The Renaissance and Pre Columbian era were prospering periods for both Eastern and Western hemispheres. So much so, that the Europeans began to explore West, thus setting in motion events that would shape American countries forever.Consequently, curious encounters soon turned malicious and hostile as the leaders in exploration, Portugal and Spain, purloined Native Americans’ great cities.To them, their actions were justicefiable because they saw the Native Americans as savage and uncivilized. With this in mind, what makes a nation enlightened? Is it how government is run, how the people live by their ethics or how they train their armed forces? Or how they manage their agriculture? Certainly, the Native Americans were quite organized, and quite …show more content…
powerful as well.The Europeans were mistaken to simply degrade them to primitives.Therefore, the Native Americans are incredible civilized due to their advanced agricultural techniques, powerful militaries and hierarchies and similarity to older European empires. To begin with, the Native Americans demonstrate a keen intellect due to their advanced agricultural methods.Notably, the Aztecs are resourceful in their environment and use history to reap the most out of their land.
For this reason, can they really be labeled savage if they exhibit problem solving skills? For instance, “ Like the people of Teotihuacan before them, they drained swamps, constructed irrigation works and terraces, and used chinampas, or floating gardens.” Essentially, they got the most out of Lake Texcoco, they used reeds and muck from the banks to construct the chinampas and were able to use it to serve long term purposes. Likewise, “Chinampas made it possible to sustain urban life by boosting agriculture production.” In contrast, more primitive methods would have been nomadic hunting and gathering; In reality, the Aztecs were able to survive and thrive based upon logic and planning. However, ingenious farming methods does suffice enough to sustain empires; As a result, the Aztecs and Inca leave powerful legacies of unstoppable militaries and structured …show more content…
governments. Furthermore, the Inca and Aztecs expanded their empires through military force and structured hierarchies.
Again, such feats can not be achieved by uncivilized people; it takes a great deal of dedicated and strong individuals in order to accomplish what they did. For example, the Inca was perhaps the strongest of all Pre Columbian empires; as they managed to claim a great deal of the the west south American coast. In fact, “The expansion of the Inca state was accomplished by a large and well-organized military, and the empire was held together by a remarkable system of roads running north and south both along the coast and in the mountains.” In the same way, the Aztecs possessed a fierce military, to emphasize, “Like the Toltecs before them, the Aztecs rose to power through military might, with tough fighting skills and a tendency toward aggressive expansion.”Provide that, the Native Americans were capable of defending themselves and using force to maintain order and pursue other ambitions. On the other hand, some may argue that this simply doesn’t suffice; as the Native Americans are rightfully seen as primitive due to a lack of advanced weaponry in comparison to the
Europeans. To continue, the Europeans based much of their supremacy on the fact that the Native Americans lacked certain technologies that they had, such as muskets and navigational equipment.Indeed, but they dismiss the fact that Europe is far more connected while the Native Americans consisted mostly of scattered, wide spaced empires.For this reason, they simply didn't have the opportunity to learn as much as the Europeans do from their neighbors, thus the lack of collaboration simply slowed the innovative progress.Therefore, the Europeans were a tad more advanced due to closer nit countries, not by natural refinedness. Likewise, there are actually quite a significant amount of similarities between European empires and Pre Columbian empires.For example, “Reciprocity based on the mit’a system ( donation of labor for public projects) extended to new subjects, who often benefited from incorporation into the Inca Empire with its roads and sophisticated irrigation and drainage systems.” Correspondingly, this is quite similar to the Roman empire, as the empire consisted of sewers and aqueducts that were used by many. By the same token, the Spaniards were astounded by the Aztec mainland. In fact, “Several causeways connected them to the mainland, and the city’s central market place was described by the Spanish as far grander than anything they had ever seen.”Given that, wouldn’t one look down on those they found uncivilized? Then, why were the more sophisticated Spaniards ogling the primitive Aztecs? To sum up, though they were lacking in innovation, the Native Americans were incredibly civilized for their time. In conclusion, the Native Americans were a vast group of developed and organized people. Even though they may have been a little behind the Europeans, they weren’t that far below them. It is because of their actions that the American nations are what they are today.
