British-Indian & Spanish-Indian Relations

The sources consulted for this study, including Wright, note that the pre-contact context for the imminent encounters between the Indians and the British and Spanish was such that tremendous misconceptions were inevitable on the part of both the "aborigines" and the Europeans. The Europeans were expecting to find savages of the most primitive and dangerous sort, and these preconceptions colored their encounters with the Indians when they finally met them.

On the other hand, the Indians to some degree expected nothing less than gods if and when they encountered beings coming to their land on ships. In fact, Wright writes

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ted. Writing of Spanish encounters with Indians, for example, Wright says that the diseases of Europeans slaughtered many Indians, and were one major reason why the Indians voluntarily "built and lived in missions of their own volition" (Wright, 1981, p. 48). The surviving Indians saw that the Spanish did not die from the pandemics, and so concluded that perhaps the "European god was more powerful" than their own (Wright, 1981, p. 48). On the other hand, "While countless Indians willingly adopted mission life (under the Spanish), others rejected it" (Wright, 1981, p. 50). Even in the case of the allegedly "meek" missionaries, however, Wright notes that force was used where necessary to cause the Indians to submit. Writing of the English-Indian encounters in Virginia in the early 17th Century, Fausz says that the Powhatans both yielded to and resisted the encounters. The Indians "almost immediately accepted European technology and made fundamental changes in their tactics in order to strengthen themselves in competition and warfare with their tribal neighbors" (Fausz, 1979, p. 33). In other words, the acceptance of the Europeans led to increased inter-Indian violence, and eventually to the slaughter of the Indians in the
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Some common words found in the essay are:
North America, Spanish English, Angeles Spanish, Indians Spanish, British Spanish, Spanish British, Fausz Powhatans, Europeans Europeans, Indians Merrell, Writing Spanish, wright 1981, encounters indians, white european, north america, spanish english, spanish british, british spanish, indians europeans, wright 1981 48, 1981 48, own indians, 18th 19th centuries,
Approximate Word count = 1617
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)