Do you ever question how society was brought up today or how did globalization occurs? Ever wonder how ships were made or how the capsaicin becomes a popular spice in the old world? The answer to these questions rely the knowledge we acquire from history. In essence, history is the study of past events. How we come about to studying past events are due to two types of sources, which are primary and secondary sources. In particular, primary sources are important because they can be interpreted as the direct knowledge of the time era that the source is found. A great example of a primary source is by Bartolome de las Casas. He was a Spanish historian who wrote extensive writings, the most famous being A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indie. The primary source created by Bartolome de las Casas identifies the interactions of the Indies and the savagery of the Spaniards upon coming to the New World. …show more content…
A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies was written by Bartolme de las Casas in 1542.
It was written as a documentation of when the Spaniards began to colonize in the New World. However, this documentation can be interpreted into something differently. The primary source provides the preface or the introduction to the beginning of las Casas’s writings. He writes about three important things that were observed. The first observation was that the land. Las Casas writes how the land was “large and fertile”. From this, it can be inferred that the land can be used to produce crops and also establish the creation of colonies. This will eventually aid in many aspects such as mercantilism, trade systems, colonization, and many
more. A second observation was with the indigenous people, known as the Indies. Las Casas described the Indies as simplistic people who were open and innocent, but were liable to succumb to any illness. They were also not used to hard labor and they consumed as monotonous. This observation suggests that the indigenous people were eager to learn from and about the newcomers since they were open. This is a good thing for the Spaniards since it would enable the Indies to learn about Christianity, a primary focus of the Spaniard expeditions. Since they were simplistic, the clothing they wore was minimalistic. Rather than wrapping themselves in cotton material, they wore loin clothes just to cover their private parts. In an overall generality, the Indies were eager to learn; they showed no greed and were simplistic. Their physique and a difficult time to adapt to hard labor, suggested that they were not in to fertilizing the land or creating new items that require a lot of labor. A third observation is with the Spaniards. Las Casas expresses in detail how they began to become savages. They began to torture and murdering the indigenous people. In the latter part of such savagery, the population of the indigenous people decline dramatically. Eventually, the indigenous population and areas in which they reside would be abandoned and desolate. The interpretation that can be taken from this observation is the idea that the journey for Europe to the new world was harsh. By the end of the voyage, the crews and ships would have limited to slim amount of supplies left, so they took advantage of the Indigenous people. Another intepreation is the idea that they had the vision to expand and conquer the new region. Because of this idea, they would need to take over the new land. Coincidentally, the land was vastly large and was fertile for farming, which was an upmost important to the Spaniards. This is a primary source since it is a firsthand account of the beginning interactions between the Spaniards and the Indigenous people. The documentation can be viewed differently from what is seen on the surface level. Evidently, historians can infer that this primary source is to inform others of the new world. However, this can also be seen as a document to convey the savagery of the Spaniards. Bartolme de las Casas, a devout Christian, emphasized how open and nice the Indigenous people were but openly expressed the savagery of the Spaniards. It is something historians should take in consideration since it was an important idea that las Casas had to write about. Despite such connotation, this primary source provides the preface to the early onset ideas of the indigenous people, about the new world, the “newly” changed Spaniards, and the destruction of a population.
In An Account, Much Abbreviated, of The Destruction of The Indies, the author is giving an introduction on Bartolome De Las Casas who was a Christian missionary at the time of the Spaniards discovering the New World. He had a rather self-taught oriented theology, philosophy and law. He went to Hispaniola ten years after its discovery in 1502 ; in Santo Domingo he was ordained priest in 1512 and a year later he went as a chaplain in the expedition that conquered Cuba . After going to Hispaniola years after Columbus settled there, he did not support what the Spaniards did to the indigenous people. From 1551 until his death , Las Casas role was to bring the complaints to the authorities of the indigenous population of the Spanish America. Dissatisfied
Native American civilization was not always a pit of terror and agonizing torture for every single being. The Spanish arrived in Hispaniola, during the early 1500, with the seemingly good intention of introducing to the indigenous the Christian faith. Unfortunately, their mission turned into an almost complete annihilation of a culture unlike their own. Bartolome de la Casas, depicts a graphic and ultimately disturbing castings of the happenings during their expedition. The Spanish Christians involved in these happenings can be seen as hypocritical, heartless, and close minded. Although, in the minds of these men, they were completing their God assigned duties, such as
Historians use a variety of evidence, such as written accounts from primary sources, in an attempt to reconstruct and understand the true events of history. Primary source accounts are a type of firsthand evidence made by a person at that specific time. Historians think of these accounts as the closest source to the origin of idea under study. When a historian reads A Conquistador Arrives in Mexico, 1519-1520 written by Bernal Díaz and The Diario of Christopher Columbus’s First Voyage to America written by Christopher Columbus, he or she can look at both accounts to verify their accuracy and to find comparisons when considering the Aztecs. The Aztecs were believed to be unorganized, unfriendly, and in need of conversion to people that did not take part in the conquest. When both Díaz and Cortez wrote these accounts they proved that this early American society was indeed not related to the ideas listed above, but in actuality was quite the sight to see. Historians can use these documents to infer that the Aztecs, an early American society, were mistakenly categorized and falsely accused of being uncivilized.
