European view of native americans 9/8/11

1.The europeans had mixed views on the native americans based on country. The French generally had a more positive attitude to the native americans. For example, in document 15, the French seem to portray the Indians as having a lot of teamwork and that they value the animal very much, since they sent so many men to go after it. Also in document 16, the French portray the Indian's cleverness in dressing up as deer to hunt other deer.
As for the other countries, the view was negative. In document 1, Columbus describes the Indians as good workers, but then quickly shifts the attitude to saying that they would make good "servants". In document 6, the artist displays the Inca king getting trampled by the Conquistadors. This is not only degrading to the Native Americans but also very pretentious of the Spanish. Who says that the Spanish were better than the Native Americans? Others like captain John Smith give a very unbiased view of the Indians; describing their way of lifestyle and not putting in any opinion.

2. The Europeans are most intrigued by their culture and way of living. In may documents, Europeans describe how they live, farm, and how their social order is established. For example, documents 2,8,9,10,11,12,16, and 25 are all primarily concerned with how the Indians live and how they go about their lives. This time, each country had it's own fascination with the Indians. Also, a couple of documents were particularly interested in the environment. Document 13 and document 14 both describe and express the nature of the Americas, especially document 14.

3.In many of the picture documents, the native americans status is portrayed as inferior, as in document 3 and These tend to be from the Dutch, Italian, and Spanish. The French on the other hand were more fair to the indians, as they gave depictions that were nonbiased, and even a little positive to the native americans, like in document 16. The written work has the same implied meanings as the pictures based on country. In document 20, the Spanish insult the Indians by implying their stupidity and mocking their simple minds.

4. We learn from many of the documents what the Indians eat, that they are very strong, and how they conduct their daily activities. We also learn that the viewpoints from different countries vary. France has the most positive outlook on the Indians, with most of their documents being unbiased or at least respectful to the Indians. Other colonizing countries like the Dutch and Spanish were rather mean and unfair to the Indians.

5. These documents may present a biased view. There may also be inconsistencies with the facts that they thought were true. Also, historians can't generalize a view on the native americans for all of europe because almost everybody had at least some different view on the Indians. Therefore they had to differentiate among different countries with different biases and facts to decipher what was the true picture. Also historians do not have the opposing side of the story: the Indians. The Indians may never get a chance to tell their side of the story and how their lives actually were led. The writers and explorers of the time may only have got to observe only a few days of the Indian's activity and therefore may have had to guess alot of their customs.

6. I would first separate the documents into different countries and list them into chronological order within the countries. I would keep in mind that each country had a different viewpoint; there may even be different viewpoints within a country. From there I would assess the country's depiction of the native americans and keep in mind that as time went on, the relationship between Europeans and Americans grew more hostile, so detecting bias would be necessary.

7.These drawings let us extrapolate what the attitude of the Colonizers was at the time. It shows us the general atmosphere and excitement towards the Americas. Despite the inaccuracies, the drawings are a window into the views of the settlers.

1. The following documents tell us that the Spanish conquest was indeed a cruel one; without empathy and driven solely for the desire for power and wealth. With that being said, a few people began stepping up to say that the Spanish exploitation was inhumane and even a sin. Many years later, more people began realizing that what they had done was terribly wrong and the treatment that the Indians and Africans had to suffer under Spanish rule was unjust and cruel. They realized that the Indians and Africans were as much of a human as they were.Yet, some articles, like those Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, went against those thoughts and proclaimed the Indians as savages and unhuman. The only reason for this proclamation was because the Indians differed in customs versus the "status quo". Therefore Juan was not only unaccepting of different viewpoints, but also racist for criticizing different practices. 


2. The spanish were very cruel, as stated in several articles. Antonio de Montesinos, Bartolomé de las Casas, and Fray Tomas Mercado all agreed upon the facts that the Spanish overworked their slaves, underfed them, and treated them as "property" and not as a man. We should understand their conduct in the sense that at the time the atmosphere in Europe was cultivated around desires for wealth, land, and power. Europe was running out of space, there were less opportunities to get wealthy, and the constant wars for land tired our countries. Therefore, the New World seemed like the perfect place; there was land, people, and hopefully gold. Yet, the settlers did not want to work their share for the wealth so they forced others to do it for them. They easily were able to do this by importing slaves cheaply from Africa. Not only did they not know the land, but they had agricultural experience in their homelands, making them a good choice for slaves.


3. The critics are correct. They were probably the most insightful throughout the ordeal. They realized that to invade upon one's culture and completely disrupt and destroy their way of life was inhumane and unfair. The Indians were every bit as human as they were; just because they had a different culture didn't make them any less human. It was the same as the cultural differences in Europe. As Antonio de Montesinos put it, "...by what right or justice do you hold these Indians in such cruel and horrible slavery... do you wage such detestable wars on these people who lived mildly and peacefully in their own lands..."