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Native Americans and their treatment at the hands of white settlers
Native Americans and their treatment at the hands of white settlers
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Indians vs Columbus and his Men Ishyia Briscoe American History 101 / 7th hour Mr. Obrien September 5,2017 Was any of it necessary? Have you ever asked yourself was it right for Columbus to treat the Indians how he did ? Some of us would of course say no but some of us are SCREAMING YES. Columbus was a selfish, stubborn and very stuck up man when it came to himself. The only thing he wanted from the Indians was Gold, Wealth, and Spices. Why did Columbus do this ? Columbus was a selfish person, he claimed he found the land when really he did not. There were million of natives who lived in the continent before Columbus “discovered” America. As he stated “As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I
Columbus and de las Casas were both explorers of the new world. They both encountered Native Americans and their treatment of them was both similar and different. Columbus viewed the Native American as subhumans. He did not have much respect for the people of the land and treated them as such. In his letter to Luis de Santangel, Columbus says how he took possession of the native’s highnesses by proclamation. He also discloses how no one fought back which then made native Americans seem weak. He also states how he already took Indians aboard with him.At one instance Columbus had a dispute with Spainards and decided to give up Indians as a peace offering. Which he states in the letter to that tey were not his to give
Although Columbus was increasing the wealth and strength of Spain, he was “a catastrophe for the indigenous inhabitants of the lands” (Belasco 67). He had no remorse for the natives as he proceeded to establish plantations, enslave them, slaughter them, and create a new colony called Espanola on their lands. According to Schuman, Howard, Barry Schwartz, and Hannah d’Arcy, Christopher Columbus “deserves condemnation for having brought slavery, disease, and death...
The Native Americans For at least fifteen thousand years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus and Thomas Hariot, Native Americans had occupied the vastness of North America undisturbed by outside invaders (Shi 2015 pg. 9). Throughout the years leading up to Columbus’s voyage to the “New World” (the Americas) and Hariot’s journey across the sea, the Indians had encountered and adapted to many diverse continents; due to global warming, climatic and environmental diversity throughout the lands (2015). Making the Native Americans culture, religion, and use of tools and technology very strange to that of Columbus’s and Hariot’s more advanced culture and economy, when they first came into contact with the Native Americans. To start with,
On October 12, 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on unknown territory, however, in his perspective of Earth he thought he made a new route to Asia. He travels throughout the lands, soon, he discovers new forms of inhabitant plants, as well as, indigenous people that were native to those lands. Years later he soon unravels that it was all unaccustomed terrain. The monarchy of Spain also discovers Columbus’s new discoveries, then, they send more explorers to conquer the lands. In 1520, Hernan Cortes goes with the order from Spanish royalty to go to the newly discovered lands to conquer them, also, help expand the Spanish empire. Overall, Columbus and Cortes both reported the new lands they recently discovered back to Spain, however, their descriptions
Christopher Columbus was a cruel, delusional, and self-centered man who does not deserve high praises for the discovery of America.
While discovering the New World he brought smallpox with them that wiped out most of the native people living there. Although, Columbus did never mean to do that intentionally, he did basically kill hundreds of people. In the article “Columbus Doesn’t Deserve a Holiday” the author says “Within 70 years of his arrival, of the hundreds of thousands of Arawak Indians on the Bahama Islands only hundreds remained.” Even with the small number of native’s left after the smallpox, Columbus brought them back and put them on sale. They started with 500 native’s, but 200 died on the way there. Not only did Columbus kill hundreds, he also destroyed a natural, peaceful place. He just took people out of there land and called it his. After reading this one might not believe Columbus is the hero we all think of.
Although this essay is historically accurate it lacks important details, which might paint a different view of Columbus. Boorstin writes favorable of Columbus and depicts him as a heroic and determined figure who helped shape history, but he neglects to include Columbus’ unethical acts committed in the world that was not supposed to exist, the Americas. When Columbus first discovered the New World, he took care that the royal standard had been brought ashore and he claimed the land for Spain in front of all, including the indigenous population who had been sighted even before Columbus made landfall. According to the medieval concepts of natural law, only those territories that are uninhabited can become the property of the first person to discover them. Clearly this was an unethical act. Thus, the first contact between European and non-European worlds was carried out through a decidedly European prism, which ensured Spanish claim to the islands of the Americas. Faced with a colony in an inhospitable area, the Spanish soon inaugurated the practice of sending regular military parties inland to subdue the increasingly hostile natives. Members of the indigenous population were captured and enslaved to support the fledgling colony. The object of Columbus’ desire changed from exploration and trade to conquest and subjugation.
