult feat because of the lack of coherence between cultures. Columbus worked very hard to ensure the development of trade relations. As seen in document 9, Columbus writes many letters back to the King and Queen of Spain reporting on the status of his mission and updates on the relations with the people. One key detail from this document is Columbus’ opening line where he includes the statement “in obedience to your Highness's’ commands.” This is significant because it shows that Columbus is working under the King and Queen's commands and that he is not entirely to blame for his actions. Columbus should not be held responsible due to the fact that he was abiding the orders of the King and
In document C, Christopher Columbus describes a land that he has discovered an island called Hispana to Spanish Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella in 1494. The land is vast filled with trees, plains, animals, honey and varieties of metal. These lands made it very suitable for farming, planting, and building houses. Columbus also says “This Hispana, moreover, abounds in different kinds of spices, in gold, and in metals.” Columbus is describing to the Monarchs that there are vast amounts of material in the New World that the Spaniards would find useful to them. When King Charles V creates The New Laws of the Indies for the Good Treatment and Preservation of the Indians, this makes the Indians seem more protected and comfortable with Spain. This leads to being generous towards the Spanish and giving them the goods that they need. On the other hand, while the Iberians get what they want in the trading with the Indians, they can give them items that don't have much value for them, but to the Indians they seem valuable (Document D). The strong Spanish military also helped the expansion of trading and goods in the New World such places like Mexico (Document G). The Iberians could also decide to take these goods by force. In document I, an Indian portrays an image of a European kicking an Indian in the neck with a chest on her back. This displays the the
Throughout early history, beginning with 1492, exploration was well on its way. European nations began heading west towards the New World in search of new trade routes to the East Indies. With support from kings through financial aid and moral guidance, a new peak was reached upon the arrival of Columbus in the Caribbean islands off the mainland of the Americas. Such an extraordinary event, future voyages were sent off to explore the rest of the New World by Spanish, French, and English ships and explorers. During these times of exploration, traveling nations encountered the Natives among the lands where they would then determine their future through alliances and conflicts. The settlement patterns, along with the attitudes of the American Indians that were encountered with by the Spanish, French and English exploration, can be compared and contrasted through the goals of these nations culturally and socially, and even through the opportunity for economic growth .
Columbus had captured a few Indians in hopes that they would show him where the gold and spices were located. Columbus promised the King and Queen of Spain various amounts of gold and slaves. The article, “Columbus and the Indians”, states, “They had to fill up the ships returning to Spain with something, so in 1495 they went on a great slave raid. Afterward, they picked five hundred captives to send to Spain. Two hundred of the Indians died on the voyage. The rest arrived alive in Spain and were put up for sale by a local church official” (6-7). Columbus and his crew were after one thing: slaves and gold. When the sailors realized there was not enough gold for the entire country in “India”, the crew gathered up all the men, women, and children to sail them home and sell them as slaves to the Spaniards. Columbus traded slaves that he took away from families in order to lessen his failure by finding and creating a trade route (Minster 1). In order to not get reprimanded by the monarchs of Spain, Columbus came up with a backup plan to lessen his punishment. Since he promised the country golds and spices and he did not find any, Columbus decided to take the next best thing: Native Americans. Any natives and all natives were captured and stored on ships for the journey home. Christopher Columbus enslaved and traded Native Americans in order to lessen the penalty he would receive from the
When Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas, he has little regard to their way of life. He showed no remorse for taking the indigenous population and killing, and enslaving them. Christopher Columbus writes, “With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want” (Doc. 2). Christopher Columbus and his men enslaved the natives and made them do the tedious works they did not want to do. We also see the side of a historian who writes, “But our work was to exasperate, ravage, kill, mangle and destroy” (Doc.7).The men deliberately went there to kill the population that already existed.
The founding of the New World fascinated many Europeans because of the possibilities of the economic, political, and social growth. Europeans packed their belongings and boarded the boat to new beginnings. Arriving in the Americas was not what they had expected. Already pre-occupied in the land, were the Native Americans. The Native Americans refused the Europeans colonization in the America’s, but not all colonies in the Europe just wanted to colonize with the Natives. The intentions of the Europeans colonies were all different, as the Dutch solely came for business transactions. The Dutch business transactions resulted in the change of economic, political, and social movements, changing the lives of the Native’s.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed west and found himself on the shores of a new world. His mission was to secure new land for Spain. Other European countries heard of his findings, they too crossed the ocean in hopes of securing new opportunities in this newly discovered land such as fur trading and gold mining. Little did they know that a community of indigenous people had already settled in this land thousands of years before. The Europeans decided to negotiate with the natives in order to set up their own communities in the land but the Native Americans held beliefs about society and religion that were far different from their European peers. Europeans thought the Indians to be “Noble Savages, gentle and friendly, but uncivilized, brutal, and barbaric” (citation). They could not see past their own
In Columbus’ letter to King Ferdinand of Spain, he starts off by describing the many islands he has found and taken possession of. Columbus wants to prove to the king, who has funded this journey for him, that he has found something and that what he has “found” is of worth. Although, he claims he found these islands, he did not find these lands empty. The land had already been occupied by the Native Americans and because of a language barrier between the two groups, Columbus was able to use that against them and prove its legality of his possession of the land. The Indians on the other hand had no idea what these Europeans were up too.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus “discovered” what is known today as North America. Mistakenly, Columbus thought that he had landed in the Indies, and therefore the native peoples were called “Indians.” The New World soon became flooded with Europeans from a number of countries, and the Indians allowed them to settle on their land. Treaties and agreements were made between the settlers and the neighboring tribes in which European goods were exchanged for Indian land and assistance. The survival of these settlements could not have survived without the active support and protection of the Native Americans. However
Columbus never even walked on what we now call the United States of America. Where ever he did land, he was motivated only by his own greed. Columbus came for the gold, spices, and slaves. In his diary, he mentioned gold 75 times just in the first two weeks, alone (Katz 13). Indians who weren’t able to find gold, were punished by having their hands cut off. Most slaves died en route to Spain. Many Indian females were taken as sex slaves, some as young as nine and ten years old. Columbus forced cooperation from the Indians by disfiguring them and using them as examples. Even worse, he used hunting dogs to tear the Indians apart. Many natives committed suicide, and murdered their own children to save them from such a horrible life. Those who survived the voyage were worked to death. Still, another huge portion of these Indians died from disease brought over by Columbus and his
The Europeans first came to the Americas looking for riches like gold and land. When they got here they found Native Americans along with land. According to Thomas Hariot and Christopher Columbus, the Indians were poor and easily persuaded. They thought that they could be easily influenced by European culture. Thomas Hariot said “they shoulde desire our friendships and love, and have the greater respect for pleasing and obeying us.” (2-4) Christopher Columbus said “They should be good servants and
The European colonization of Africa, also known as the Scramble for Africa, Partition of Africa, or Conquest of Africa, occurred between the 1870s and 1900s, and was the invasion, occupation, colonization, and annexation of African territory by European powers during a period of New Imperialism. European control of the continent increased from 10 percent (1870) to 90 percent (1914), with only three territories, Saguia el-Hamra, which was later integrated into Spanish Sahara, Ethiopia and Liberia remaining independent of Europe’s control. There were many reasons for the European colonization of Africa, including economic and political motives, with the Berlin Conference serving as a catalyst. Africans resisted the European invasions of their lands, with the two main methods of opposition were guerilla warfare and direct military engagement. European influence on Africa still remains today, though these influences are generally negative and hurt Africa’s overall development.