The Collision of Cultures Chapter 1 The Columbian

The Collision of Cultures Chapter 1

The Columbian Exchange The collision of 2 worlds in 1492 creates one world where previously there were two. Important Exchanges: Disease, horse, cattle, pig, sheep; corn, potato, wheat, peppers, melons, sugar, beans, tomato, tobacco 1492: much has been discussed surrounding Columbus’ discovery of the ‘New World. ” Is the discovery of Columbus a good or bad thing? Good—we are here today Bad—culture ethnocentrism nearly devastated the once thriving societies that called the America’s their home prior to There is/was a great deal of myth, half-truth and falsehoods that surround the opening of the New World

Carib Islands Carib Island natives were the first to see white men nearly 500 Years ago. This group of natives was one of the first to be all but exterminated with the arrival of the Europeans. Outright brutality, overwork and diseased nearly wiped them out yet, they survived. Their name translates into ‘valiant’ people. The Carib people were stigmatized by the name Columbus gave them because Carib also came to mean ‘cannibal. ’ Columbus’ diaries report these natives as man-eating Indians. Columbus, as subsequent explorers would do, failed to inquire into the true reason for these cannibalistic practices. The Caribs’ cannibalism was the ritualistic eating of the enemies’ body parts. Similar to the Christian practice of eating bread and wine as the body/blood of Christ. Yet, Columbus’ inability or refusal to fully comprehend the native culture lead to the supplanting of Carib cultural characteristics onto the whole of native populations in the Americas. Columbus’ diaries reveal and his message to the Queen extrapolate from this one group that all Indians are cannibals and thus savages, thus lower than Europeans and thus profitable to enslave the savages. Carib people as cannibals, were equated with the devil. They could enrich Spain with their labor. The inhuman image of the Caribs by Spain served the selfinterest of Spain (and later Europeans; stories circulate in European trade

Samuel Elliot Morrison, Admiral of the Sea “Caribs of Dominica made a practice of killing and eating anyone who venture ashore. On one occasion the natives were made so violently sick by eating a friar that thereafter anyone in ecclesiastical garb was left strictly alone. When Spaniards were forced to call at Dominica for water they either sent a friar shore or rigged up the boats’ crew with sacking and such to fool the natives. ” Point—on one hand it is important to tell the world that these people practice cannibalism, but little to nothing else is said about their culture, it has been of little consequence.

Euro-Centric Views Historical stereotyping thus represents the misshapen collection of largely false, distorted half true images that have come to make up our understanding of Indians and their culture. Native Americans have been viewed from the point of first contact through a self-centered European view point. This view ignores and condones the natives as savage, inferior, and barbaric. Much of what Europeans did not understand was deemed strange or different from their European customs and thus inferior.

Ethnocentrism Nothing more damaging occurred in 1492 than the introduction of European ethnocentrism. It paved the way for genocide or a holocaust. Examples of ethnocentrism: The Spanish bishop; Landa, destroyed Mayan books because he deemed them pagan. 19 th and 20 th century US govt. policy called for the stamping out of native languages and cultures and demanded the Americanization of Indians 20 th century scientists determined that American tribes could not have built the elaborate burial mounds found in Eastern North American woodlands, some went as far to say space aliens built them French Scholar, Jacque Soustelle, pronounced in the 1950 s that the high civilizations of pre-Columbian Mexico and Peru were to advanced to have been Indian Religious clerics of England, France and Spain attempted repeatedly (and somewhat successfully) to have natives recant

Historical Views In the midst of all this misunderstanding, the American continental environment has also been misconstrued, in large part due to this ethnocentrism. History classes and text books still teach that pre-Columbian America was a wilderness, a virgin land virtually uninhabited, unknown and unused. It was waiting for White explorers and settlers with their superior brains, brawn and courage to conquer and develop the New World. A 1987 test book reads “the story of the New World is a story of the creation of a civilization where none existed. ” This leaves out of our history the nearly 75 million people that inhabited the Americas prior to Columbus’ discovery.

The Bering Strait and Migrations People first immigrated to the North American continent approximately 25, 000 years ago. Some anthropologists argue it may well be as far back as 30, 000 years. Movement across the Bering Strait, between Siberia’s northwestern tip and Alaska, is though to have frozen over with the ice age flows. In turn, this made it possible for people, migrating bands of hunters, to enter the North American continent in the eons prior to Columbus arrival. End of the Ice Age also brought an end to the Land Bridge route between the two continents (thus the 2 worlds, both old and new) as this happened it isolated those who followed the wandering herds into the new territory. The isolation in turn began to separate the environmental and biological interaction of the world. Separate disease pools form. Disease Gradients This comes to play significantly when Columbus arrives on shore in Oct of 1492.

