America De Vaca Response

Document Response to Chapter 2 "The New World"

After reading the required documents, I feel that I have a stronger grasp of what happened during Christopher Columbus arrival in America and the events that followed after. The first document are series of letters written by the king of Congo, Mzinga Afonzo, who converted to Christianity, to the king of Portugal. In the first few letters, king Afonzo expresses his concerns that the trade with Portuguese will eventually bring more harm than good to Congo as Congo will lose it 's peace and safety. He also expresses that the Portuguese are constantly taking away Congolese children, sons of nobles and even family members. From a reader 's standpoint, I believe that the Portuguese government are ruthlessly taking advantage of the Congolese by kidnapping them and making them their slaves, because in all honestly the buyers are barely paying anything to the Congolese. After further reading, king …show more content…
Vaca describes in great detail the disease that had spread among the natives and how he is held captive because the natives believe he has a cure. The Native Americans are so desperate for a cure that they would do anything, such giving their last ounce of food to the captives if it meant they would have a chance to live. I find the story very intruding as the main tribe or the one that held Vaca and his men captive took advantage of the popularity that Vaca was gaining from the belief that he was a god who could cure the people. It is clear Vaca was compassionate towards the tribes that were robbed from since they were living in poverty already. The most important historical fact is the large number of people that were willing to follow and fear Vaca and his men because of the lies that were told to them, this shows the natives nativity and desperation for hope and a leader during the brutal