Columbus and the truth behind the legend
Sidnee Ramos
U.S. History 151
Prof Richard Pate
Module 5
When a group of people are different from us their way of living is wrong. That is what it seems to come down to when most conflicts in history are broken down. Men vs. women. Hippies vs. government officials. Blacks vs. whites. Jews vs., well, everyone. All kidding aside it is very true. When Columbus first arrived in the Americas in 1492 he wrote, speaking of the Native Americans, “They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features….They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane….They would make fine servants….With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” Just because they were kind and offered gifts to the new comers instead of only suspicion, as his culture was use to always doing with strange people, he thought them inferior and easily controlled. Later on he obviously finds out that it is not as simple as he thought. Yes he took control but he also lost a lot of them due to illness, rebellion, and massacres. Native Americans thought of the Europeans culture to be barbaric and distrustful. Some of the tribes didn’t take to the intruders as well as other tribes did. They took some time getting organized due to tribes usually fighting against each other but by the 1600s, according to West Virginia Archive & History, a Confederacy was created. The Iroquois Confederacy. They fought to get their land back. Did they win? Obviously not. But they didn’t go down without a fight. Afro Americans had a big issue as well when they first arrived in the Americas. In 1619 when the first “slaves” arrived, even though they weren’t labeled as slaves at this time, they were automatically considered inferior to the white Europeans simply because they were of a darker skin and a different culture. They thought them
U.S. History 151
Prof Richard Pate
Module 5
When a group of people are different from us their way of living is wrong. That is what it seems to come down to when most conflicts in history are broken down. Men vs. women. Hippies vs. government officials. Blacks vs. whites. Jews vs., well, everyone. All kidding aside it is very true. When Columbus first arrived in the Americas in 1492 he wrote, speaking of the Native Americans, “They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features….They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane….They would make fine servants….With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” Just because they were kind and offered gifts to the new comers instead of only suspicion, as his culture was use to always doing with strange people, he thought them inferior and easily controlled. Later on he obviously finds out that it is not as simple as he thought. Yes he took control but he also lost a lot of them due to illness, rebellion, and massacres. Native Americans thought of the Europeans culture to be barbaric and distrustful. Some of the tribes didn’t take to the intruders as well as other tribes did. They took some time getting organized due to tribes usually fighting against each other but by the 1600s, according to West Virginia Archive & History, a Confederacy was created. The Iroquois Confederacy. They fought to get their land back. Did they win? Obviously not. But they didn’t go down without a fight. Afro Americans had a big issue as well when they first arrived in the Americas. In 1619 when the first “slaves” arrived, even though they weren’t labeled as slaves at this time, they were automatically considered inferior to the white Europeans simply because they were of a darker skin and a different culture. They thought them