Columbus was describing in his letter how beautiful this land "the mountains and hills, and plains, and fields, and land, so beautiful and rich for planting and sowing....", and he was also describing the people who lived there.Columbus’s letter meant to be private, but it became public to people later because of Columbus discovered. Columbus was trying to impressed Luis de Sant’ Angel of things that he saw in the land. Columbus was trying to be persuasive by describing and writing what he observed.
Looking back into the history of certain events affords the modern researcher the ability to examine a variety of documents and artifacts. It is important, however, to take into account biases, inaccuracies, errors in translation, and overall misinformation when examining primary sources, particularly historical documents. Examining the history of the conquest of the Aztec empire is no different, and in a scenario as tense as it was it is extremely important to consider the authorship of the text. Bernal Diaz’ The Conquest of New Spain and Miguel Leon-Portilla’s The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico offer two distinct looks into the same event in history. Both documents offer differing takes of the same events, so when
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.
First, the historian must refer to primary sources, must describe how he selected his sources and how they are useful, and must quote, refer to, or interpret sources responsibly (representing their context, content, and importance as accurately and fairly as possible) and precisely (using them to clearly support his specific arguments, not haphazardly or too generally). This satisfies the reader by relating (at least one version) of what really happened, and showing how the author justifies his analysis in light of historical fact.
...tence it at least allowed him to educate the natives about Christianity and that their experiences before now with the Europeans were not of a Christian nature. Throughout the letter, Las Casas seems careful to be very consistent and never veers from ensuring that his audience knows of the atrocities of the people of their own land to the natives fellow humans. God has a plan for everyone and this is not it.
Primary Source Analysis 2 / Chapter 7: Travelers’ Tales and Observations (Sources 7.1 / 7.2)
The Caribbean has been an unexplained region throughout the test of time because there are many different depictions of what actually is happening. The ranging cultures in the Caribbean bring about many different points of view. A perfect example is how Cliff, Mintz, and Benitez-Rojo describe their version of the Caribbean. They discuss affairs in the Caribbean from the days of slave trading to present day issues. In analyzing their anecdotes and books, one can find not only similarities between them, but discrepancies as well. All three authors express their thoughts vividly, unleashing ideas about the Caribbean. Among the most important themes of these ideas were that of the plantation, identity, and social hierarchy.
When you perform research for your class assignments, you will encounter many types of resources: books, popular magazines, scholarly articles and websites. Not everything you find on a topic will be useful to research, or meet the criteria given for writing college-level papers. There are three different types of sources first is a primary source. A primary source is evidence of a period and place that was studied that was produced by eyewitnesses to or participants in the historical moment being taught or talked about. original; not derived but rather a firsthand account, original data, etc., or based on direct knowledge,A secondary source are interpretations often generated by someone that was not there but heard it from someone that was
Upon reviewing the article Reading Primary Sources, there are several themes in which I, as the reader, have discovered present throughout. First and foremost, Kathryn Walbert consistently supports the theme: analyzing the past is an essential step to understanding why humanity is where it is today. History, by Google definition, is both "the study of past events, particularly in human affairs," and "the whole series of past events connected with someone or something." In essence, history is a connected stream of events that leads up to now. It is through primary sources that historians have been able to create factual records of the past. The question is, why? As a species, mankind is defined by where they come from; this is history. Walbert discusses the importance of primary sources, stating that "historians must rely on records left behind" to understand the people
Scholars have debated not only the nature of Iberian colonialism, but also the impact that independence had on the people of Latin America. Historian Jaime E. Rodriguez said that, “The emancipation of [Latin America] did not merely consist of separation from the mother country, as in the case of the United States. It also destroyed a vast and responsive social, political, and economic system that functioned well despite many imperfections.” I believe that when independence emerged in Latin America, it was a positive force. However, as time progressed, it indeed does cause conflict.
History is something we live with everyday. It happens every second in every part of the world. It’s been happening for centuries. Even before man embark on writing it down. History is and every changing chain of events and fact that have been spread over time. But how do historians write history. How do they know what really happened at that time. How do they find the correct facts and put them in a book or compare them to the time they are studying. In Edward Hallatt Carr’s book, What is history? He attempts to answer this question, by explaining how historians come by their fact, how they see it as individuals, he compares it to science, the causes, as a process, and as a growing field. Which Carr’s purpose is to expose the correct what to writing and understanding history for one who wants to become a historian.
History is a story told over time. It is a way of recreating the past so it can be studied in the present and re-interpreted for future generations. Since humans are the sole beneficiaries of history, it is important for us to know what the purpose of history is and how historians include their own perspective concerning historical events. The purpose and perspective of history is vital in order for individuals to realise how it would be almost impossible for us to live out our lives effectively if we had no knowledge of the past. Also, in order to gain a sound knowledge of the past, we have to understand the political, social and cultural aspects of the times we are studying.