Native American Voyages

There have been many stories about how America became to be the way it is today. It is very common for public schools to teach very little of what actually went on but instead tell a very simplified happy story instead. Throughout the many different voyages from Europe to the “New Land” there have been many successes and there have also been many failures before and after Columbus’s arrival. The encounter between Native Americans and Europeans, and especially the Spanish, from 1492 to about 1700, was followed by a history of complex negotiation between and among Europeans and Native Americans, who were by no means homogeneous groups. Furthermore, the Spanish were often divided as to whether their American colonies were a spiritual or economic …show more content…
A hybrid ship which was a mixture of agile and durability was created for long Atlantic voyages, as well as the printing press which helped promote Mariners voyages and increase funding and sponsors. The result of the maps said a lot more than just the placement of earth. However, not all cartographers made maps the same, in fact one of the most accurate statements in the article “Mapping the World” it states that “maps tell us how people saw their world.” In other words maps helped show how the natives saw their homeland and how the Europeans viewed the Natives on their homeland. When it came to European maps many of them depicted the Natives as savages by plotting some of their maps with skulls and bones on top of their origin to display cannibalism, as well as any riches they might have come across (silver and gold). However, many of the Native’s maps showed a more of a religious view where their world would revolve around gods, whereas other Natives were more descriptive with animals and plants, mapping where they could encounter these important life necessities. When examining Europe it is clear that the Pope has strong influences throughout Europe indicating that they heavily believe in their Christian religion. The Europeans had never seen cultures where it was common to have spiritual sacrifices, deeming the Natives as savages and feeling it necessary to save their souls and converting them to Christianity. Columbus attempted to bring back 500 Natives to convert them to Christianity but what ended up happening was most of them didn’t make the voyage due to