The 1600s marked the extensive colonization of both the english and the spanish in North America. Even though the countries shared the desire to branch out into the unknown territory of “the new world”, spanish and english explorers did so in tremendously different ways.The encampment of the Spanish and the English settlers substantially differed because of how religious views were distributed within the new world, how how the natives -who were already inhabiting the americas- were treated, and how economic structures turned out to be constructed. The Spanish and the English had vastly different ideas on how to spread christianity throughout the new world. Before settling, the spanish had been kicking Muslims and Jews out of Spain - or just forcing the people to convert to christianity. This action proved to the …show more content…
Spanish monarchs that the conquistadors were powerful enough to enlighten the natives of the americas of christianity, so the Roman Catholic Church granted conquistadors permission to settle in the new world for a religious conquest of the new land.
Antagonistically, the English wanted to part ways with the church of England, so they set off on,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Spanish and English relationships with the native tribes of the new world differed immensely. At the commencement of the Spaniard’s arrival in North America, spanish settlers had had a poor association with the “indians.” Instantaneously, upon arrival, the spaniards had begun to imprison the natives with leader, Christopher Columbus, saying that the Arawak people “would make excellent servants.” Through the use of the Encomiendas System - a system where natives were given land, shelter, and protection from other tribes (as well as guaranteed entrance into the kingdom of god in the afterlife) in exchange for labor and special gifts of gold and spun cotton- the Spanish achieved free rewarded labor as well as an easier method of converting the arawak people to Christianity. If the natives did not reach the monthly quota of gold discovered or cotton harvested, spaniards punished them by cutting off a hand
or a foot (sometimes resulting in people bleeding to death.) Unlike Spanish rivals, the English began their American voyage on a good note with the native people. Englishmen and natives acted as equals through trading goods they had in surplus for those which they had little of, making agreements, and sharing the land. While things were already going badly between the spaniards and the indians, the English’s relationship with the natives hit a sour note. When leader, John Smith, left the new world to return to england after a gunpowder accident, relationships between the groups began to dwindle. The englishmen started to inveigle the natives by stealing land since the spanish say they did not “properly use the land”, stealing the crops off native lands, and starting massacres. During the instance of the Pequot War, native tribes killed one fur trader and the English trapped a third of a village inside of wood, then proceeded to burn all the people inside to death. William Bradford says “It was a fearful sight to see them frying in the fire.” The Natives and the English fought brutally to preserve both sides’ ways of life in Metacom’s War (or King Philip’s War as it was called by the culturally sensitive English.) The war lasted 2 years, demolishing half of the settlers’ 90 towns and killing 4000 men total. Metacom’s death ended the feud when the english beheaded him and left his dismembered corpse in the heart of the town for some decades. The natives captured by the Spaniards fought back as well, but their attempt was successful. The resistance forced the Spanish to sign a peace treaty promising not to enslave any more of their people. This led to the spanish enslaving anyone they could get their hands on, leading to the more ubiquitous race-based slavery. Lord William Berkley of England aimed to acquire the same peace between the English and the natives, but his plan was cut off by his younger cousin, Nathaniel Bacon, who started a revolt, Bacon’s Rebellion, to keep indentured servitude. Because of the failure of his plan, indentured slaves were no longer relevant, and england moved on to slavery with the spaniards. Economic growth of the Spanish and the English colonies
It is common knowledge that the Europeans came to the Americas and that Native Americans did not seek out exploration in Europe, making the term “encounter” inaccurate. (Axtell, 98). Native Americans did eventually travel overseas to Europe, but in the beginning, as slaves, followed by Native Americans going to learn the language and culture, (Axtell 103), and finally few went to plea with the courts when conditions grew dangerous in the 1700’s.(Axtell, Native Americans were merely a variable element in a changing world that would have to adapt to
Disagreement between the Europeans and the Natives and the enslavement of Native people helped to wipe out the population. Document 5 illustrates the fighting that occurred between the Natives and European. Most times the cause of this fighting was that Europeans were taking over land that was not rightfully theirs. The Natives often lost these battles because their weapons and tactics were not as advanced as the Europeans. Therefore, the large amount of deaths in battles made a change in the Native’s population. To add, when the Europeans first arrived to the Americas they established a new economic system called the encomienda system. The encomienda system was a system of forced labor which Native Americans worked on Spanish-owned estates. Document 4 explains how the system was to work, “the Indians should work on the Christians’ building, mind the gold, till the fields, and produce food for the Christian’s.” This system benefited the Europeans immensely. On the other hand, many Native’s working were treated very poorly and faced brutal punishment and labor. The enslavement of Native people was another cause of the great decrease in population. The disappearance of Native people lead to the disappearance of their customs, beliefs, and way of
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.
This chapter, “Three Old Worlds Create a New, 1492 – 1600,” covers the social, political and economic events that occurred in the worlds that made up America between 1492 and 1600. This chapter explores the history of the small societies that became the United States in broad contest of European exploration and exploitation. There existed conflicts between European kingdoms and this led to interest in colonies that strengthened the emerging nations. The curiosity of Europeans helped introduce them to African and American societies that had evolved over the centuries. The social and cultural collisions of these worlds changed and profoundly influenced Western history.
If Native Americans were able to sail across the Atlantic Ocean in the time shortly before Christopher Columbus, would they have been able to conquer and colonize countries like Spain or Portugal? Assuming this were even possible, there are a significant factor that would have given the old world an upper hand in such a scenario. This paper will show that even if the Native Americans would have been the first to reach out and make contact, history would have still favored the Iberians.
