Consider what interactions between the first Spanish explorers and Indigenous Peoples demonstrate about encountering the unfamiliar. Show
Last Updated: August 1, 2017
When two people meet for the first time, each takes stock of the other, often focusing on differences. Scholar Martha Minow warns that difference always “implies a reference: difference from whom? I am no more different from you than you are from me. A short person is different only in relation to a tall one; a Spanish-speaking student is different in relation to an English-speaking one. But the point of comparison is often unstated.” 1 By identifying unstated points of comparison, we can examine the relationships between those who have the power to assign labels of difference and those who lack that power. The first meetings between Europeans and the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas 2 illustrate Minow’s argument. Historians Peter Carroll and David Noble describe those encounters:
To the Arawak, the newcomers were so obviously different in language, dress, and color that the Arawak doubted that the Europeans were human beings. “They believe very firmly,” wrote Christopher Columbus after his first voyage to the Americas, “that I, with these ships and people, came from the sky.” 4 Other Indigenous Peoples reacted in similar ways to their first encounters with Europeans. Columbus and other Europeans had their own misconceptions. They mistakenly believed that the Arawak were “Indians.” Carroll and Noble write:
In describing the “Indians,” Europeans focused not on who they were but on who they were not. They then went on to describe what the Indigenous Peoples did not have. Amerigo Vespucci, for whom the Americas are named, described the “Indians” as neither Muslims nor Jews. He noted that they were “worse than heathen; because we did not see that they offered any sacrifice, nor yet did they have a house of prayer.” John Winthrop, an Englishman who helped found the Massachusetts Bay Colony, justified his claims to the Indigenous Peoples’ land by arguing that they did not mark their ownership of it in ways that Europeans recognized. He wrote that they “enclose no land, neither have they any settled habitations, nor any tame cattle.” 6 To many newcomers, the Indigenous Peoples were not only “backward” but also dangerous. In historian Ronald Takaki’s words, “They represented what English men and women in America thought they were not—and, more important, what they must not become.” 7 Colonial leaders warned that colonists must strictly adhere to the laws and moral guidelines that defined their communities; otherwise they would allow themselves to become “Indianized.” Increasingly, “to be ‘Indianized’ meant to serve the Devil.” It also meant to be “decivilized, to become wild men.” 8 After all, the English viewed "Indians" as people living outside of “civilization.” Such ideas were rooted at least in part in religious beliefs. As Carroll and Noble point out in their description of Spanish explorers,
Such attitudes were not limited to Europeans who were Catholic. They were shared by Protestants as well. Relations between the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas and the Europeans were also shaped by the fierce competition among European nations for wealth and power. As Europeans took control of more and more of the Americas, millions of Indigenous People were killed. Countless others were pushed into the interior of both continents. Still others were forced into slavery. Connection Questions
paperclip Explore resources that meet the California History–Social Science Framework standards.
paperclip Explore resources that meet the Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework.
paperclip Students are introduced to the many factors that influenced Americans’ will and ability to respond to the Jewish refugee crisis, including isolationism, racism, xenophobia, and antisemitism.
paperclip Students explore the intertwined personal stories of Jewish refugees who attempted to flee to the United States and the American rescuers who intervened on their behalf.
paperclip Students will explore some of the causes and consequences of denying the Armenian Genocide and reflect on the role of public art to commemorate difficult histories.
paperclip Students analyze images and film that convey the richness of Jewish life across Europe at the time of the Nazis’ ascension to power.
paperclip Students learn about the events and choices of the Armenian Genocide and explore the consequences of the genocide from the perspective of survivors.
paperclip Students develop a contract establishing a reflective classroom community as they prepare to explore the historical case study of this unit.
paperclip Students consider the ways in which World War I intensified people’s loyalty to their country and resentment toward others perceived as a threat.
paperclip Students turn their attention to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of a strong current of ethno-nationalism rooted in Turkish identity.
paperclip Students examine how choices made by individuals and groups contributed to the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1920s and 1930s.
paperclip Students deepen their thinking about memory and identity by reflecting on the stories of Holocaust and Armenian Genocide survivors and their descendants.
Most teachers are willing to tackle the difficult topics, but we need the tools. — Gabriela Calderon-Espinal, Bay Shore, NY How were French explorers different from Spanish explorers?French missionaries were far more mobile and had a less lasting influence on the native population than their Spanish counterparts. They founded no major missions, such as San Jose in Texas, San Xavier in Arizona or San Luis Rey in California.
How were the Spanish and French explorers different in their treatment of the natives?Answer and Explanation: French colonists often engaged in cooperative relationships with Native Americans, while their Spanish counterparts seemed more interested in controlling and enslaving large groups of Native Americans.
How did the French and Spanish approaches to North American compare with the British approach?While the British had a hierarchical social system for their economy, the Spanish had the encomienda system, and the French were engrossed in trade, and each of these different approaches led to alternative relationships to develop among the natives and settlers.
How was the French approach to the Indians different from that of the Spanish?From the 1400s and 1620 the Spanish and Portuguese's treated the Native Americans and slaves inhumanly. They had no respect them and didn't see them as people. The French respected the Native Americans as allies, however they mistreated the slaves.
|