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Cultural values of native american culture
Essays on native american culture
Essays on native american culture
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In the primary document “Columbus Encounters Native People” it is a first person journal entry from Christopher Columbus himself. It talks about what it was like whenever Columbus had first encountered the Native Americans. I feel as if this document really adds to what the textbook has to say about the Native Americans. It is always nice to get the perspective from someone who was actually there. In the document Columbus states many things that the book never really mentions. For instance, the book never really stated what the Native Americans physical appearance was. Columbus states how the Native Americans had hair that was long and coarse like that of a horse. He also states how they would paint themselves with many different colors. Some would paint their body black, some red, or whatever colors they could find. Some would only paint around their eyes, others would paint their whole body. It is also neat to know firsthand how the Native Americans responded to all the new stuff that Columbus and his crew brought over on their voyage. For example Columbus showed them his sword. The Native Americans then proceeded to grab it by the blade and cut themselves. …show more content…
I think it is important to know what the island was like to fully understand how these Native Americans lived. For instance Columbus comments on the appearance of the island, he says “ This island is rather large and very flat, with bright green trees, much water, and a very large in the centre, without any mountain, and the whole land so green it is a pleasure to look on it.” This really lets you know a little more about the Native Americans everyday life. You know that it would have been easier for them to do all their hunting since the land is flat and there are not many hills. This also shows you that they had many sources of water, so dying of thirst was not a problem for
In 1492, Christopher Columbus was a self-made man who worked his way up to being the Captain of a merchant vessel. He gained the support of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, for an expedition to the Indies. With the support of the Spanish monarchy, he set off to find a new and faster trade route to the Indies. Upon the arrival of his first voyage, Columbus wrote a letter to Luis de Santangel, a “royal official and an early supporter of his venture,” in February 1493 (35). The epistle, letter, entitled “Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage” was copied and then distributed in Spain before being translated and spread throughout Europe. The Letter is held in such regard with the people as it is considered the first printed description of the new world. Through his description of the nature of the islands, Columbus decided the future fate of the islands. His description of the vast beauty of the nature around him, declares both the economic and nationalistic motivations for colonizing the new world.
If it is at all possible to transport an individual to the year 1492, and experience life through the eyes of Columbus, his men, and even at times, the indigenous natives of the New World, this author has made it as nearly so as any man ever could. Interweaving first and secondhand accounts, personal journals, letters, logbooks, and other corroborating evidence, Bergreen creates an entirely factual and informative tale of the man best known for discovering the Americas; and adversely, destroying its native population and thriving ecosystem.
2. Zinn's thesis for pages 1 to 11 is to tell the arrival of Columbus as it really happened from the point of view of the Indians. He doesn't try to hide the things that Columbus and other Europeans did to the Indians and talks about how the Indians were not inferior as the Europeans had thought they were.
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. However, even after centuries later, little is truly known of the mysterious voyage and findings of the new world.1 By examining “Letter from Columbus to Luis Santangel”, one can further contextualize the events of Columbus' exploration of the New World. The letter uncovers Columbus' subtle hints of his true intentions and exposes his exaggerated tone that catered to his lavish demands with Spain. Likewise, The Columbian Voyage Map read in accordance with the letter helps the reader track Columbus' first, second, third, and fourth voyage to the New World carefully and conveniently. Thus, the letter and map's rarity and description render invaluable insight into Columbus' intentionality of the New World and its indigenous inhabitants.
The letter Christopher Columbus wrote back to Spain to report his findings in the New World sparked intrigued me and sparked my imagination. Why I have been so absorbed in this letter I can not explain. This letter is supposed to be about describing an unknown land, a land that has not been seen by anyone besides the natives, but it seems that there is more to it than that. Columbus is known in elementary schools as the man who found the New World, and is regarded as a hero. To the contrary, historians who have done more research on Columbus say that he was driven by fame and fortune and that he was tyrannical in his ways with the indigenous peoples of the places that he came to find. I feel that the contradictory tones Columbus uses gives this letter an eerie feel, and Columbus’s eventual desire to take over the indigenous peoples brings doubt on his reliability as an accurate and fair eyewitness.
The Catholic kings gave Columbus an annual allowance of 12,000 Maravedis and after that in 1489, they equipped to him a letter ordering all cities and towns under their domain saving him food and accommodation in no cost. Nevertheless, to save Columbus ideas from taking elsewhere, and perhaps to keep their chances open.
