Spanish Misjudgments Essay

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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 …show more content…

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

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