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 …show more content…
These differences were also smaller details under the larger ideas of barbarianism, new cultures, and the even bigger idea of inhumanity. The Spanish saw the Native Americans as slaves because they showed to be hard laborers and gave into the Spanish power. The Native Americans had a natural knack for manual tasks, so much that most Spaniards compared them to insects because both insects and Native Americans could do certain tasks that normal humans, such as high class Spaniards, could not. The Spaniards would never do such work as they believed that work was meant for slaves. When the Spanish took over the Aztec capital city, Sepúlveda remarks of how the Native Americans were “oppressed and fearful at the beginning.” The Native Americans were seen as weak willed, for they barely resisted the conquest of their homes. If the Native Americans showed no incentive of retaliating and were better at manual work, it seemed natural to the Spanish that they be enslaved. The Native Americans, on the other hand, saw the Spanish in a different light as well as they watched many Spaniards become obsessed with gold. The Spanish were given Gold as gifts and went crazy just holding it and lusting for more, like savage monkeys. The Spanish, by nature, couldn’t help but become greedy monsters for gold, because in Europe riches were equivalent to power. They could care less about how the Native Americans acquired the gold; all that mattered was that they had it, and the Spanish could take it. These differences in detail are just fragments of the overall beliefs both groups shared, which were barbarianism and inhumanity. Therefore these differences are far less significant than the
- “Black Legend”- False concept held that the conquerors merely tortured and butchered the Indians, stole their gold, infected them with smallpox, and left little but misery behind. - Spanish did erect a colossal empire, sprawling from California and Florida to Tierra del Fuego. - Spanish would fuse with the Indians, as to the English would shun
Topics Notes A.) Spanish exploration and conquest of the Americas were accompanied and furthered by widespread deadly epidemics that devastated native populations and by the introduction of crops and animals not found in the Americas Diseases such as Smallpox devastated native populations, making it easier for Spanish explorers to take over. They also introduced animals such as chickens, pigs, and horses to the native populations. B) The encomienda system, Spanish colonial economies marshaled Native American labor to support plantation-based agriculture and extract precious metals and other resources.
Spain’s relations with Native Americans began when Christopher Columbus and his caravels, the Nina and Pinta, along with a larger ship, the Santa Maria, sailed west to in time, discover what he would then name, San Salvador. The islanders who lived on San Salvador called themselves Tainos. Columbus quickly realized they had beliefs that greatly differentiated from what he had seen in Europe. “Columbus’s landfall in the Caribbean initiated a thriving exchange between the people, ideas, cultures, and institutions of the Old and New Worlds that continues to this day.” “Columbus’s perceptions of the Tainos were shaped by European attitudes, ideas, and expectations, just as the Tainos’ perceptions of the Europeans were no doubt colored by their
Despite differing in many ways, all the European nations that participated in the colonization of what is now known as America shared the similar goal of finding land to claim as their own and using it for their own unique intentions. The Spanish, for example, reaped the profits of South America, which included an extremely large amount of silver that temporarily boosted their economy. The English settlers came in different groups, whose intentions were widely unique to their situation. Two such groups, the capital-centered settlers of Virginia and the religious-based New Englanders, had very different goals, which caused their development into completely different societies over time, despite their shared English roots. One of the main
In sixteenth century Spain, the first debate on human rights in relation to the newly discovered Americas was held between a Spanish scholar and priest. One Spanish scholar was Juan Ginès de Sepúlveda who believed that the Native Americans were inferior type of human to Spaniards and believed that Spain should invade the Americas and enslave the Indians. The priest that opposed him was Bartolomé de Las Casas, who believed that the Native Americans were human and should not be invaded by Spain. The debate that took place was because the two sides were using two different criteria to judge the Native Americans, Sepúlveda who compared the Indians to contemporary Spain of the sixteenth century while Las Casas compares the Native Americans to earlier
Hello all, my name is Bartolome de Casas, and I have something to say about the treatments of Native Americans. Well, more than just something to say. I honestly and truly believe that the Spanish conquistadors are horribly mistreating the Native Americans. I in fact that think they are getting so mistreated I have written a little book called “A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies”. In this little work of literature, I expose what the Spanish have done the Native Americans.
