Kindness in today’s society only gets one so far. The saying nice guys always finish last might simply hold some truth. In “First Encounters,” we gain insight about how the initial explores of America interacted with the natives. European ideology had no room for this other hemisphere or in fact the people that lived there. The text we go on to read describes just how gruesome this time period truly was. The Natives were referred to as “savages.” They currently we're at war with themselves during the arrival of the westerners, increasing the body count even higher. Then we proceed on to read about Christopher Columbus’s personality through his letters to Luis De Santangel and his role during the exploration of this newly discovered land. Christopher …show more content…
When in all actuality that can never be true. The first passage begins with a description of what took place during the first encounter between the Europeans and the “savages,” or natives. The Europeans and the Natives were extremely hostile, let alone the Natives were already at war with themselves. The Europeans have been able to exploit the Natives major weaknesses. Already being at war helped the Europeans, who already had superior weapons and fighting skills were then able to seize full control. “Hudson’s crew exploited not only weaponry, but also liquor as tools for dealing with the Natives reveals the unscrupulous methods often employed by their successors”(53). Just like the Europeans a man named Jordan Belfort knew a great deal about how to get ahead by taking advantage of others. “The name of the game, moving the money from the client's pocket to your pocket”(Wolf of Wall Street). Just like Jordan Belfort in the movie Wolf of Wall street, the Europeans were after what others owned. Strategically using the opponents weaknesses to one's advantage is how successful people succeed. “You and I probably wouldn't be here if our ancestors hadn't been greedy savages”(Mark Pagel). This quote is so universal due to the fact everyone, whether they like it or not, will one day have to take advantage of someone or something to get ahead in life. If you're not getting ahead, most likely …show more content…
The Europeans, lead by Columbus were the true definition of savages. Christopher Columbus main goal was to imprison all the natives on the “new” land. By accomplishing this he'd be able to have full jurisdiction over the land. Columbus was a irrational and wanted utter control, without control, he was simply another man with no purpose. Columbus was overjoyed with the new land and riches he was soon to claim, causing extreme turmoil within the native community along the way. Columbus states in his letter to Luis de Santangel, “And there I found very many islands filled with people innumerable, and of them all I have taken possession for their highness, by proclamation to me(35). He describes taking from others, showing no remorse for his morally wrong actions, he gratifies himself, and is proud of his accomplishments. Like Columbus, Jordan was able to take millions from hard working people and still was able to keep a smile on his face, knowing he was intentionally giving ill advised stock information to uninformed people. A quote that Belfort says in the movie goes, “ They're money was better off in my pocket - I knew how to spend it better”(Wolf of Wall Street). This quote ties directly into Columbus beliefs, he believed the land he found was better off in his possession. Although Belfort never needed to kill anyone, unlike Columbus, the two share the same characteristics, greed and
To many of the English colonists, any land that was granted to them in a charter by the English Crown was theirs’, with no consideration for the natives that had already owned the land. This belittlement of Indians caused great problems for the English later on, for the natives did not care about what the Crown granted the colonists for it was not theirs’ to grant in the first place. The theory of European superiority over the Native Americans caused for any differences in the way the cultures interacted, as well as amazing social unrest between the two cultures.
Columbus’s “intentions were far from selfless.” (Myint, 2015, Para. 5). The greed was immense as Columbus believed in the entitlement of ten percent of all the treasures that were plundered. Nothing was shared with the crew. Natives were also mutilated and enslaved. If the natives did no collect enough money they lost limbs, some also lost their lives. A hero would not hurt innocent people trying to survive.
Some of the problems when studying history are the texts and documents that have been discovered are only from perspective. Furthermore, on occasion that one perspective is all there may be for historians to study. A good example of this textual imbalance can be found from the texts about the discovery of the New World; more specifically, the letters of Christopher Columbus and Pêro Vaz de Caminha during their voyages to the New World. Plenty of the text from this time is written from the perspective of the Europeans, as the Indigenous population did not have any written text. What this means is that it provided only one perspective, which can drastically hinder how history is interpreted. Columbus’s letter of his first voyage to the Caribbean
The main focus of Breen's essay the focus is on the fact that colonists in Virginia were driven and motivated to come to the New World, predominantly for monetary reasons. Virginia's soil was found to be unusually well suited for growing tobacco, which is why it drove such a variety of people to migrate there. The colonists, though said to be religious, were extremely individualistic, selfish, as well as primarily drawn in by the economic opportunity in Virginia. These attitudes and ideals are what consequently resulted in numerous military defeats and massacres. They avoided their military obligations, thus naming them the vulnerable “poorly defended white settlements.” These settlements were very easy for the Indians to take advantage of, as Breen writes.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus was a self-made man who worked his way up to being the Captain of a merchant vessel. He gained the support of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, for an expedition to the Indies. With the support of the Spanish monarchy, he set off to find a new and faster trade route to the Indies. Upon the arrival of his first voyage, Columbus wrote a letter to Luis de Santangel, a “royal official and an early supporter of his venture,” in February 1493 (35). The epistle, letter, entitled “Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage” was copied and then distributed in Spain before being translated and spread throughout Europe. The Letter is held in such regard with the people as it is considered the first printed description of the new world. Through his description of the nature of the islands, Columbus decided the future fate of the islands. His description of the vast beauty of the nature around him, declares both the economic and nationalistic motivations for colonizing the new world.
The Indians thought of land very differently to the white man. The land was sacred, there was no ownership, and it was created by the great spirit. They could not sell their land to others, whereas the white people could fence off the land which belonged to them, and sell it freely to whoever they wanted. The Europeans didn't think that the Indians were using the land properly, so in their eyes, they were doing a good favour to the earth. To the Indians, the land was more valuable than the money that the white man had brought with him, even though it didn't belong to them.
