European Colonization

The settlement of the Americas by different countries entailed a lot of death, dispair, trade and selfish gain. The Dutch, French, Spanish and English all had a hand in the colonization of the Americas, one more than the other. The French seemed to be the least brutal or savage of the four. I could actually understand their reasoning for traveling to the Americas and trying to establish a better trade route. The French were actually majorly civilized with the Indians and were welcoming of the advice they gave them when it came to traveling the lands and using canoes. They even went as far as marrying their women to establish a better rapore with the Indians, but I guess that could seem a bit selfish as well. The only thing that seemed strange was how the missionaries decided who could buy guns and get the low price on Euros. This again shows how the hypocrisy of religion is used as a means of control. Although the control was minimal it was still ever present.

But the true conquerors of the Americas, and savage conquerors might I add, were Spain. The Spanish were very judgmental people it seems and did not mind throwing around their weight in the name of the Catholic Faith. They viewed all non-Catholic people as Barbarians and fit for “natural slavery”. Natural slavery meaning that they were born to be slaves and perform labors for other. The Treaty Of Tordesillas seems to have been a treaty made up by the Spanish to seemingly help condone their own barbaric behavior towards an entire culture. The Spanish used this treaty as a way to conquer and enslave the Indians. The most barbaric time of it all was when governor Onate came over in 1598. During his reign, Onate a long with his fellow Catholics would do whatever they deemed fit in order to break the spirits of the Pueblo people in order for them to denounce their own ancestral worships. They would would rape, torture, beat and even amputate the legs of all men over 15 so that they would not escape. But what I did not know about was the Pueblo Revolt, how I have never heard of this honestly no longer comes as a shock to me. Forgive me for saying this but I was happy to learn of the revolt and how the Pueblo people, even without proper means to communicate, managed to stage this takedown of the Spanish and send them on their way. Although they were already damaged from about eighty years of suffering, staging the first war of independence and religious freedom in America was brave and courageous and showed just how tactful they could be.

I’m not sure if I could be as forgiving as the Pueblo people because they did allow the Spanish to return and become their allies against Europeans.  Of the Europeans the English seemed to careless about who they had to use as forced labor in order to get their economic status in good standing. They enslaved Indians, Africans and even their own people. The English people that they used were farmers, urban laborers and artisans. It was said that the only difference between the enslavement of Indians and Africans compared to English peoplewasthethey were given “freedom dues”  after they had worked off their five to seven year labor contract. But could you imagine working for seven years without pay and then probably being given what they deemed fit for your service. Although the idea behind how they would colonize the Americas started out well, the execution was ruthless. The English felt as if they owned the rights to everything so much so that when they needed new land to continuously grow their tobacco they decided to trespass on land that was already being occupied by Powhatan. When Powhatan finally decided to cut off supplies that the English felt as though they were entitled to things began to take a turn. Pocahontas, Powhatan’s eldest daughter, was kidnapped  and held captive aboard an English ship, where she would soon be forced to marry John Rolfe for peace between both her people and the English. I say forced because what 12 year old girl would want to marry someone who is more than an decade her age, let alone from a world who constantly enslaves Native people. The colonization of the Americas is seemingly different from each standpoint of each conqueror. But although different, they all had one thing in common, the invasion of an entire world. A world of people who lived in a seemingly peaceful coexistence, that because of their vast amount of resources and knowledge and somewhat superior ways of living, were either taken advantage of, killed or enslaved for the selfish needs and benefits of those who unfortunately could not acquire success on their own. 

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3574 

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/active_learning/explorations/pocohontas/pocahontas_menu.cfm

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3575

https://www.sutori.com/story/european-colonization-of-america-timeline--bjC7bsmAPLkcNJgiuC9S1Rfg