Spanish Conquest Of Florida Essay

Spanish Conquest of Florida as explained by Luys Hernandez de Biedma in Relation of the Conquest of Florida shows the strategies used by the Spanish in their conquest of the North American lands. The Spanish tactics used during their arrival to the New World was very common and consistent. Arrive and establish a relationship with the locals, while allowing them the opportunity to convert to Christianity, and showing off your overwhelming superior force, thereby convincing them that the Spanish way of life is the greatest and they should submit to the Spanish king. These strategies, combined with a technological superiority helped the Spanish in their ideas of coming to the new world and civilizing the native peoples, and thereby established …show more content…
Use of convincing the native people of a region to convert to the new power's religion, helped them to g convert the people and submit to their new king. However, in the new world the natives were much less likely to submit to a king from another continent, along with a god they have never encountered before. This left much to be desired on the Spanish side of their goals to conquest. From the beginning of the text there clear Spanish key objectives. Capture a native in order to gain an interpreter and guide, find where any gold may be, and secure it. However, as the Spanish came to find out the Southeastern portion of North America contains little to no amounts of gold. This comes much to the dismay of the Spanish and shows their ultimate goals toward conquering of new lands. Obtainment of material goods becomes the job for those called to settle the new world. Those who did manage to gain amounts of desired materials were able to return back to Europe and live a wealthy live …show more content…
This shows us the negativity toward the Spanish coming from many different tribes. We also have the instance of a tribe giving the Spanish a guide to send them along their way, who eventually admits that he has been instructed to take them to a place where they will starve. Upon the group’s arrival at Aguacalecuen, the town which the Spanish find abandoned, the Spanish capture a few women found hiding, and in return for their security, their father finds them some guides. De Biedma speaks to their worth, "Among them were Indians who had knowledge of the country farther inland, yet they told us very false stories,". From this we can take that the Indians are simply trying to get rid of the Spanish without having to directly deal with them. This would also go along with instances of the natives trying to send the Spanish to tribes who they have a rivalry with, by convincing them that the other tribe has more food or worth to them. This shows the Spanish being used as tools by the natives to their own advantage, allowing them to indirectly hurt their