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The impact of colonization on Indigenous people
England and Spain during the American colonization compare
Comparison between Spanish and English colonization
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Colonization of the Americas was done by both the Spanish and English in the late 1400s to late 1500s respectively. They had quite a few similarities such as the hardships they encountered in their homelands that embarked them on their journeys to explore and even, in some ways, their rule over the new land had some likeness as well. The differences between them lie in the specifics of their exploration and their relationship with the Indian groups who already inhabited the space they took over. Even though each group had different motives and goals for their expedition, it is evident that both groups had their share of major conflicts with the native peoples and defining characteristics of their societies. In 1492, Columbus, the first of the Spanish explorers, sailed the Atlantic Ocean for the purpose of converting the inhabitants of the land he arrived on (thought to be Asia) to Christianity. He wanted to use them, according to Taylor’s writings in American Colonies, “to recruit their bodies and wealth to assist …show more content…
It wasn’t until the Indians were being mistreated that the retaliations began. The Spanish were quicker to mistreat the Indians than the English. Their rule, as per Columbus, was predominately using the Indians as workers, planters, builders, and basically slaves. Pretty quickly, the Spanish began to bully the Indians to do their dirty work and also convert them to the preferred Christian religion. According to Taylor, the English and the Spanish were similar in their treatment of the Natives. Both wanting them to change beliefs, used whatever force they deemed necessary. The English, in particular had troubles with the Powhatan Indians and the Spanish with the Pueblo Indians. This forced conversions and brutality is what later caused extreme problems and conflicts between the Natives and the
...ything and everyone that were there. At times they would work with the Natives at other times they would be at war with the natives. The Spanish had been engaged with the natives longer and over time felt the best way to control them would be to convert them or put them into same locations where they could “keep an eye on them”. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 was proof that no matter what they tried, when one man, country, or society tries to oppress another, war is almost always inevitable.
This text was created to bring to light the hardship Natives went through during the Age of Exploration. The populous, who only hear rumors and short stories from all territories west of the Atlantic Ocean, cannot grasp the tough and difficult task that is at hand in the Americas. From these short blurbs of what is said about the west, they make inferences of what it is like, and how it is possible for another land mass to be unknown to many for so long. But for those who do know what is past the Atlantic, know that this Agenda of the King and Queen must be fulfilled and to do so would be to claim land for Spain for it to be settled upon. On top of that is to further collect the riches of the Americas to benefit Spain in the conquest of the Americas.
When it comes down to comparing and contrasting Native American and Spanish civilization, there is actually a variety of things that make each one stand out from one another. When looking into both the Natives and the Spanish there was more to be found different then there was to be similar in any way. Both societies struggled, but one did have more of an advantage which is why there was such conflict between the two.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Europeans began their colonization and settling into America. France and Spain both began exploring the New World to find gold and to spread Catholicism. What differed between them were their priorities in colonization. During the 16th century Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther posted the Ninety Five Theses, accusing the Church of corruption. Because of that, he ended up dividing the Catholic Church, which led to the rise of Protestant Churches in Europe. Spain, as a representative of Orthodox Catholicism, wanted to spread Catholicism further. They then established colonies in America, to convert the Indians to Catholicism and to stop Protestantism. France had entered the New World in search
When they found the “new world” is too weak to resist the invasion of European, they started to establish the colony in America. Bartolomé de Las Casas used to be a priest who explored America on Hispaniola and Cuba. But after he witnessed the colonists enslave and mistreat Indians, he changed his mind and start to protect the Indians. He free his Indian slaves in 1514, and start to against Spanish mistreat them (Foner, p.7). After that, he made the effort to liberate the Indian slaves, and he had backed to Spain several times want to make the King reduce the heavy labor of Indians. Finally, Spain published New Laws in 1542, which indicate that Indians no longer be enslaved (Foner, p.7).
The Spanish began their movement to Southwest America in the late sixteenth century. From that point on, their influence both on the Native Americans and the environment was extraordinaire. The goal of the Spaniards with regards to the Native Americans was to transform them “into tax-paying Christians.” This is in contrast to the idea that their goal was to eradicate the Indians form the Americas. Consequently, the Spaniards took many Indians so that they may plant their religion in the Natives and to use them as cheap labor. This led many Indians to learn the customs and language of the Spaniards so they could to be able to thrive in the Spanish culture. Thus, some Natives acquired Spanish, which was the main source of their Hispanicization; this was the notion of Indians becoming encompassed by the Spanish society. Furthermore, Indians gradually learned skills, obtained land, and sometimes found Hispanic spouses, thus furthering their Hispanicization. They now began to live in a Spanish manner and blend into the bottom of the Spanish societal ladder. This “acculturation” of the Native Americans was in contrast to the models of early English colonization. Spanish goals and plans sought to involve the Indians so that they may live in their society even if at the lower end of it’s ladder. English colonies viewed the Natives as savages and looked to them for slave labor or to rape their women. They did not plan to take the Indians into their society as the Spaniards did so throughout this era.