Native American Civilizations spread throughout both continents. On the eve of contact, some 2, 000 different cultures existed on the continents. In the Americas it is estimated the ‘pre-holocaust’ population numbered anywhere between 60 and 70 million people. These differing cultures did not have a synthetic term for themselves like Europeans. They referred to themselves based on ethnic identity. People of the mid-Atlantic coast called themselves Lenni Lenape, meaning true men; those of the northern Great plains were Lakota meaning the allies; the hunters of the southwest used the name dine (dee-nay) meaning the people. Europeans came to know these three groups by different names: Delawares from the principle river of the region and Sioux and Apache both meaning enemy in the language of their neighbors.

North American Societal Groups Northeastern hunter/farmers Southeastern farmers Plains bison hunters Southwestern farmers Desert gatherers Plateau fisherman/gatherers Northwest coast fishermen California gatherers Within each of these groups numerous tribal identities existed differences in environmental surroundings, language, subsistence and material culture, social organization, warfare, religion and ceremonial life.

A Clash of Cultures According to the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, Spain and Portugal, the two nations best posed for water exploration at the time, split all rights to the New World between them. Spain wasted no time establishing itself in the New World and within a generation had inserted itself firmly into the civilizations there. This was easily done because Spain had significant technological advancements over the Indian tribes in Mexico, such as iron, sail‐powered ships, cannon, and domesticated horses. These made up for being tremendously outnumbered by Native Americans. The sudden influx of diseases the Spaniards brought with them also contributed to their successes. Cortés’s Conquest Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador, led the first assault on the Aztec Empire, first defeating the enemies of the Aztecs and then persuading them to join the conquistadors.

The Spanish Empire Growth of civilizations in the New World By the sixteenth century, Spain’s settlements in the New World stretched from South America to the southern portion of North America. Implementation of the encomienda system In order to maintain these civilizations, the encomienda system was established. By rewarding faithful officers with land grants and the control of neighboring villages and Indian tribes, Spain hoped to be able to better cultivate their resources while at the same time establishing a support system for their missions. Introduction of slavery By this same time in the West Indies, the Native American population had been virtually wiped out by disease, and it was necessary to import African slaves, who had already been exposed to diseases of the Old World, to take their place. The role of the Catholic church Through the various religious orders of Catholicism, the Spanish Empire hoped to establish a Christian empire in the New World. Different methods existed for converting “heathen” natives to Catholicism, but by the end of the sixteenth century, most believed it was easier to convert them by force than by persuasion.

The Aztecs The Aztec empire was a confederation of city-states renowned for their military prowess. When Cortés invaded, it was one of the most powerful nations in the world. Religion The Aztec religion was based on a spiritual belief in the forces of nature. The Aztecs offered sacrifices weekly to their gods by cutting out the heart of a live victim; as a result, they needed large numbers of prisoners of war to provide the much‐needed organ. The Attack on Tenochtitlán Cortés persuaded or forced many of the Aztecs’ enemies to join with the conquistadors as they marched on the Aztec capital city. Through persuasion, he was able to enter with his forces into Tenochtitlán in a peaceful manner.

The Spanish Southwest The role of the missions Spaniards in the first permanent settlements in the Southwest were more eager to pacify the Native Americans there than to conquer them. They therefore established missions in order to convert them to Catholicism and “civilize” them. Juan de Oñate and New Mexico Juan de Oñate was given a land grant in what is now New Mexico. He brutally put down a rebellion of Pueblo Indians that same year and decreed that all Pueblo males over the age of twenty-five must have one foot severed to remind the Pueblos what would happen if they chose to rebel again. Horses and the Great Plains Not native to the New World, the horse became the Plains Indians’ most useful tool and weapon. They were so valuable that the Plains Indians intensified intertribal warfare as they fought for control of horses.

Challenges to the Spanish Empire French Efforts Verrazano explored the coast in 1832 Cartier made three voyages to establish colonies Dutch Opposition to Spanish Control Rebellion of the Netherlands Dutch “Sea Beggars” British Efforts to Subvert Spanish Control Elizabeth’s “Sea Dogges”: John Hawkins and Francis Drake English Exploration The role of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh The “Lost Colony” of Roanoke