The Spanish and English Empires of the Americas When European colonization began in the Americas, many people voyaged there with varying goals in mind and with differing attitudes towards the pre-existing natives. Whether good or bad, the European colonists left a substantial impact on the native American population. The Spanish and English colonists in the Americas had more differences than similarities in how they treated the natives in their systems of labor, their integration of natives into society, and their political relations with the natives. The Spanish had a different system of labor than the English, requiring the use of human labor. As a solution, the Spanish settlers used the local Native American population as a resource
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Each group of colonists treated the natives as inferior peoples, mistreating them without remorse. Howard Zinn notes that they were, “knifing Indians by tens and twenties… cutting slices of them to test the sharpness of their blades,” (Zinn, 8). Also, they brought diseases into the New World, ones the natives have never seen before; as written in the American Pageant, “epidemics of smallpox and measles raced mercilessly through their villages” (Kennedy, Cohen, and Bailey 29). Both the Spanish and the English colonists had physical conflict with neighboring native tribes. All these reasons contribute to the drastic fall in Native American population. According to A People’s History of the United States, “The Indian population of 10 million that lived north of Mexico when Columbus came would ultimately be reduced to less than a million,” (Zinn, 17). Similarly, the Spanish and English colonists both largely affected the total population of the Native Americans. Both the Spanish and English settlers of the Americas had drastic impacts on the native Americans. From the perspective of the natives, the Spanish and English empires were largely different in their treatment towards them. While labor systems, social integration, and political relations differed greatly, few similarities were also evident. Nonetheless, the Spanish and English empires significantly altered the native Americans way of life, each in their own unique
Each group of colonists treated the natives as inferior peoples, mistreating them without remorse. Howard Zinn notes that they were, “knifing Indians by tens and twenties… cutting slices of them to test the sharpness of their blades,” (Zinn, 8). Also, they brought diseases into the New World, ones the natives have never seen before; as written in the American Pageant, “epidemics of smallpox and measles raced mercilessly through their villages” (Kennedy, Cohen, and Bailey 29). Both the Spanish and the English colonists had physical conflict with neighboring native tribes. All these reasons contribute to the drastic fall in Native American population. According to A People’s History of the United States, “The Indian population of 10 million that lived north of Mexico when Columbus came would ultimately be reduced to less than a million,” (Zinn, 17). Similarly, the Spanish and English colonists both largely affected the total population of the Native Americans. Both the Spanish and English settlers of the Americas had drastic impacts on the native Americans. From the perspective of the natives, the Spanish and English empires were largely different in their treatment towards them. While labor systems, social integration, and political relations differed greatly, few similarities were also evident. Nonetheless, the Spanish and English empires significantly altered the native Americans way of life, each in their own unique