English and Spanish Relations With the Native Americans
The purpose of this paper is to prove that although both the English and the Spanish saw the natives as uncivilized and vulnerable savages; ultimately, the English, more so than the Spanish, took advantage of these characteristics to lead to bad relations with the Native Americans. Whereas the Spanish settlers, who forced Catholicism on the Pueblos and tried to obliterate Indian practices, ended their problems with hopes of peace, the English took over land with no effort at reconciliation with the Narragansett tribe. When the English first arrived in New England in the mid 1600?s, they were much amused at the Indians responses to their European culture. The natives were impressed with European technology and soon expressed a desire to experience the new bits of customs that had arrived on their shores. When the English saw that the natives venerated them for their new and interesting technology as almost supernatural in basis, they perceived this as bond that would be carried throughout settlement. Similarly, good intentions were met in the southwest part of the land where the Spanish sent Franciscan friars into the area of New Mexico to spread the Catholic faith. Beginning their expanse, they were welcomed by the Puebl
Now was the time that the Indians felt the call to renew their own religion and devotion to the gods, and in 1680, the Pueblos rose up to stamp out the Spanish. Consequently, the Pueblos were successful in driving out the Spanish, and as they were exhausted from waging war, they did not initiate any more uprisings against Spanish rule. When Indian revolt and rebellion plagued both settlements, the two groups reacted in very different manners. Early Massachusetts Bay settler, William Wood, went on to find fault with various aspects of the Indian routine, including treatment of Indian women in society. Within weeks, the natives eliminated hundreds of Spanish from New Mexico and desecrated Spanish buildings, fields, and most importantly, churches and sacred objects. The English made no endeavor to re-establish relations between the two groups, and as the Narragansetts would see, all the astonishing opportunities and accomplishments offered by the English settlements proved to be a catastrophe. They both took advantage of the Indians, preying on their every whim. After a futile attempt at reconstructing English and Narragansett ties, Miantomi called for unification among Indians against the English. This paved the way for an upcoming era of peace and unity between Pueblos and the Spanish settlers. They played upon the beliefs of the Indians that the Spanish were gods. However, the English reacted no differently to the outlandishly different lifestyle of the natives. Whereas land and settlement was the foremost important initiative on English minds, religion and power claimed the thoughts of the Spanish. As the new political allies to the English, the Narragansetts found themselves siding with the colonists in a war against the Pequots. As several epidemics brought on by the English swept the coast of New England, the Indian population diminished and sent survivors trailing east.
Common topics in this essay:
Catholicism Pueblos,
Indians Spanish,
Spanish Pueblos,
Consequently Pueblos,
English Narragansett,
Miantomi English,
William Wood,
England Indian,
Narragansetts Indians,
Spanish English,
narragansett tribe,
english narragansett,
spanish settlers,
hopes peace,
conspiracy english,
native americans,
whereas spanish,
indians spanish,
catholic faith,
english reacted,
|
Acceptance Essays
