Columbus, Spain and the New World
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When in 1492 Columbus erroneously concluded that he had reached India after landing in the New World, he set in motion a process of exploitation of the indigenous peoples of the so-called New World that persisted throughout the period of European colonization and the establishment of the United States after the Revolutionary War. That is not to say that such exploitation was terminated with the founding of the US; however, the specifically European, as opposed to American, encounter with the indigenous represented the first historical wave of the relationship and is therefore worthy of examination on its own. The Spanish imperial project in the New World must be understood at least in part in the context of Spain's position in European Renaissance history. Over the course of the 16th and 17th centuries, the nation-states of Europe, including but not limited to Spain, exported the European mind-set to the New World, that appears to have determined the shape that the encounters between indigenous and exploring peoples assumed.One way to describe the encounter between the peoples is that it mirrored the quest for advantage and control that was being played out on the Anglo-European scene. National interest and the interests of individuals who envisioned the New World as a paradise of fortune, in the guise of a desire for profitable foreign trade, was one aspect of this. But it is worth noting that 1492 was the year not only that Columbus reached America but also that the Moors
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ive of the exploring Europeans, the invading culture was meant to be experienced by the receiving one as an unmediated whole. Salisbury cites the "ambitious military and missionary efforts" launched in New Spain, which as a practical extended from Florida across the lower South and Texas to New Mexico. The result, based chiefly on what can be interpreted as Spanish intransigence before the "other," seems to have been less a series of cross-culture encounters than a program of culture clash:
The best-documented encounters of Spanish with Pueblos--most notably those of Coronado's expedition (1540-1542)--ended in violence and failure for the Spanish who, despite vows to proceed peacefully, violated Pueblo norms of reciprocity by insisting on excessive tribute or outright submission. In addition, the Spanish had acquired notoriety among the Pueblos as purveyors of epidemic diseases, religious missions, and slaving expeditions inflicted on Indians to the south, in what is now northern Mexico.
The conquest of Mexico by Hernando Cortez is well documented. According to Martin, Cortez made little attempt to treat the Aztecs as trading partners. Rather Cortez adeptly exploited a civil war between the imperialist, highly organized socie
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Some common words found in the essay are:
North America, European Renaissance, Salvador Indians, Peace Westphalia, Oneida Onondaga, Europeans World, Iroquois York, Spanish Pueblos--most, Britain Levy, Indian Europeans, american indian, major american, american indian history, indian history, boston houghton mifflin, boston houghton, indigenous peoples, mifflin 2001, houghton mifflin, major american indian, albert hurtado, indian history 2d, hurtado peter, history 2d ed, peter iverson,
Approximate Word count = 2787
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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