Spanish & English Super Power's in America
Ultimately, their stronger unified cultural need to establish their dominance in another land is the most important reasons for the foothold established by the English and the Spanish in the New World. It is true that a plethora of different races, ethnic groups, nationalities, and cultures arrived on the North American soil prior to 1776, the year that America began its process of embarking upon its independence, of officially becoming the independent country of United States of America. This begs the question of why did the Spanish (and Spanish Americans) and later primarily the English (and English Americans) become the dominant ethnic groups in the New World, and not the other nations that established settlements, for instance, perchance, the Dutch?
This paper will argue that the predominant historical evidence, as discussed in The Ethnic Dimension in American History and Major Problems in American Immigration and Ethnic History as well as American Mosaic and the text Out of Many suggests that the reason for this dominance was twofold. First of all, Spanish and the English dominated the seas and the land, militarily, in the way that other European nations such as the French did not. English settlers in particular had religious as well as economic reasons for developing a cultural and sociological grip as well as an economic support in the new nation. The fact that the British and Spanish nations were both more unified, had more mercantile capitol support, and were technically more advanced than their rivals, particularly on the seas, coupled with their greater need to establish settlements in the new land to ensure their dominance. It is tempting to view the English dominance purely as a product of military might, of course. But while this undoubtedly played a factor in the domination of the English and the Spanish, ultimately the reasons for British and Spanish were more cultural than purely military or technological, this essay will argue.
On a level of military technology the English in particular exercised military dominion, winning what came to be known as ‘Prince Phillips War,’ defeating Native American alliance against the New England colonists. The British also later dominated France and the still existing strong Native American tribes in what came to be known as ‘King William’s War’ in 1689. In May of 1702, England declared war on France after the death of the King of Spain, Charles II, to stop the union of France and Spain.
In 1675, tensions between Native Americans and colonists residing in New England erupted into the brutal conflict that has come to be known as King Philip's War, the bloodiest battle in America history, in proportion to population it was also the deadliest war in American history. The English colonists wished to rid the country of the Indians in order to seize their land. They believed the Indians were savages and therefore were not worthy of equal rights.
From 1670 to 1770, the New World was colonized by different racial groups from Europe who lived together heterogeneously which led the New World to become “modern” and uniquely “American”. In 1670, many Europeans, like the Dutch, French, Irish, Scottish, English and German colonists, came to the New World either to break away from European traditions or to fulfill their desire for adventure. Butler wrote that the colonists all lived heterogeneously and brought their own cultures and religions to the New World to create diversity, which helped contribute America to become “modern”.
In a lively account filled that is with personal accounts and the voices of people that were in the past left out of the historical armament, Ronald Takaki proffers us a new perspective of America’s envisioned past. Mr. Takaki confronts and disputes the Anglo-centric historical point of view. This dispute and confrontation is started in the within the seventeenth-century arrival of the colonists from England as witnessed by the Powhatan Indians of Virginia and the Wamapanoag Indians from the Massachusetts area. From there, Mr. Takaki turns our attention to several different cultures and how they had been affected by North America. The English colonists had brought the African people with force to the Atlantic coasts of America. The Irish women that sought to facilitate their need to work in factory settings and maids for our towns. The Chinese who migrated with ideas of a golden mountain and the Japanese who came and labored in the cane fields of Hawaii and on the farms of California. The Jewish people that fled from shtetls of Russia and created new urban communities here. The Latinos who crossed the border had come in search of the mythic and fabulous life El Norte.
In Chapter 8 of Major Problems in American Immigration History, the topic of focus shifts from the United States proper to the expansion and creation of the so called American Empire of the late Nineteenth Century. Unlike other contemporary colonial powers, such as Britain and France, expansion beyond the coast to foreign lands was met with mixed responses. While some argued it to be a mere continuation of Manifest Destiny, others saw it as hypocritical of the democratic spirit which had come to the United States. Whatever their reasons, as United States foreign policy shifted in the direction of direct control and acquisition, it brought forth the issue of the native inhabitants of the lands which they owned and their place in American society. Despite its long history of creating states from acquired territory, the United States had no such plans for its colonies, effectively barring its native subjects from citizenship. Chapter 8’s discussion of Colonialism and Migration reveals that this new class of American, the native, was never to be the equal of its ruler, nor would they, in neither physical nor ideological terms, join in the union of states.
Mexican American struggles in the United States date back to the Spanish discovery of the New World in 1492. For over five hundred years, Mexicans have endured social injustices and inequalities at the hands of their superiors. The mistreatment of the native people of this land is constantly overlooked for "…the main goals shaping Spanish colonial policy were to maintain and expand political control and to convert Indians to Christianity." (Vargas p.30) With this mindset, the basic nature of relations between the dominant Anglos and the inferior Mexicans was that of suppression, rejection, ignorance and separation as opposed to establishment of ideals that would foster cultural relations and produce the true definition of a "melting pot" society.
Two conflicts during this time are seen as significant towards this battle between the interests of the Natives in the Americas. One of which was between two men: Bartolomé Las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda. Las Casas defends t...
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.
