Treat A Native From The Eyes Of Columbus And Bradford

“How to Treat a Native from the eyes of Columbus and Bradford” Throughout the early part of history, explorers and pilgrims from all over traveled to the land they called the Americas. Some of the leaders of this time included Christopher Columbus, who came in the late 1400s and discovered this new land instead of what he thought was the West Indies. Another is William Bradford, who traveled over to America on the Mayflower in the mid 1600s. One of the challenges they both faced when arriving to this new land is being face to face with the native people. Over time, the way the two leaders treated the natives would change. The treatment of Natives from the two authors show in some cases a positive view on the natives, and in some cases, show

Both Columbus and Bradford over time started to like the natives and see that they could be useful in life. Both Bradford and Columbus, through their adventures, deal with a sort of god feeling in life when encountering the natives. For Columbus, it is the Natives that see him as the gift from God in which they bring him anything he wants. Columbus says when the natives saw him arrive, “I with these ships and men, came from the heavens, and in this belief they everywhere received me...” (29) With this, Columbus shows that the natives from the start saw him as someone who was sent here from the heavens for a good reason. For Bradford, it is a native named Squanto. Bradford writes that, “Squanto continued with them and was their interpreter and was a special instrument sent of God for their good” (90). He explains that Squanto saved them from the rest of the natives and was very useful as he went on to teach the travelers life lessons, such as planting corn and were to fish. After meeting Squanto, the two sides became very much friends and stopped all the fighting between the two. With both examples, it helps show that by treating the natives fairly, both Columbus and Bradford could receive some sort of good or life lesson to be able to

For Columbus, his attitude towards the natives in more ways than one, is leaning towards the idea of slavery. After they warm up to him, he sees from the way they are dressed and by the gifts they give him, that they are easily conquerable. He explains that, “after they have been reassured and have lost their fear, they are so guileless and so generous with all they possess” (29). This brings up the idea for Columbus to use them as slaves later on to get what he wants overall. His overall attitude comes to be the idea of power over the natives. He does not really care about what the natives really want, but instead only cares what him and his colony need from the natives, even if that is the natives being slaves for them. Even when first arriving, he goes on to say that he, “took by force some of them” (29) which shows right off the bat that he has slavery on his mine. When first arriving to the new land, Columbus goes on to names the islands showing his authority and confidence over whoever was on these islands from the beginning. On the other hand, is the way Bradford sees the natives overall. He sees them as friends and as a gift overall. Even though at first the natives and voyagers did not get along well causing a lot of fighting between the two, the natives eventually warmed up with the help of Squanto. The natives went on to help the colonist with corn planting overtime and the two sides