In the 17th Century, over 700,000 people traversed the Atlantic to reach the English colonies located in North America as well as the Caribbean. England in particular sent out various groups to the eastern coast of North America to two regions of Chesapeake and New England. Even though the two would, later on, be bonded into one nation in the 1700s, it was apparent that the two had separate and unique identities from the start. These differences can be explained by one major factor - the motivation or reason why the settlers traversed into the New World.
Firstly, there was fast and wider spread Christianity. English was well acquainted with religious beliefs as compared to America and other nations; therefore, it was easy to convince the North Americans to follow some of the religious beliefs. Since most people in North America were illiterate and atheist they slowly began to believe in Christianity (Turner, 1831). As time went on, numerous persons were converted to Christianity. On the same note, English was able to protect European missionaries that were operating in other nations or land. There are missionaries that were operating in different countries apart of North America, hence to guarantee them safety and security; English decided to strengthen its faith in North America to show uniformity with other nations (Norton, Kamensky, Sheriff, Blight, Chudacoff, Logevall, Bailey, Michals,
Looking back into history, at around the 1500s to the 1600s, people were very much the same in the sense that many countries were looking to aggrandize their economy and appear the greatest. It was this pride and thinking that motivated many of the superpowers of the world’s past. Two such monarchies in the European continent included England and Spain, which had at the time, the best fleets the world has ever seen. Because both were often striving to be the best, they conflicted with one another. Although England and Spain had their differences, they both had a thirst to see new things and it was this hunger that led them both to discovering different parts of the “New World” and thus, colonizing the Americas.
Throughout human history, religion has played a fundamental role in societal development, regardless of the culture. Christianity, in particular, has profoundly shaped the last two thousand years of history and continues to do so today. This holds true in the case of European development and exploration of the New World. As exploration in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries flourished, many countries set out to declare land on behalf of their country, and in an effort to bring honor to their God. When English settlers first developed colonies in New England, one of their goals was to share the word of God with the Native Americans they encountered. This drastically conflicted with the views of the Native Indians, and completely altered the development of North America. European religious views in early North American exploration set the tone for America’s development into a commodification driven society that exploited the environment as a means of economic potential.
The church established contact with the New World, and made it a goal to establish the Catholic doctrines among the native population there. The Catholic Church and the Spanish monarch, however, looked upon the native population in the New World as souls to be saved. They did not consider or treat the Indians as equals. The implanting of Christianity in the New World, and the treatment of the native population by the missionaries and christian conquerors was detrimental to New World. Through men such as Cortez and Las Casas accounts of the conversions have been recorded. One of the reasons for this was the alliance of the Catholic Church with the Spanish monarchy. The status of the Indians was disregarded as the Christian conquers and missionaries who wanted to convert them subjected the...
Historical events, their development, and their ramifications are often the purview of contrasting opinions. The development of America is on such example of contrasting views. Within Eric Nellis’, an Associate Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia and author of several books on American history, book An Empire of Regions: A Brief History of Colonial British North America and Steven Sarson’s, a senior lecturer at University of Wales, Swansea and a fellow of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, book British North America 1500-1800 two contrasting views of America’s development. Both explore the same era, and same region but provide contrasting views and different breadths of information. They both centre around the development, and independence of the New World colonies in the period between about 1500 to 1800. Both Nellis, and Sarson present well researched, and articulated, albeit contrasting views on America’s development from part of the British Empire to independence. They have different breadths of information, organizational structures, and influencers resulting in different views and understandings
During 1607-1753, Colonial America was founded. Starting on 1492, when Christopher Columbus discovered land beyond the England, people were launched into a new life. A group of puritans departed from England to escape the growing stress of the English government. Searching for freedom, in both religion and government, they sailed towards America. Their main goal was not only to start e new life, but also to convert the savages; “Indians.” With this move they experienced many difficulties. Upon starting a new life, they had to learn a new way of political life, social life, educational life, and above all religious lives.
In Massachusetts, the Puritans developed a restrictive religious leadership. The French consisted of mainly the Catholic religion, but Protestants were also present. French Jesuit missionaries hoped to convert Natives to Catholicism. For the Spanish the only religion permitted was catholicism. The Spanish used torture to increase conversions. Eventually, they eased the restriction and tried to protect the natives.
” (De las Casas, “The Devastation of the Indes”) shows that the spanish have just brute force to lay on the natives to achieve their goal for their empire. Since the Spanish viewed the natives as “pagans, undisciplined and haughty” (De Sistiaga, “An Account”) as well as “ barbarians, given to idleness, lazy, indolent. [Who] are very gluttonous and ravenous and eat meat almost raw, roasted and dripping with blood.” (Fray de Solis, “Diary”). The Spanish solidly thought they had the privilege to overcome and colonize the New World to convey Christianity to the natives, “Which they do not suffer when they are in the mission, since the Father aids them in everything, in food and in clothing and in other necessities and comforts. They are idle and given over to all kinds of vices, especially the vices of lasciviousness, robbery, systematic thieving and dancing.” (Fray de Solis,
During the 1600’s the English decided to have people colonize in the Americas for the potential resources and wealth that they may find. During this time Spain, France, Portugal, and the Dutch have already began trade and exploration in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. England hearing of their riches, didn’t want to miss out of the opportunity. However, during these expeditions, there has been various news beforehand of the strong oceanic storms that would sometimes destroy ships or mislead them from their destinations Such news was not uncommon but due to the storms, many of the people knew the dangers of the journey and would often doubt the success of these explorations. For example, “ In may 1609, nine ships carrying 500 colonists under Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Summers had set sail to America to reinforce the colony at Jamestown. In an unusual storm, Gates and Summers were driven on the Bermudas, before managing to sail to the mainland” (Honan 371). News such as this was widespread throughout England and amongst these would be news of the encounters with natives. For example, “...