The Spanish based their colonies on the promise of finding gold and possessing it, while the English Settlers based their colonies on the preaching of Christianity all while believing that the land they possessed and owned was how they would gain their liberty, independence, and ultimately their freedom. The Native Americans believed that the land belonged to not one person, but to a community instead; as long a you showed deep respect for it and cared for it as so mandated by the great spirit. Whether it be by the use of violence, religious education, or respect, every society and every person had different views on how the land and its resources should be
This power imbalance and these payments are key in the subjugation of the natives. Furthermore, the paternalism of the Spanish toward the Indigenous peoples is obvious: “Captain [Cortes] stared at him [Cuauhtemoc]…then patted him on the head” (p.117). Post-conquest, and still today, “difficult relations” between the descendants of the Indigenous peoples and the “others” (p.117) still exist. The European view of the natives “as idolatrous savages” or, on the contrary, as “models of natural virtue” (p.175) demonstrate the versatile and often contradictory views held. Similarly, the Aztecs at times saw the Spaniards as gods, and other times as gold-hungry savages who “fingered it like monkeys” (p.51).
The central idea of this passage is that we all come from different places, we all have different lifestyles, we all have different religions we live upon, but the one thing we all do have in common is that God created us and put us on this planet for a reason. The passage explains that we are all different, and that religion may have something to do with that. The Christians say they aren 't as good to the Indians as the Indians are to them. The Christians are beginning to realize that the Indians are barbaric animals like they see them, them are now realizing that they are humans, too.
The Spanish terrorized Native Americans, which led many natives to fear the Spanish, and caused some to revolt against their reign. According to Eric Foner, “the Spanish forced tens of thousands of Indians to work in gold and silver mines, which
North America had many regional differences in native societies and economies prior to the Europeans arriving. Indians differences where based more on the climate, water sources, wild life and plants. The northeastern Indians focused more in building towns in the canyons, as well as building dams and canals. One of their biggest structures was five levels high and would not be compared to anything else until the 1880s. They managed to become farmers in deserts, and perfected the skill.
The relationship between the Spanish and the Aztecs was a correspondence that steadily declined as the Spanish conquered and destroyed the Aztec Civilization. The relationship was one that was bound to fail because of the naive nature and seclusion of the Aztecs along with the greed and barbaric attitude of the Spaniards. The Spanish ravaged through the new world and along with them the brought destruction and disease; with no remorse for the deaths they caused. The Aztecs, naive and uneducated, were overly trusting of their supposed “pale-faced gods.” The combination of these factors is what lead to a destructive association between these two incompatible groups.
Although there are no written texts from the native people of the Americas or what the Spanish conquistadores of the 16th century would call, the ‘New World’, we still can grab some reality and understand the lives of these people from the lenses of the conquerors. Many of these native people of Americas did not have written language, therefore, we are not able to asses anything from their perspective. While some other groups of natives used to have written languages, the Spanish conquerors destroyed systematically their evidence. On top of all, 80-90% of the natives dies in the first century of the contact with the Spanish, hence, we must rely in what the Spanish authors of the 16th century wrote about the natives. This does not mean we cannot
The Spaniards and Portuguese had different ways of pushing the Native Americans towards their own goals. In the end it neither country benefited, but the native customs were shattered. The Native Americans
homemade, but are mass produced and distributed. Also most products are geared towards tourists, rather than a marketplace for locals. The one in Otavalo seemed to have some things for the locals, like the pig’s head that was being cooked. In part that might be why the market has seen success that the market appeals to both locals and tourists. Most of the market workers aren’t skilled craftsman for the most part, but they are only serving retail type jobs.