This book is complete with some facts, unfounded assumptions, explores Native American gifts to the World and gives that information credence which really happened yet was covered up and even lied about by Euro-centric historians who have never given the Indians credit for any great cultural achievement. From silver and money capitalism to piracy, slavery and the birth of corporations, the food revolution, agricultural technology, the culinary revolution, drugs, architecture and urban planning our debt to the indigenous peoples of America is tremendous. With indigenous populations mining the gold and silver made capitalism possible. Working in the mines and mints and in the plantations with the African slaves, they started the industrial revolution that then spread to Europe and on around the world. They supplied the cotton, rubber, dyes, and related chemicals that fed this new system of production. They domesticated and developed the hundreds of varieties of corn, potatoes, cassava, and peanuts that now feed much of the world. They discovered the curative powers of quinine, the anesthetizing ability of coca, and the potency of a thousand other drugs with made possible modern medicine and pharmacology. The drugs together with their improved agriculture made possible the population explosion of the last several centuries. They developed and refined a form of democracy that has been haphazardly and inadequately adopted in many parts of the world. They were the true colonizers of America who cut the trails through the jungles and deserts, made the roads, and built the cities upon which modern America is based.
The Native Americans were the earliest and only settlers in the North American continents for more than thousands of years. Like their European counterparts, the English colonists justified the taking of their territories was because the natives were not entitled to the land because they lacked a work ethic in which shows that the colonists did not understand the Native Americans system of work and ownership of property. They believed the “Indians seemed to lack everything the English identified as civilized” (Takaki, Pg. 33). Because the settlers were living far away from civilizations, to ensure that they were civilized people, the settlers had negative images of the Native Americans so that they would not be influenced and live like the how the natives do, ensuring that these groups are savages who are uncivilized. Many began to believe this was God’s plans for them to civilize the country in which many would push westward and drive the Indians out to promote civilization and progress. While the United States was still in its early stages of development,
The Aztec’s and Incas seemed like a very well devoted tribe to one another. Even though they only lived a few thousand miles away from each other and didn’t know about each other they were well known. The artifacts left behind shows that they were very advanced, and the food they ate they knew how to take care of their bodies. The Aztec and Inca’s also knew how to prepare for war also. These two tribes are some of the best warriors known to man.
When the colonists came to America, they classified the Native Americans as complete brutal savages. But was that a correct assumption? The Native Americans lived a life that was a complete opposite from the way that the Europeans were accustomed to. The Native Americans believed that the land was shared by everyone and not one person could own it. The Native Americans also had a polytheistic religion which completely went against the beliefs of the colonists. The colonists viewed the Native Americans as savages and barbarians because their ways of living were different.
“ [They] spent most of the conquest and colonial periods reacting and responding to the European strangers and invaders” (99). Both sides were different in many ways; Their communication, transportation, culture, and the way they survived differentiate the Europeans from the Native Americans. They both acted as wisely as they could when this encounters began after the discovery. “[Tribes] worked mightily and often cleverly to maximize their political sovereignty, cultural autonomy, territorial integrity, power of self identification, and physical nobility” (100). The Europeans were stronger, had better technology, better weapons, and had plenty of experience fighting people like the Native Americans. They could have easily conquer them , but they had a problem of resources, reinforcements and survival. Native American were many but they lacked the knowledge and experience of war and evolution. Europeans were technologically evolved and were experienced at fighting wars, but they ...
The way the Indians conducted war, although it appeared primitive and frightening, in actuality was less barbaric than the Puritans way of warfare. Leach describes the Wampanoag way of battle as unsophisticated and dance around a fire beating drums with their faces painted in order to demonstrate their ferocious manners. Then, using bows and arrows, tomahawks, and knives the Indians would send small groups of warriors against their enemy village. As a form of revenge during war the Indians often scalped their enemies as a trophy or captured their enemies for...
If all of the tribes acted as one single force, the Natives would have a better chance. The many Native rebellions show that they had the motivation, and at some points of time, to take back their land. The Native Americans also learned to use guns and had great strategic plans. However, by the time they were somewhat united, the enemy was either equal in manpower or completely overshadowed the Natives forces. Due to the forced moves, the deadly illness, and lack of unity, the Natives didn’t have a good chance of defending their land.
The Columbian Exchange is a global exchange of goods and ideas between the Old World (Europe, Asia and Africa) and the New World (America). When Columbus first discovered America, Spain wanted to set up colonies. Columbus found some people that he named “Indians.” They colonies started to trade with each other, and by doing do, they started the Columbian Exchange. Many countries were involved in this trade, including China, Africa and Italy. This exchange of new ideas, traditions, food, religion and diet changed cultures everywhere.