The Spanish and English were also very different because of the timing of the interaction with the indigenous people. The Spanish had come to the Americas in 1492. This was one of the first main interactions between non native people for the Indians. The Spanish believed that if the Natives were not Catholic then the Natives were to be tortured or killed. In result of this treatment of the Indians the population had dropped from about three million to roughly sixty thousand. This had then lead to a difference in the interaction of the Indians with the English. The English had come to the Americas in 1607 about one hundred years after the Spanish. This changed the interaction because since it was years later there was not as many Indians to interact with the English. The English had not felt threatened by the Indians and thus treated them poorly. The English had also brought in diseases such as bubonic plague, chicken pox, pneumonic plague, cholera, diphtheria, influenza, measles, scarlet fever, smallpox, typhus, tuberculosis, and whooping
Although there are some similarities between the two nations, England and Spain are easily the most opposite when their colonists are compared to each other. First, the similarities between the two are in their treatment of the Native Americans. Depending on the Spanish conquistador or expedition leader, the Natives may have been treated fairly or poorly. In the same way, British colonial governors sometimes had good relationships with the Natives (William Penn and Roger Williams), while others helped provoke wars with the tribes (James Moore). The contrast between Spanish and English colonists is in their spirit and reason for colonization. The Spaniards were seeking riches and were usually loyal to the Crown, starting in the 16th century
The Black Legend and White Legend: Relationship Between the Spanish and Indians in the New World
The Native Americans were given some laws of protection, however, by this point many Spaniards looked at Native Americans as vile human beings and mistreated them as a social normalcy. Many native Americans died from overwork, and harsh living conditions given to them by the Spaniards. Native Americans introduced the Spaniards and settlers to different types of crops. It is the reason Spaniards had them harvest their farms, to make sure their crops flourished. Spaniards didn’t know how to care for the crops like the Native Americans so they forced them to under violence and deaths. The reason Spaniards were able to defeat native tribes, and force them to work for their own personal greed was due to their using more advanced techniques like the gun Native Americans had already been weakened by being exposed to smallpox so having the guns only made the Spaniards more powerful and dominate over them. Native Americans tried to attacked greatly, but they were outnumbered by Spaniards and settlers. Though there was a point where Native Americans allied with Britain or France during the times of their wars, though the British and French troops turned on them and killed the Native Americans when they wars were done. This led to a huge shortage of Native Americans, and so workers had to be looked for elsewhere. They found in the African culture their new
The Spanish rule had effectively started to take over in 1598 when a man by the name of Juan de Onante began his invasion on the indigenous people. Onante was able to set up the first Spanish colony which consisted of soldiers and women and children. The land that he invaded was inhabited by the Natives but when they had the first colony the Spanish began to segregate the natives into two groups the “Barbaros” and the “Pueblos”. The Spanish colonization had over 100 communities spreading over hundreds of miles. Although, they were lumped into ‘...
The Spaniards arrived at the Americas prior to the English. The Spanish mainly wanted to explore in the first place because after the Black Death, the population increased, and thus, so did the frequency of commerce. There was a sudden new interest in new products and the new strong monarchs who sponsored the journeys wanted to be more affluent. Therefore, explorers such as Christopher Columbus attempted to go west to target Asia. However, he ended up on Cuba and called the natives Indians. The Spanish soon started to consider the Americas less of a blockage and could now see it as a source of resources. In 1518, Cortes arrived into Mexico with his group of conquistadors, or conquerors, which is a proper name because the men after gold exterminated native areas using their military skills, brutality and greed to turn the Southern America into a vast Spanish empire. The smallpox the Spanish unknowingly carried also helped wipe many people out. When they saw the religious ceremonies of the Aztecs that produced many skulls, they thought of these people as savages and not entirely human. This of coarse was quite hypocritical because the Spanish have killed before during the Inquisition for their faith. It was this contempt that made them think it was all right to slaughter the natives. Spanish colonies were established when conquistadors had gotten a license to finance the expedition from the crown to fixture encomiendas. These encomiendas were basically Indian villages that became a source of labor. The Spanish dreamed of becoming wealthier from South America, but they also wanted a profitable agricultural economy and to spread their Catholic religion (the Pueblo Indians converted to Christianity), which became very important in the 1540s.
Marcus Gravey stated that, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” With that being stated, are the people of the United States, Canada, and Mexico trees without roots? At a young age students learn that Christopher Columbus “sailed the ocean blue in 1492”, a simple song used to assist children remember that America was discovered in 1492. In addition, Thackeray and Findling describe how Columbus’s discovery presented an unimaginable amount of opportunity for Europeans, and therefore, Spanish, French, and later British explores and settlers began to flock to this new world.
The Effects of Colonization on the Native Americans Native Americans had inherited the land now called America and eventually their lives were destroyed due to European colonization. When the Europeans arrived and settled, they changed the Native American way of life for the worse. These changes were caused by a number of factors including disease, loss of land, attempts to export religion, and laws, which violated Native American culture. Native Americans never came in contact with diseases that developed in the Old World because they were separated from Asia, Africa, and Europe when ocean levels rose following the end of the last Ice Age. Diseases like smallpox, measles, pneumonia, influenza, and malaria were unknown to the Native Americans until the Europeans brought these diseases over time to them.
In the 1400’s European countries had been thrusted into overseas expansion in the fever for land and gold. All throughout Europe, monarchies had sent explorers all over the world to conquer land for their country. Each country had conquered and colonized in various styles, but each had a specific goal that they wanted to achieve. During the European colonization of the Americas or the New World, both the Spanish and the French spread the idea of Catholicism throughout the Americas, however the Spanish believed in treating the Native Americans in a harsher way by enslaving them for labor whereas the French established trade relationships.