Christopher Columbus is a mythical hero or in other words, not a true hero. The story of Christopher Columbus is part of the many myths of Western civilization. Also the story of Christopher Columbus represents the power of those that are privileged and in most cases white European men that have written this mythical history. Zinn (2009 exposes the truth about Columbus through eyes of the people who were there when he had arrived which were the Native Indians (p.481). Columbus had kept a personal journal for his voyage to describe the people and the journey. What was evident throughout his journal was the Native Americans were very nice, gentle and kind hearted people (Zinn, 2009, 481). As Zinn suggests Columbus spoke of the Native Americans as” they are the best people in the world and
Have you ever been forced to do something you don’t want to do? Well maybe you have,but have you ever had your hand cut off because you didn’t do the thing that people made you want to do? I’m asking these questions because Christopher Columbus did these things to the Natives of America.That’s why I think we shouldn’t celebrate Columbus Day at all.He enslaved Natives to mine gold and if they didn’t he’d cut there wrists.Columbus also spread disease(such as smallpox) throughout America killing even more Natives. Finally though Columbus had butcher's cut the Native people up,to just feed their own dogs.On that same gruesome note Columbus ordered his men to cut the Natives in half to test the sharpness of their blades.
The European explorers and colonizers and Native Americans had varied relationships during their encounters in the New World. They both feared and misunderstood each other. This fear led to the two groups often mistreating each other. However, there were always times where they depended on each other’s kindness and treated each other with care. There are examples of both in the following narratives: In the letter by Christopher Columbus, he talks about the natives being timid and how he uses them to help him. In “from Richard Frethorne, to His Parents”, Frethorne tells about the Indians destroying crops and killing people. In the Soveraignty and Goodness of God by Mary Rowaldson, the author tells about her eleven weeks in captivity by the Indians. At times, they behaved as lawless savages. At other times, they showed her kindness and care.
The American version of history blames the Native people for their ‘savage ' nature, for their failure to adhere to the ‘civilized norms ' of property ownership and individual rights that Christian people hold, and for their ‘brutality ' in defending themselves against the onslaught of non-Indian settlers. The message to Native people is simple: "If only you had been more like us, things might have been different for you.”
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. However, even after centuries later, little is truly known of the mysterious voyage and findings of the new world.1 By examining “Letter from Columbus to Luis Santangel”, one can further contextualize the events of Columbus' exploration of the New World. The letter uncovers Columbus' subtle hints of his true intentions and exposes his exaggerated tone that catered to his lavish demands with Spain. Likewise, The Columbian Voyage Map read in accordance with the letter helps the reader track Columbus' first, second, third, and fourth voyage to the New World carefully and conveniently. Thus, the letter and map's rarity and description render invaluable insight into Columbus' intentionality of the New World and its indigenous inhabitants.
Their main goal was to gain power over their land. When the British colonists arrived at this land they brought many diseases and destroyed the lives of many Indians. This disease was called the Black Death. The Americans also mistreated the Indigenous not treating them equally. Stannard points out that the Americans wanted to defend themselves against the Indians and if the Indians tried to attack and fight them they were going to be ready to fight and attack them back. Stannard believes that the Americans want to defend and fight against the Indians. To demonstrate this point Stannard quotes Thomas Jefferson where Jefferson emphasizes these words “in war, they will kill some of us; we shall destroy all of them” (Stannard 120). By killing and destroying the Indians the British, Europeans, and Americans would become successful obtaining the land that they are fighting for. In his book, David Stannard states that when Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean he believes he performed enormous acts of genocide. In the prologue, Stannard states that “this was the beginning of “far and away, the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world” (Stannard
The prevailing opinion is that European explorers came to the America’s to peacefully colonize and gradually begin mutually beneficial relationships with the native people. However, Howard Zinn proves that the majority of explorers could not coexist with the native tribes, as the conquerors slowly stole their land, and did not return the initial hospitality most of the natives had showed to them. Therefore, the European colonizers blatantly ignored the rights of the Native Americans and acted with violence towards them. In order to conquer the natives, the colonizers “set fire to the wigwams of the village” and “ [destroyed] their crops” (Zinn).
Throughout history, industrialism by the west (i.e. England, France, and Spain) has led to many conflicts between them and the indigenous, native, people whom lived there. One indigenous group of people affected by western imperialism is the Native Americans in North America. The Europeans that settled onto the “New World” were confronted by Native Americans, and were faced with violent conflicts. These conflicts led to a belief that all Native Americans are savages as well as heathens (Democracy, 2012). This led to the Europeans to start to kill Native Americans, or kick them off of their land and place them onto reservations. Reservations were usually small and unusable land. But, other times, the chief was forced to sign treaties with the Europeans. These treaties usually stated that the Europeans had a right to be on the land, and if they were allowed to have some land as well as do colonize there, no conflict would occur. Yet, after the treaties were signed, the Europeans and Native Americans still had violent conflicts (Democracy, 2012). Today, there are very little Native Americans left in North America. Some of them are very poor, but some of them are rich due to the casinos they own within the reservations upon which they live. The treatment of these people original was harsh as well as cruel, and there is evidence of that today due to the low population of Native Americans within North America.
This is an analysis of Christopher Columbus’s Letter on His First Voyage on page 381. Christopher Columbus wrote a letter to his King and Queen of Spain, while he was in the West Indies. He wrote this letter in February 1493 reflecting on his voyage across the Atlantic in 1492. After reading this letter, I can tell that Columbus felt like he was better than the native people of the different islands he journeyed and that a lot of things they did were very strange to him. I can also tell that the world was a lot different to him and to people in 1492, than it is to people in 2014 because he referred to the native people of the various islands he traveled to as Indians, whereas most people in 2014 know that India and Latin American are not the