I wanted to offer another perspective as far as why white settlers were ultimately able to so easily subdue American Indians throughout the New World. We have studied and discussed the effects of disease, which spread because of trading. We know that grusome killings took place on both sides of the colonial-Indian conflict, but is it possible that natives' own spiritual and Godly beliefs casued their demise?
How is it that Europeans came to dominate the world? Indians were scared of the immense power Europeans commanded, from their advanced weaponry to their horses. Indians revered white explorers as Gods. Religion is a very powerful tool, as it has been throughout history and I believe this also played an important part in the colonies. The natives feared the whites' God as much as their guns. As the great (or not-so-great, depending on how you look at him) Columbus wrote of his voyage to America, "For it is true that nany little thing given to them, as well as our coming, they considered great marvels; and they believed that we had come from the heavens."
Beginning with their arrival, white explorers instilled fear in Indians, and that fear, as it guided the life of so many colonists, could explain why the colonists were able to drive American Indians westward and into a history of abuse and containment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I think that the fear of the white European colonists and the new religion introduced is a very important factor to consider when evaluating the end result of colonization of the new world. An important example is when Hernan Cortes initailly met Aztec ambassadors they believed he was an emissary from the god Quetzalcoatl or the god himself.
So easily?" Here's a website that I found that might change your mind.http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1008.html
In the 17th Century there was 5 Indian wars with the Europeans, 5 in the 18th Century and 17 wars in the 19th Century. They fought long and hard for their homelands. Eventually they were out numbered and did not have the advanced weaponry the whites had. Plus disease was passed around. I read once that blankets that were handed out to the Natives by the whites were used first by sick and dying people and never cleaned.
Your other question, How the Europeans came to dominate? During those 250 years , was Presidents who broke treaties, contracts,and promises.
Indians thinking Europeans were Gods?? Might that have been misunderstood as being nice & hospitable? Like Tai was saying," You smile at a guy...then you wish you wouldn't."(ok, vice versa for the guys.)
This is a different perspective as to why European colonists were able to dominate the natives, but I think the probability of this being true isn’t very unlikely. The Native Americans weren’t necessarily that easy to subdue. As shown by the various battles fought between the natives and the colonists throughout America’s history. Also, Columbus is definitely a biased source when citing that the natives thought of the colonists as gods that had traveled down from heaven.
There is a lot more of a religious subtext than people today realize I think...like I have mentioned before, it didn't even cross the colonizers minds that what they were doing was wrong.
I stand by my blog except for the word 'easily'.
Also, The apparition of white explorers off the coast of Mexico realized a religious prophecy for the awaiting Aztecs.
We discussed in class how initially the trade goods Europeans exchanged with Natives were believed to have spiritual value. But overtime, and as goods were more widespread, Natives traded for goods based on utility. Certainly some Natives adopted aspects of Christianity in order to obtain some of the spiritual power the Europeans seemed to have (immunity from disease and more advanced weaponry).
Although initial contact with Europeans might have made some Native peoples question if Europeans were spiritual beings, this view certainly did not endure.
What role did growing population and access to more advanced and larger numbers of weaponry play in European expansion? Certainly disease continued to be an issue for several centuries. Were these less than, more than or just as important as fear of Europeans? And what evidence do you think indicates fear was a driving force for Native-European interaction in 1600s-1700s?
Post a Comment