In this paper, the epic journey and expedition of Cabeza de Vaca would be discussed that why is his tale significant to understand the Spanish invasion of the Americas, what communication difficulties did he faced and what were the main aspects of his journey and our learning’s about native societies.
In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. We all know this catchy tune right? But what we don’t know, is what Columbus thought when he arrived in the North America or what he though of the Native Americans he met. In fact, we don’t know much about all the explorers after Columbus and what they thought. Each explore had their own view of the Native Americans, and three great examples are Columbus, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda and Bartolomé de Las Casas
Five Spanish ships left the port of Seville in 1527 with 300 people going out to uncharted land called “The New World” and who knew only 4 people would come back. The leader of the entire expedition named Panfilo de Narvaez had dreamed of building settlements on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Cabeza de Vaca a military veteran was serving as the treasurer in this expedition. How did he survive? Cabeza de Vaca survived because of his sharp survival skills and because of his success as a healer which lead to his respect for the indians and caused the indians to respect him.
The interactions between the Europeans and the Native Americans were far from peaceful. For example, when Hernando de Soto came to the Americas with his 200 horses, 600 soldiers, and 300 pigs, he devastated the Indian villages in the four years that he was on American soil. It was hardly fair for the Indians, because they were not used to the violent techniques used by Soto and his men, and they had never seen an army with guns and horses. However, despite all the violence that Soto caused, the worst the he did was not killing the Indians, it was bringing his pigs. The pigs that Soto brought were disease-ridden and it only took a couple pigs that escapes the clutches of Soto and his army to wreak havoc for the Indians. When just a couple pigs
However, trade and commerce had a negative effect on both sides as well, namely disease. Disease killed a lot of Native Americans as well as gave syphilis to the Old World. The Old World exchanged a vast amount of diseases, for example, smallpox, measles, malaria, yellow fever, influenza, and chick pox. In the New World, the diseases that were exchanged with the Old World were syphilis, polio, hepatitis, and encephalitis (“The Columbian Exchange Introduction”). Due to the fact that both Old and New Worlds had all those illnesses that were crossing the ocean, the Native American population was diminished. The cause of so many deaths was because Native Americans were incapable of surviving the
The Columbian Exchange was the transfer of ideas, animals, plants to new places to look more familiar, specifically related to European colonization after Columbus; from the Old World to the New World. Invasive species such as earthworms didnt exist before the Columbian exchange; palnts like dandelions didn't exist either. The byproduct of this exchange was the mixing of cultures through food and animals that would forever change the landscape that people know so much about certain areas, such as oranges in Florida, or tomatoes in Italy.
Historians estimate that around ninety percent of the first Americans had died in between 1492 and 1650, the era of Columbian Exchange (Nunn, Qian). This loss is still considered to be one of the largest and the most horrifying demographic disasters in human history (Nunn, Qian). The massive transfer of plants, animals, ideas, people, and disease between the Old World and the New World was the cause for this disaster and many other dramatic transformations made in America. The Columbian Exchange had more negative than positive effects on America, as this exchange greatly benefited the Europeans and their colonies while bringing catastrophe to the environment, the people, ideas, and the culture of America.
The Columbian Exchange was the transfer of crops, livestock, technology, and disease from Afro-Eurasia to the “New World” and vice-versa. Alfred W. Crosby created the term “Columbian Exchange”, in a book he published about the effect on the environment when the exchange began in the New World. It began in the 15th century when Christopher Columbus arrived into the Americas with plants, animals, and bacterial diseases from Europe. The Columbian Exchange significantly changed the way of life of the new and old worlds. New crops allowed for a significant increase in population in both hemispheres. Livestock exchange played a major role in the life that the Native Americans lived. Native Americans were forced to change their everyday traditional
The Columbian Exchange was a transatlantic trade of goods, people, and ideas between the Old and New Worlds. It began after Columbus’s 1492 voyage to the Caribbean established a sea bridge that connected the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. This meant that the ancient separation between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas was over, and a brand new frontier of trade was possible.
The Columbian Exchange was a period of cultural and biological exchanges between the New World and the Old World. Christopher Columbus when he was out on his second voyage in 1493 had introduced new things to each place. All different things were being traded and new ideas had came about. Plants, diseases, and technology were some of the ideas that were exchanged during the Columbian Exchange.
Juan Ponce de León has been killed by natives on his voyage as according to his crew who has arrived back. He was to colonize the land, which he did. However, he needed to conquer the land and take it from the natives. He brought about 50 soldiers with him and many weapons. However, it seems that the European weapons that they brought were less effective for close-range fighting and they were forced to retreat. Before doing so, the natives shot an arrow at Juan Ponce de León and fatally wounded him. We decided to interview the natives about how they felt and why they would kill Juan Ponce de León.
The Columbian Exchange is a timeframe during which the cultural and biological exchanges were conducted between the New and Old Worlds. Exchanges between Europeans and Native Americans of items such as plants, animals, diseases, and technology had a dramatic impact on lives on each side of Atlantic. Initiated with Columbus’ discovery in 1492 the exchange lasted throughout the years of expansion and discovery. Improvements in agricultural production, increased mortality rates, evolution of warfare, and education were a few illustrations of the consequences of Columbian Exchange on both Europeans and Native Americans.
At the beginning of Cabeza de Vaca’s epic adventure, he was a conquistador of Spain on a mission of conquest and wealth. As a man of Spain, many career choices would have been available to him, but the choice to be a conquistador was his and one he choice freely. In a twist of fate, Cabeza was shipwrecked, beaten, and forced into slavery the very opposite of his mission as a conquistador, to enslave not be slaved. Cabeza de Vaca made the choice to be a part of a conquest that would seize spoils from a new world, but when kindness and mercy were giving in a time of desperation, a new choice began to grow, a choice to see all men as human and deserving of human rights.
The Columbian exchange was a large exchange of culture, goods and ideas between the new and old world. In 1942 Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and were thought to be the first Europeans to make landfall in the Americas. Exchanges lasted throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries sometimes referred to as the years of expansion and discovery. Many different things were exchanged in the period such as diseases animals and plants, causing many different reactions and changes in history and the new and old world. Plants were a large part of this exchange, these plants changed both the economy and the culture of the New Worlds. Many different plants were discovered in the Americas including beans, squash, chili peppers, sunflowers,
Hello I am the Timucua Tribe leader. The event that has happened in 1513. I saw Juan ponce de leon come onto my land he did not seem like he wanted to hurt us he wanted to talk but i thought he wanted to attack so I shot a Poisoned arrow into his leg and my men attacked his men so mostly it was my fault. I’m the one who shot him first with an arrow.