Trailblazers: The Success of the Spanish Colonies
The fate of global civilization was radically changed when Christopher Columbus embarked for the New World in 1492, launching the leading European powers into a race for colonization and exploration. During this time, each country achieved varying degrees of success by employing different tactics to best conquer the uncharted territory of the Americas; for example, the French exploited the trade of beaver pelts to obtain territory and economic success (Kennedy & Cohen 99). Many of these European colonies grew into flourishing cities and centers of culture and newfound traditions. However, especially in the case of the Spanish conquest, each colony faced adversity when interacting with the indigenous …show more content…
Contrary to what the infamous Black Legend says, the Spanish conquistadors were not reckless murderers without direction. They had a purpose: colonization. They needed to employ these vicious tactics in order to efficiently fulfill this purpose. The Spanish conquistadors were trailblazers in the most literal sense of the term; for instance, explorer Hernando de Soto and his soldiers tortured, raped, enslaved, and killed countless Indians, destroying almost everything in their path (Mann 6). While it is true that the Spanish conquistadors mistreated the Indians they encountered, and that the encomienda system was essentially slavery, the Spanish weren’t the only Europeans who treated the natives callously. The British settlers in Virginia had extensive brutal conflict with the local Powhatan Confederacy, complete with village raids and deadly attacks (Kennedy & Cohen 29). The conflict ended with the banishment of the Powhatans from Virginia in 1646 (Kennedy & Cohen 29). Unlike the British, however, Spanish settlers intermarried with the surviving natives instead of banishing them. As acclaimed historians David M. Kennedy & Lizabeth Cohen argue in their book, American Pageant, “the Spanish paid the Native Americans the high compliment of fusing with them through marriage and incorporating indigenous culture into their own, rather than shunning and eventually isolating the Indians as their English adversaries would do” (Kennedy & Cohen 21). Furthermore, by intermarrying surviving Indians with settlers, the whole new race of Mestizos was born, creating the multicultural blend of Old World and New that is embraced in Mexican society today (Kennedy & Cohen 20). Unlike the other European colonists, the Spanish colonists voluntarily fused their culture with the Native Americans’, thus creating the most
The fate of global civilization was radically changed when Christopher Columbus embarked for the New World in 1492, launching the leading European powers into a race for colonization and exploration. During this time, each country achieved varying degrees of success by employing different tactics to best conquer the uncharted territory of the Americas; for example, the French exploited the trade of beaver pelts to obtain territory and economic success (Kennedy & Cohen 99). Many of these European colonies grew into flourishing cities and centers of culture and newfound traditions. However, especially in the case of the Spanish conquest, each colony faced adversity when interacting with the indigenous …show more content…
Contrary to what the infamous Black Legend says, the Spanish conquistadors were not reckless murderers without direction. They had a purpose: colonization. They needed to employ these vicious tactics in order to efficiently fulfill this purpose. The Spanish conquistadors were trailblazers in the most literal sense of the term; for instance, explorer Hernando de Soto and his soldiers tortured, raped, enslaved, and killed countless Indians, destroying almost everything in their path (Mann 6). While it is true that the Spanish conquistadors mistreated the Indians they encountered, and that the encomienda system was essentially slavery, the Spanish weren’t the only Europeans who treated the natives callously. The British settlers in Virginia had extensive brutal conflict with the local Powhatan Confederacy, complete with village raids and deadly attacks (Kennedy & Cohen 29). The conflict ended with the banishment of the Powhatans from Virginia in 1646 (Kennedy & Cohen 29). Unlike the British, however, Spanish settlers intermarried with the surviving natives instead of banishing them. As acclaimed historians David M. Kennedy & Lizabeth Cohen argue in their book, American Pageant, “the Spanish paid the Native Americans the high compliment of fusing with them through marriage and incorporating indigenous culture into their own, rather than shunning and eventually isolating the Indians as their English adversaries would do” (Kennedy & Cohen 21). Furthermore, by intermarrying surviving Indians with settlers, the whole new race of Mestizos was born, creating the multicultural blend of Old World and New that is embraced in Mexican society today (Kennedy & Cohen 20). Unlike the other European colonists, the Spanish colonists voluntarily fused their culture with the Native Americans’, thus creating the most