The Inca Empire Janos Gyarmati’s Paria la Viexa and an expanding empire: Provincial centers in the political economy of the Inca Empire proved that the Inca’s built an empire unlike any other. From 1440 to 1532 A.D., the Inca Empire dominated the Americas. Known as “the fastest growing and largest territorial empire”(Gyarmati 37) of its time, the Inca Empire left a mark with their complex, perpetual and innovative economic, road, and settlement system. The Inca’s were advanced for their time, however, they lacked a system that would guarantee the survival of their kin. In order to strive, for the long-term, the Inca’s created provincial centers that would ensure their growth and economy for the generations to come.
Two of the biggest and greatest civilization in the Americas were the Aztecs and Incas. These two civilization were both said to be conquered by the Spanish, but it wasn’t just the Spanish who conquered them. These two civilizations both fell from a combination of a weak government, lack of technology, new disease introduced by the invaders, and not being prepared for the invaders. For many centuries the Aztec civilization revolved around a ideological, social, and political system in which expansion was the cornerstone. Expansion was the cornerstone of their whole civilization, because their religion requested that a large number of human sacrifices where to be made to the gods.
However the Native Americans strongly regarded their way of live. In their culture the order of nature, was vastly important. It was understood that there was an order to which nature worked and because of this they were tied to the land. They could not comprehend how the whites could “wander far from the graves of [their] ancestors and seemingly without regret” (Chief Joseph 2). The white settlers came to America and immediately started to conquer the land, without feeling any shame. To the Native Americans that was shocking, for they believed that “even the rocks, which seem to be dumb and dead...[had] memories of stirring events connected with the lives of [their] people” (Chief Joseph 3). They did not understand how someone could forget their ancestors, and fight nature in such a way that there is room for nobody but themselves. All the same though the white settlers could not see that what they were doing as wrong. They had come to the West to begin a new chapter in life, and if the Native Americans could not accept this, then they had to be dealt with.
It is obvious that without the aid of the local Indian tribes, many of the colonists in the New World would not have survived. Sharing their resources, befriending the newcomers and accepting them as permanent residences were literally the difference between life and death for the Europeans. Without question, the distinction between the European concept of owning land and the native idea of sharing the land was never understood by either group and the land controversy continues to this day. Ironically, by offering protection, cooperation and friendship to the European newcomers, Native Americans ensured the preservation of the English while assuring the destruction of their own peoples.
In this essay I will tell how the Aztec and Inca empires ended, and also I will compare the fall of both empires, using for a point of departure the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the land of Mexico. Wherever the Spanish went always the same thing happened, from my point of view. Innocent people were killed for no good reason, cities were massacred, civilizations were destroyed or forced to convert to Christianity. And so, I think now is the time to reevaluate the actions of the European explorers who subjugated the native American peoples and their civilizations. Undoubtedly the most glorified and heroically portrayed of these figures of the European conquest of the New World were the conquistadors, the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16-th century. These men, under leaders such as Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizzaro nearly eliminated the Aztec and Inca peoples. Surely many of these soldiers were extremely cruel and intolerant of the native populations. But it is important to consider, with the push of both sides toward territorial expansion, how these groups (European and American) could remain isolated from each other. Furthermore, with meeting of these two imperialist cultures, it must be considered whether it would be possible for the two to peacefully coexist.
The Renaissance was the most influential time period in the discovery of America. During the Renaissance, which lasted from the 14th century to the 17th century, great advancements were made in methods of navigation. Also, the greatest goal of almost every nation and empire was to claim new lands and seize its riches. The desire for the land motivated some to move westward. Another motive to expand during the Renaissance was the will to convert the native "heathens" into Christians.
Native Americans were hunter gatherers and lived off the land. They were very conservative people and would make sure absolutely nothing was put to waste. Native Americans were able to adapt to different environments due to their creativity of how to live off of Mother Nature. They were able to find ways to live in places ranging from deserts to forests to alongside oceans. They were unquestionably great hunters and effective farmers. The Indians unquestionably had much better diets than the Europeans and were far less likely to ever face starvation or hunger. It is recorded that the first Europeans to ever arrive at America often commented on the Indians massive size, which was probably due to their better diets. Each tribe built their own towns and traded over far distances with other