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Native American colonization of America
Colonization of North America1607-1770
Native American colonization of America
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The discovery and conquest of American Indians inspired efforts to develop an ideology that could justify why they needed to enslave the Indians. The Spanish monarch wanted an ideal empire. "A universal empire, of which all their subjects were but servants. Charles V remained for them the dominus mundi, the legitimate and God-ordained lord of the world." (Weckmann, The Transit of Civilization, 23) Gold and religious conversion was the two most important inspirations for conquistadors in conquering America. Father Bartolome De Las Casas was a Dominican priest who came to the New World to convert the Indians to become Christians. He spent forty years on Hispanolia and nearby islands, and saw how the Spaniards brutally treated the Indians and sympathized with them. The Devastation of the Indies was an actual eyewitness account of the genocide by Las Casas, and his group of Dominican friars in which he demonizes the Spanish colonists and praises the Indians. Father Las Casas returned to Seville, where he published his book that caused an on going debate on whether the suppression of the Indians corrupted the Spaniards' values. What Las Casas was trying to achieve was the notion of human rights, that human beings are free and cogent by nature without the interference of others. Father Las Casas was the first activist and human right in the Americans. The gold and silver mines offered quick wealth to the Spaniards, and the native population was given out freely because of the repartimiento system. The Indians were given as a reward to the Conquistadors for helping the Spanish king in conquering Latin American. Although, Father Las Casas wrote about these historical events, we must also state that the events he wrote could be exaggeration on his part in trying to save the Indians from the Spaniards cruelty and brutality.
Conquistadors came over to get all the gold they possibly could. The Spanish were cruel and took advantage of the Native Americans who were living there. Not only did the Spanish want the gold but they also wanted the land. The Native Americans were enslaved by the Spaniards and were forced to mine for gold. The Spaniards gave the Natives extremely high gold quotas to meet. Most were unable to do so and because of that they were punished. Natives would have both of their hands cut off(Document 1). The other reason was so that the Spaniards wouldn’t have a problem with resistance from them. The Native Americans were majorly taken advantage of for gold.
Bartolome de Las Casas was a Christian Priest that accompanied the Spaniards on their conquest of the Indies, and is a witness to the crimes and massacres committed against the natives. De Las Casas documented specific events where the Spaniards wronged the natives but makes it clear that there were far more incidents than the ones he reports. His audience is the Christian community in Castile (modern day Spain), and the Monarch. His aim in this documentation was to inform the formerly mentioned groups who are ignorant of the accounts and are financing the Spaniards expeditions to possibly put a stop to the Spaniards reign of terror. That’s also the reason why De Las Casas didn’t express contempt for the Roman Catholic Church or the Monarch; they were unaware of what was happening.
When they found the “new world” is too weak to resist the invasion of European, they started to establish the colony in America. Bartolomé de Las Casas used to be a priest who explored America on Hispaniola and Cuba. But after he witnessed the colonists enslave and mistreat Indians, he changed his mind and start to protect the Indians. He free his Indian slaves in 1514, and start to against Spanish mistreat them (Foner, p.7). After that, he made the effort to liberate the Indian slaves, and he had backed to Spain several times want to make the King reduce the heavy labor of Indians. Finally, Spain published New Laws in 1542, which indicate that Indians no longer be enslaved (Foner, p.7).
The Spaniards two main goals in invading, conquering and in the conquest of the Mexico region were to maintain political control over the Indians, which populated Mexico at the time and to convert the Indians to Christianity. As Vargas states in her book, Major Problems in Mexican American History, "the Spanish crown pursued its double goal of Christianization and Hispanicization, the world of the Indian was systematically destroyed through a sustained policy of military campaigns and forced labor; disease and malnutrition, which also took a toll on the native populations"(Vargas 91). The Spaniards were able to divide the indigenous people of Mexico and conquer them with the help of other ethnic groups occupying the Mexico region. In planning the conquest, the Spaniards would identify a group that would ally with them to further defeat the ethnic group in power. The collaboration of the Spaniards and the rival ethni...
...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.
Some perceive to say that Las Casas never really understood the Indigenous people since he was still trying to convert them to Catholicism and ultimately a new Spanish culture. In doing this some historians argue that he simply conned the Indigenous people into supporting him by offering protection and hope for the future. Some also criticize that Las Casas had no idea what was actually going on in Latin America since he was constantly traveling back and forth to Spain debating many philosophers almost. Overall he was in the New World for very small periods of time, however they still continued to call him the leader of the Indians (Hidalgo). After taking all of these different views into account, it is still obvious that without Las Casas the Indigenous people of the Americas would have been treated much more severely. He worked hard to get many laws passed in their favor and ultimately devoted most of his life for them. These critical opinions of Las Casa 's ways may be accurate but should not reflect the overall image people have of him
The Devastation of the Indies was written in the middle of the sixteenth century in response to De Las Casas' outrage about the horrific treatment of natives in the New World. De Las Casas first came to the New World on Colon's second voyage. At one time De Las Casas did own slaves himself, but his experiences over time in the New World, led him to new ways which included getting rid of his slaves. His mission became one of letting others, especially those in his European homeland, become aware of the cruel treatment of the natives by the European colonizers and he began a crusade for the abolition of Indian slavery and the general improvement of the natives' lives.
