Compare And Contrast Europeans And Native Americans

The European nations all had at least one thing in common when they came to the Americas and that was to increase their wealth. The Europeans thought of themselves as bold, fearless, and heroic explorers that sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to discover a new kind of world. The Native Americans believed the Europeans were ruthless marauders. The truth is that both the Europeans and Native Americans’ viewpoints were right. The Americas were unknown and nonexistent to Europeans until their courageous explorers braved the crossing of the Atlantic to find it. To Native Americans, Europeans were invaders that had no right to cross into their home lands and force rule upon them.
Spain was the first to discover the Americas and within half a
His expedition stretched from Mexico to Kansas and ended close to Albuquerque where he set up his winter command center. Coronado was not welcomed at his new location as they drained the supplies of Pueblo farmers. They confiscated the clothes of the Pueblo people, took their food, and exposed them to other mortifications. David J. Weber writes, “One soldier lured an Indian away from home by asking him to watch his horse, then returned to rape the Indian’s wife.” (p.39) The Spanish treatment of the natives soon began to meet Pueblo opposition. Coronado’s brigade decimated the Pueblo rebellion. Coronado set fire to one village to discourage others from rebelling. David J. Weber writes,
“Determined to make an example of one village in order to discourage still more from rebelling, Garcia Lopez de Cardenas set fire to the pueblo of Arenal. As Indians fled the smoke-filled rooms he captured them and burned them alive at the stake.”
They lived in close range of Native American villages and had to determine how to interact with them. The English tried to enslave and convert Native Americans to Christianity, although they did not enjoy the same success as the Spaniards. There were several differences between the English and Spanish relationships with the Indians. The English eventually gave up trying to enslave the Indians, they also stopped trying to convert them to Christianity, and British did not intermarry to the Indians nearly as much as the Spanish did. The relationship between the two was mostly a bad one. They did manage to establish some form of trade which consisted of furs, firearms, and blankets. Eventually, all the animals that produced furs for trading ran out and the Indians had nothing left to trade. The English tried to buy land from the Indians however; they did not have the same views on land ownership as they English. These different views led to fights and arguments. As the English started to secure more land, they started pushing the Indians further