In some respects, we can attribute the founding of America and all its subsequent impacts to Christopher Columbus. Columbus a hero in the United States, has his own holiday and we view as the one who paved the way for America to be colonized. However, people tend to forget the other side of Columbus, the side that lusted after gold and resources that often belonged to the native inhabitants he came across in his exploration. In his insatiable greed, he and his crew committed countless atrocities, such as torture and killing of defenseless natives. Columbus’s discovery of these new lands contributes profound and negative effects as future colonists arrived. “Zinn estimates that perhaps 3 million people perished in the Caribbean alone from raids, forced labor and disease” (Zinn, 1980). Columbus was seen as a cruel man, who saw the peaceful inhabitants as right for the conquering and lead to the devastation of the native population, yet is celebrated every October.
For generations upon generations, students have been taught about the “hero” Christopher Columbus who had discovered our new world. However, to say he was a hero would not exactly be the truth; Columbus was an eccentric man who cared much more about his profits than the well being and even lives of the natives. It is documented in journals that he and his crew had slaughtered entire villages at a time, and that he had even killed people just for the point of testing how sharp his sword was. Not only did Columbus and his crew have a thing for violence, on multiple accounts crew members wrote down every single successful rape of women; and used the voyage to help begin a slave export for the royalty of Spain.
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.
Columbus’ goal in his mission to America was somewhat heroic: “Christian missionary and anti-Islamic fervour, the power of Castile and Aragon, the fear of Portugal, the lust for gold, the desire for adventure, the hope of conquests, and Europe’s genuine need for a reliable supply of herbs and spices for cooking, preserving, and medicine all combined to produce an explosion of energy that launched the first voyage” (Flint). Although Columbus’ mission may have been heroic, what really matters is what Columbus did when he got to America, which was kidnap, enslave, and kill Native
Christopher Columbus unintentionally discovered America, when he landed in the Caribbean Islands. He had left Spain in search of Asia and India. When he and his crew arrived at what now is Haiti for his second voyage, they demanded food, gold, and anything else they wanted from the Indians, even sex with their women. Columbus punished those who committed offenses against him. Rape and enslavement had been brought upon the natives. When the natives of the land, known as the Arawaks, tried to fight back, it led to a massacre of their people in which by Columbus? order, meant crossbows, small cannons, lances, and swords to destroy them. Even wild hunting dogs were released to rip up the Arawaks, whom by the end of the day were dead or ready to ship to Spain as slaves. None of this was ever taught to students.
A discovery is something that is found that used to be unknown. It doesn't matter that the Native Americans already inhabited the land when he discovered it, because Columbus and other people never knew about it before. This is how he made a discovery that gathered him fame and honor. Today's celebration of Christopher Columbus Day marks when Columbus and his men found the New World and sparked the beginning of the Age of Exploration. Overall just like Peter Gibbon says, ”We can recognize Columbus as a visionary, a sailor of incomparable skill and a hero of exploration”(Gibbon
From Dr. Engel’s lecture I learned that Christopher Columbus was an extraordinary man, but he wasn’t as heroic as I thought he was. He did go to America but there had already been people there. What really made me change my thoughts about Columbus was when he landed and shared his thoughts on the Native Americans. They were kind to him but he took advantage of that by thinking they should be
The way he treated people was dreadful, but now we get a glimpse of how Columbus thought and we get to reflect on Columbus’s wrongdoings and make sure in the present and future, we don’t make or create more issues and we know that treating people the way Columbus did was very disgraceful and rude. So, we can determine what is the correct way of doing things based on what we know about Columbus. History mistakes can be our corrections. The past has many flaws in it, but that is what shapes us into our future. If we can learn more about how Columbus’s thoughts, we can try to fix his errors on how he treated people and use it to guide us to become a better nation and give everyone equal rights. Another reason Christopher Columbus’s experiences are important is that he gives detailed information in his letter. He describes the vegetables, fruit, and things like cotton. Columbus also compared how things were sold for a lower price than he was used to and he saw unfamiliar items. He described the people on the land and their bizarre characteristics and habits. Columbus said, “ They are of very good appearance,” and he’d talked about how young people there were unclothed and he talked about more of their style of living. So we get more insight on how the people before us lived. Christopher Columbus benefited us because of his imperfection ways. He didn’t treat some people right