Im sure we've all heard of the stories of Christopher Columbus and what a remarkable discoverer he was, but Howard Zinn author of History is a Weapon, unravels the truth about who Christopher Columbus truly was. In 1492, Columbus was granted the opportunity to travel to the Indies. The first island he arrived on was home to the Arawak natives. Once Columbus stepped foot on the island, he and his men were given ideas like cotton and spears, along with food as a welcoming gesture to the Spaniards.
Have you ever asked yourself was it right for Columbus to treat the Indians how he did ? Some of us would of course say no but some of us are SCREAMING YES. Columbus was a selfish, stubborn and very stuck up man when it came to himself. The only thing he wanted from the Indians was Gold, Wealth, and Spices.
Sanoff, Alvin P. “The Myths of Columbus.” U.S. News and World Report. 8 Oct. 1990. (CIRS Sanoff01.ART)
Interestingly, Columbus firmly believed that he had reached Asia and called the Native Americans ‘Indians’ and appears to have a low opinion of them. To begin with, Columbus appears to demonstrate that the native islanders had little understanding of property value when he says that they gladly accepted just about anything for barter exchange from the voyagers including “bits of broken bowls, pieces of glass, and old straps,” while giving much-valued goods like gold. However, he quickly defends the situation by claiming that he forbade his team of sailors from giving worthless things to the natives. Additionally, Columbus describes the local islanders as weird in their habits.
The textbook is simply trying to teach people that without Christopher Columbus, they would live in a very different world. They focus more on the fact that Columbus explored, and found and colonized new lands that had never been seen by Europeans before. He began American colonization, which would completely change Europe and the future of the world. Textbook’s tend to skip over the fact that while doing this, Columbus committed atrocities on the Native
This letter between Christopher Columbus and Luis de Santangel, the financial advisor of the spanish crown, establishes that Columbus found “many islands” and took “possession for their Highnesses” (p. 263). He confirms that there are inhabitants “beyond number” in this territory; however, he quickly glosses over the natives to describe the abounding fertility of the islands (p. 263). Columbus is care in highlighting the natural resources, species, and the ability the islands have for agriculture. Once his initial description of the land is completed Columbus begins to describe the simple lifestyle of the natives. He places special emphasis on the natives’ docile and generous nature, and writes in detail about trading with the nativ...
New, more accurate maps were made to let explorers more easily make journeys, tools such as the astrolabe and quadrant were refined to help improve marking exact locations, and sailors learned winds and currents allowing easier sailing with less navigation problems. Christopher Columbus, born in 1451, was pushed into trade by his father, an Italian wool weaver. Columbus wanted to find a way to the Far East and at age 41 he made his first trip of discovery. When he arrived in the new world, Columbus saw the native people as an opportunity for a labor force to extract the riches from the new land. In his journal, Columbus explains, “…for with fifty men they can all be subjugated and made to do what is required of them....” When explorers first met the native people of the lands they thought the natives to be easy to control. Columbus also states in another journal entry, “So that they are good to be ordered about, to work and sow, and do all that may be necessary, and to build towns, and they should be taught to go about clothed and to adopt our customs.” When Columbus arrived, he took over the Native American’s land and tried to force them to follow the customs of the
The ways in which the author could strengthen the book, in my opinion, is instead all the descriptive, to me meaningless points as how they were coloring themselves, the author should have put a little bit more facts in there to make it more documentary. Anyhow, overall the book has strength in letting the reader understand the history from both sides, whites and Indians. Many people have different views on the persecution of Native Americans, some think that it was all Indians’ fault and that they caused their own suffering, which I think is absolutely ridiculous, because they were not the ones who invaded. And Native Americans had every right to stand up for the land that was theirs.
This is an analysis of Christopher Columbus’s Letter on His First Voyage on page 381. Christopher Columbus wrote a letter to his King and Queen of Spain, while he was in the West Indies. He wrote this letter in February 1493 reflecting on his voyage across the Atlantic in 1492. After reading this letter, I can tell that Columbus felt like he was better than the native people of the different islands he journeyed and that a lot of things they did were very strange to him. I can also tell that the world was a lot different to him and to people in 1492, than it is to people in 2014 because he referred to the native people of the various islands he traveled to as Indians, whereas most people in 2014 know that India and Latin American are not the