King William's War, which occurred from between 1689 to 1697, was the first of a series of colonial conflicts between France and England for supremacy in North America. It started when King William III of England allied himself with the League of Augsburg; certain German states, Spain, Sweden, Austria, and the Netherlands,; to oppose French expansion. In America, King William¡¯s War, or otherwise called The War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was fought between the English and its Indian allies and the French and its Indian allies. The first major conflict occurred on February 9, 1690 when the French and Indian forces from Montreal attacked and burned Schenectady, New York. The English responded by the seizure of Port Royal on May 11, 1690. However, it was recaptured a year later by the French. The city of Quebec was also attacked by English forces in their first major military operation of King William's War, but they were obstructed by the French troops. The war ceased in a stalemate and officially ended with the Treaty of Ryswick, which ended the fighting in America and Europe, and returned all colonial possessions to their prewar status.
The French and Indian War or the Seven Years War was one of the major events that led to the American Revolution. The French and Indian War started in 1754 when George Washington and General Edward Braddock tried to defend the British land that they felt the French were taking with their expansion into the Ohio River valley. In 1755 Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts had many French settlers in the Nova Scotia region moved from that region to avoid any confrontation if these settlers sided with their home country. These people were exiled from their home and moved into British colonies in a very cruel and violent fashion. This is one of the first examples of Britain’s oppressive nature towards people they consider a threat to what they feel is the best solution. The British military effort, at this time, was not as impassioned or successful. Both George Washington and General Braddock suffered major defeats at the hands of the French and their allies, General Braddock was even killed in one of the early battles before this war was officially started. It was not until later in the war that the British were able to successfully defeat the French. The war officially began in 1756 and ended in 1763 but this war is far less important than the major event it caused. More than anything this war was the first step to the American Revolution.
When viewing a map of the country of Mexico prior to the American westward expansion, it was actually larger than the United States had been at that time. Some lands that Mexico lost in the Mexican - American war under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, are Texas (the second largest state in the present US), California (the third largest state in the present US) and New Mexico (the fifth largest state in the present US). Due to this defeat Mexico lost half of its national territory. Half of Mexico’s lands were gone and half of Mexico’s people displaced making them Americans and no longer Mexicanos. This occurred without their approval or consent. In the book “My History Not Yours” written by Genaro M. Padilla are accounts of men and women living in the lands of Texas, California and New Mexico during the this unruly time of loss and the unknown. The pages of this book contain the actual written accounts of Mexicanos and their feeling of outrage sadness and anger against the insurgence of their mother lands. The feelings of accommodation and resistance are a present among the writers within Padilla’s book but some lean towards one side and some the other. All humans are different and the people of Mexico handled and felt differently about the loss of their lands. Some possessed the mindset that the overtaking of their lands by the Americans was unacceptable and they resisted and resented the presence of the Anglo-Saxons that now occupied their territory. While others possessed more of an accommodating view. That being, they saw the Americans as a potential asset to develop the lands and that the US was more powerful than they so it would be best to tr...
The relations between English and Latin America from the late 1700s to the mid-1800s are a study of disparities and conflicts. From the founding of the thirteen English colonies in the north and the Spanish and Portuguese colonies to the south, the differences were readily apparent. The English and Latin colonies operated under different forms of governance, believed in different forms of Christianity, and realized independence through different avenues, among other differences. These incongruences, and the tension that resulted, only increased as the colonies gained their independence.
While the far-away North American tribes were having their land taken away, and being harassed by white American expansionists, they also faced another threat: Spanish occupation. During the early-1500’s, many Spanish explorers and conquistadors, such as Cabeza de Vaca, wished to find gold and riches and, in the process, they harassed, oppressed, tortured, and spread deadly diseases to the Native tribes. They often used the excuse of racial class-separation, known as “castas,” to justify their rotten, atrocious crimes. Throughout the 1600’s and 1700’s, the focus of the Spanish explorers experienced a shift from conquistadors wishing to acquire gold and wealth to Catholic missionaries wishing to religiously convert the Native tribes and, as a result, they built up many churches on the land. As one might guess, the
From 1754 to 1763, the French and Indian War took place. This war altered the political, economic, and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies. It was the last of four North American wars waged from 1689 to 1763 between the British and the French. In these struggles, each country fought for control of the continent with the assistance of Native American and colonial allies. The French and Indian War occurred to end the land dispute between the British and French. Whoever won, in reality, gained an empire. It was a determined and eventually successful attempt by the British to get a dominant position in North America, the West Indies, and the subcontinent of India. Although Britain had won all this land, political, economic, and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies were totally annihilated.
Introduction: The motivation for settlers to travel to the Americas was not the intranational and international rivalries revolving around choice of religion and all-around “we’re better than you” mentality, but instead the goal for each to increase their own personal wealth. The colonists were part of the Virginia Company, which was divided into two smaller companies: London Company and Plymouth Company. The founding of Virginia marked the beginning of a second round of colonization attempts from England, as the first round of attempts in the 1570s and 1580s failed miserably. Rather than grant conquistadors the permission to claim land for them, as well as give them large sums of money for funding, the English used jointstock companies to lead settlers to the New World with the hope of profiting from this arrangement.
Dixon, E. James. Quest for the origins of the First Americans. University of New Mexico Press. 1993.