Negative Impact of Differing Beliefs and Misjudgments on Native American and Spanish Relations
The different beliefs that Native Americans and the Spanish had and the misjudgments they had about each other, were key sources for the violent conflict that arose between the two. These differences, and misjudgments by the Spanish can be seen through the stories of the Iroquois Native Americans and the writings of Bartolome de Las Casas. One source of discord between the two groups was there different ways of looking at land itself and how it was to be treated. Furthermore, the Native American and Spanish’s differing religious views and religiously based misjudgments about one another were a major part in how the Spanish were able to cement their
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One misjudgment about the health constitution of the Native Americans was that they were weak people since they kept succumbing to disease. In letters back to Spain Bartolome de Las Casas wrote that the Native Americans were “no tougher than princes or than other Europeans with a silver spoon in their mouths” (Mulford 550), but the difference in constitution was mainly due to the different pathogens the two groups had encountered. As Native American tribes, such as the Iroquois, had only had exposure to diseases they and other tribes had previously encountered, their immune systems were not equipped to defend against diseases such The weakened states of the people helped many conquistadors feel confident as natives were decimated in droves, but as years passed and natives gained more exposure to the pathogens the Spanish had to fight against those that survived and knew how unfriendly foreigners could be. Additionally, the Spanish misjudged the intelligence and assertiveness of the Native Americans as they thought that because the weapons they used seemed primitive and the Native Americans seemed like submissive people to them. This was a severe misjudgment because the Spanish failed to consider that the Native Americans were not exposed to the transfer of ideas occurring throughout Eurasia …show more content…
Differing ideas regarding what it meant to live on the land and what was the proper way to treat gave way to forceful takeovers by the Spanish with millions of Native Americans dead. Religious differences between the two helped the Spanish to justify why they were subjugating Native Americans and religious misjudgments made by the Native Americans made it easier for the Spanish to domineer over them. Misjudgments regarding the mental and physical fortitude of the Native Americans also made the Spanish more eager to engage the Native Americans, but as time went on they would see that the battle would not be so easily won. These early differences and misjudgments would have a lasting negative impact on the relations that not only the Spanish had with Native Americans, but also the rest of Europe set on traveling across the sea to the new foreign
To many of the English colonists, any land that was granted to them in a charter by the English Crown was theirs’, with no consideration for the natives that had already owned the land. This belittlement of Indians caused great problems for the English later on, for the natives did not care about what the Crown granted the colonists for it was not theirs’ to grant in the first place. The theory of European superiority over the Native Americans caused for any differences in the way the cultures interacted, as well as amazing social unrest between the two cultures.
...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.
The Europeans invaded America with every intention of occupying the land, the bountiful natural resources as well as the complete domination of the native people. The Europeans desire for the land created an explosive situation for the native peoples as they witnessed their land and right to freedom being stripped from them. They often found themselves having to choose sides of which to pledge their allegiance to. The Europeans depended upon Indian allies to secure the land and their dominance as well as trade relations with the Indians. The Indians were in competition with one another for European trade causing conflict among the different tribes altering the relationships where friends became enemies and vice versa (Calloway, 2012, p. 163). These relationships often became embittered and broke into bloody brawls where it involved, "Indian warriors fighting on both sides, alongside the European forces as well as against European forces invad...
Differences between cultures are not something new. Many of us can still see it in our daily lives. Four hundred years ago two very distinctly different cultures clashed in what we call the American Southwest. The Spanish presence brought new ideas, new culture, and new way of life to the new found Americas much to the demise of the already settled native tribes. Already having controlled much of Mexico and South America, problems were rising in the outskirts of New Spain. Secular and religious authorities were in conflict and the ever growing animosity of its aboriginal tribe made it difficult to maintain Spanish control. Though, for four generations the Spaniards had begun to feel successful in their endeavors of New Mexico. In early August, the sedentary and nomadic tribes banned together and overthrow the Spanish authority. There are many angles needed to be addressed in order to see why this happened. Historians and anthropologists have been trying to go beyond the bias history to uncover what happen. In the book “What Caused the Pueblo Revolt of 1680”, historians try to answer this question, some theories hold more pull then others in terms of what and why. Through reading this anthology I believe the revolt happened for cultural and religious reasons because the Spaniards were threatening the indigenous people’s very way of life through violence, exploitation of land/resources (food), and demoralization of their old ways and practices.
The essay starts with the “Columbian Encounter between the cultures of two old worlds “ (98). These two old worlds were America and Europe. This discovery states that Native Americans contributed to the development and evolution of America’s history and culture. It gives the fact that indians only acted against europeans to defend their food, territory, and themselves.
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 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
Each European country treated the Native Americans distinctively and likewise the diverse Native Americans tribes reacted differently. The vast majority of the tribes didn’t wish to overtake the Europeans, but to rather just maintain their status quo. Moreover, Axtell mentions that during the inaugural stages of the encounter, the relationship between the two parties was rather peaceful since the Europeans were outnumbered by the natives. Axtell depicts that unlike the Europeans, the Native Americans treated the strangers equally or superior to themselves. The Indians would welcome the Europeans into their towns and shower them with gifts and blessings. The relationship between the two factions was going serene until the cultural differences became a burden on both
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. This triggered the largest population decline in all recorded history. Fifty percent of the Native American population had died of disease within twenty years. Soon after, Native Americans began to question their religion and doubted the ability of shamen to heal. This was the first step towards the destruction of Native cultures. The Native Americans had never experienced anything like these deadly diseases before and they came to believe that Europeans had the power to kill or give life.
For many years’ native people of the North America lived in peaceful in their homelands. However, one day the lives of the Native Americans would come to an upsetting stop. In June of 1540, Hernando De Soto, a Spanish explorer to led the first European expedition deep into the United States mainland in search of god, glory and gold. Hernando set to out to conquer the empire and to capture the Aztecs, .On his next journey out as govern, he encountered the native’s people. From that day forward, natives would adapt to the settlers ways and even involved themselves in wars.
In this essay I will tell how the Aztec and Inca empires ended, and also I will compare the fall of both empires, using for a point of departure the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the land of Mexico. Wherever the Spanish went always the same thing happened, from my point of view. Innocent people were killed for no good reason, cities were massacred, civilizations were destroyed or forced to convert to Christianity. And so, I think now is the time to reevaluate the actions of the European explorers who subjugated the native American peoples and their civilizations. Undoubtedly the most glorified and heroically portrayed of these figures of the European conquest of the New World were the conquistadors, the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16-th century. These men, under leaders such as Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizzaro nearly eliminated the Aztec and Inca peoples. Surely many of these soldiers were extremely cruel and intolerant of the native populations. But it is important to consider, with the push of both sides toward territorial expansion, how these groups (European and American) could remain isolated from each other. Furthermore, with meeting of these two imperialist cultures, it must be considered whether it would be possible for the two to peacefully coexist.
The Europeans were relentless in their attempts to get rid of the Native Americas the attitude of the Europeans was felt among the Native Americans.
The Spanish and the French both had different ideas of how to treat the Native Americans that resided in
Upon the European’s discovery and colonization of the Americas an irreversible transformation was triggered. The extreme differences in the cultures of the Europeans and Native Americans would prove to be fatal to the way of life that existed before European colonization.
The Black Legend and White Legend: Relationship Between the Spanish and Indians in the New World