It is hard to believe that even the Spaniards imagined that one journey in 1492 will change theirs and world’s history so dramatically. The moment that Spanish foot stepped on American soil started years of prosperity and glory for the Spanish empire but at the cost of the destruction of American societies. The encounter with the new world was controversial historical moment that created one united history instead of two world histories. The discovery led many Spaniards to the new world with the intention of settling the lands but eventually this was the start of devastating of cultures, human populations and traditions. Using power and coercion they spread fear and destruction in the aim of gaining wealth, social precedence and Christian conversion. The justification for the massacres of the indigenous people in the name of religion was no more than greed to gold, fame and status. The actions of those who claimed to be “the most humane and excellent nation” was no more than cruel actions made by savages that had no moral sense.
Once settled down the English and Spanish went in two different directions in regard to their religion. The Spanish conquistadors’ and friars’ in the southwest wanted to spread christianity to anyone they could. The Spanish would conqueror Native American tribes and force christianity upon them. To the Spanish in the southwest they just wanted the Native Americans’ to have some type of Christian beliefs. The Puritans’ however were very strict about following their values. For instance, Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams were both banished from the colony for going against their official teachings. As well, as being less tolerate, the Puritans’ were not as aggressive as forcing their religion onto Native Americans’. Other than praying towns, the Puritans’ did not force their beliefs on to the Native Americans’ who lived around them. The Spanish on the other hand sought out Native Americans’ to convert them. The Spanish, after conquering a tribe or ransacking a village, would force the Native Americans’ to convert. If they refused they would use the encomienda system to convert them. The encomienda system was a Spanish practice, where they enslaved Native Americans who refused to convert to Christianity. The conquistadors’ would force them to mine gold and silver until death or conversion. How they Spanish and Puritans’ managed their religion reflected on how the two interacted with Natives. The two differed in their treatment toward Native Americans’ with the intimate relationships they had with them. In the southwest many Spaniards would marry Native American women and bear children called mestizos. In Massachusetts, however it was unheard of to have any type of intimate relations between whites and Native Americans.
Despite the Europeans’ claim, there was still a significant amount of protest in regards of the exploration of the New World. Both royal and religious leaders also questioned their methods of expansion. The king of Spain at the time, Charles V, and the pope, Pope Paul III, publicly disapproved of many of the conquistadors’ actions towards the natives (Las Casas 3). In addition, Bartolomé de Las Casas stated, “Long before they had heard the word Spaniard they had properly organized states, wisely ordered by excellent laws, religion, and custom” (3). Europeans who opposed the harsh treatment of Indians believed that conquistadors were not exploring the New World in order to spread Christianity. In Las Casas words, the conquistadors tended to “act like thieves, cut-throats, and plunderers… to drive the gentlest of people headlong into despair”
The Europeans came to the East Indies and took over the land and the resources; this was wrong because it was unreasonable to use the wealth of the East Indies to purchase slaves. It was also wrong to enslave women and children.
The Spaniards arrived at the Americas prior to the English. The Spanish mainly wanted to explore in the first place because after the Black Death, the population increased, and thus, so did the frequency of commerce. There was a sudden new interest in new products and the new strong monarchs who sponsored the journeys wanted to be more affluent. Therefore, explorers such as Christopher Columbus attempted to go west to target Asia. However, he ended up on Cuba and called the natives Indians. The Spanish soon started to consider the Americas less of a blockage and could now see it as a source of resources. In 1518, Cortes arrived into Mexico with his group of conquistadors, or conquerors, which is a proper name because the men after gold exterminated native areas using their military skills, brutality and greed to turn the Southern America into a vast Spanish empire. The smallpox the Spanish unknowingly carried also helped wipe many people out. When they saw the religious ceremonies of the Aztecs that produced many skulls, they thought of these people as savages and not entirely human. This of coarse was quite hypocritical because the Spanish have killed before during the Inquisition for their faith. It was this contempt that made them think it was all right to slaughter the natives. Spanish colonies were established when conquistadors had gotten a license to finance the expedition from the crown to fixture encomiendas. These encomiendas were basically Indian villages that became a source of labor. The Spanish dreamed of becoming wealthier from South America, but they also wanted a profitable agricultural economy and to spread their Catholic religion (the Pueblo Indians converted to Christianity), which became very important in the 1540s.
The arguments presented by Las Casas is in defense of the natives stating that if he can convince the king of the wrongful doings of the Spaniards that they would pay for what they've done. The doings of the Spaniards was a shock to Las Casas making him want to spend as long as he could defending them. In the great kingdom and provinces of Peru, Las Casas states "the way the Spanish have behaved has been an offence to God and a disservice to the Crown; the Treasury has been defrauded and, in my opinion, it will be long and a costly business to recover for the Crown this territory which could easily have provided sufficient food to support the entire population of Spain." Just a short example of how Las Casas feels about how the natives are being treated and how he feels about the land bei...
Las Casas was a reliable source, since he had spent 40 years in the Americas among the Spaniards but inhabiting the land of the Indian natives. This made him a prime witness to all that had transpired during that time, thus making him a credible confident to King Charles V. As a result of his lobbying efforts, New Laws of 1542 were enacted, a compelling combination of political reality and humanitarian idealism, that abolished slavery and the encomienda system. This effort marked the supreme achievement of his career .
First of all I wish to write about Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and how he perceived life as he lived with the Indian people and the culture he took in as his own as he lived with them. Cabeza de Vaca thought, I assume, that the Indians were semi-humans compared with he who was fully human because of his undemanding nature and his involvement with the King of England. Cabeza de Vaca calls, in his narratives, the Indians he lives with ‘people’. Thus saying they are human, not animals or monsters as other authors thought. He thinks that they need to be converted to his beliefs, because he is ‘right’, to be fully human beings. I get this feeling from his statement, “Clearly, to bring all these people to Christianity and subjection to Your Imperial...