Primary Source Summary: 'The Indigenous People Of The Americas'

In the fifteenth century, Spain had the indication of traveling to the New World, which consisted of present-day South America along into parts of North America. The noted explorers, Columbus, Cortés, and Las Casas each had the confidence of fulfilling this expedition to the New World. Along the way each explorer encountered different experiences with the indigenous people including their values and beliefs. The explorers’ eyes were open to a new world and experienced many hardships. However, the explorers came across great colonization’s of the New World, including trading routes and goods, along with the discovering of new plants and animals. Each confront with the New World was different for the explorers allowing for different experiences. Some had different intentions along with experiencing different obstacles with the indigenous people. They each though led a success route allowing for the Spain to connect with the New World.

According to Columbus the Caribbean is a much better island than any other island he has visited. Columbus describes the Caribbean to have a variety of many trees, mountains, rivers and mines of metal along with a great number of inhabitants. Along with the great scenery description, Columbus includes that the Caribbean is very welcoming because of its inhabitants even though they are very timid at first. Las Casas, in his account, lets us know that the island Hispaniola was known as the largest and happiest before the Spaniards took over. The way that Las Casas describes the island during the time that the Spaniards were taking action to take over, includes only destruction, brutality and struggles for the indigenous people and their land.

Humans are complex beings with exceptional attributes that no other living being possesses and by the virtue of those qualities, humans are powerful. A particular one is expectation: a deep, secret characteristic of the mind that constructs a view of what is best for our reality based on a collection of beliefs. Society then, associates every situation, every person to their own judgment presuming that is fair. But I disagree on the accuracy of expectations of the character of people. Due to how personal expectation is, categorizing a good or bad person is unreliable; as it is superficial, without analytical considerations of other expectations-which differ from person to person.

Europe, such as Spain, France, and England, have had different language, culture, political system, religion and more, which they developed by themselves in their civilization. In the late 1400s to 1500s, Europeans started the colonization and economic competitions each other between countries to get more assets since their resources and lands were limited and not enough. At that time, Spaniards and French had the same purpose for exploring the New World such as pursuing wealth, winning the economic competition, but they approached to Native Americans in different ways. The difference between these two countries when they encounter with Indians was the relationship with Native Americans.

In the 16th Century, Spain became one of the European forces to reckon with. To expand even further globally, Spanish conquistadors were sent abroad to discover lands, riches, and North America and its civilizations. When the Spanish and Native American groups met one another, they judged each other, as they were both unfamiliar with the people that stood before them. The Native American and Spanish views and opinions of one another are more similar than different because when meeting and getting to know each other, neither the Spaniards nor the Native Americans saw the other group of people as human. Both groups of people thought of one another as barbaric monsters and were confused and amazed by each other’s cultures. But, even though both

Before the Spanish ship that changed it all, which arrived in the “New World” in 1492, thriving organized communities of native people had centuries of history on the land. That ship, skippered by Christopher Columbus, altered the course of both Native American and European history. 1492 sparked the fire of cultural diffusion in the New World which profoundly impacted the Native American peoples and the European settlers.

Two scholars, Erikson and William Balée believe that almost all aspects of Native American life have been perceived wrong. Although some refuse to believe this, it has been proven to be the truth. Throughout Charles C. Mann’s article from The Atlantic, “1491”, he discusses three main points: how many things that are viewed as facts about the natives are actually not true, the dispute between the high and low counters, and the importance of the role disease played in the history of the Americas. When the term “Native American” is heard, the average person tends to often relate that to a savage hunter who tries to minimize their impact on their surrounding environment. For the most part, this is not the case. In reality,

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

Historians views the Native Americans as a civilization “crushed” and “scorned” by the march of European forces in the New World. The European pilgrims in North America regularly defended their extension of domain with the suspicion that they were sparing - as they saw - a savage, agnostic world by spreading Christian human advancement. In the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the strategy of Indian Reductions brought about the constrained transformations to Catholicism of the indigenous individuals. After that, they started to create treaties with other countries, lead business and follow peace.

On October 12, 1492, an Italian merchant by the name of Christopher Columbus landed on an island in the New World. With him he brought three ships and a small crew of Spaniards. After exploring other islands, Columbus came one that he called Hispaniola; here, they found seemingly primitive and naϊve natives that they immediately began to take advantage of. However, little did they know that this first meeting would bring exploration of South and Central America that would wreak havok among the Natives. Throughout the period of European Expansion, Natives were ripped from their home and forced to work day in and day out. Almost every single person from the New World, whether a slave or not, was seriously impacted by the spread of diseases.Furthermore,

Bartolome de Las Casas, an ordained priest belonging to the Dominican Order, actively fought for justice for the indigenous peoples of the New World on the premise that all men are created equal. In response to the atrocities committed by the Spanish during the sixteenth century European colonization of the New World, Bartolome de Las Casas published A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies to expose the ignorant general Spanish population to the horrors that were being inflicted on thousands of human beings. From the Caribbean, to Mexico, to Central America and then to Peru, Las Casas recounts the countless number of grotesque, horrifying abuses against the indigenous people by “Christian” Spaniards. Blind to the differences between appearance, culture, sex, religion, and driven by a strong sense of morality, Las Casas, driven by a sense of morality, fought to end the massacre and restore the dignity all human beings deserve.

Prior to the discovery of the New World by Europeans, Native Americans populated what is presently North and South America in massive numbers; however, due to massive population loss, mainly caused by diseases introduced by Europeans and Africans, the Native Americans were unfortunately forced to live as inferiors to the Europeans.

Native Americans had once dominated the land now called America, but eventually, their lives would be destroyed by European Colonization. In arrival/ settlement of Europeans, a drastic change for Native Americans occurred forcing them to submit to White settlers, choosing between assimilation into a White culture or preserving their heritage and ancestry. A number of negative results would occur including disease, loss of land, and loss right of self-governing, with no remorse to Native American culture.

Bartolome de Las Casas was born in 1848 in Spain. Las Casas was a Spanish historian and dominican missionary who objected the Spanish treatment of the Natives. Las Casas is known for his famous writings which weren’t published until many years after his death. Las Casas was not like any ordinary man in his time period. He opposed to several things the Spanish had against the Natives. He saw the torture the Natives received by the Spaniards. Las Casas tried to convince people to change their ways with the natives. He fought slavery and violence that was brought among harmless people.

Over the years, history has been manipulated for people to have a limited knowledge of the actual events. For Example the history of the indigenous people in Mesoamerica which has been misinterpreted with many myths portraying them as heartless and evil people. In reality these indigenous people were incredible and clever to the point that they build a “perfect empire” in what today is part of Mexico and Central America. The cultural and life integration was based on three essential processes worldmaking, worldcentering and worldrenewing.