Why Did The Spanish Encounter The Native Americans

The Spanish Encounter the Native Americans
During the 15th and 16th century, many of the nations in Europe were in competition to find new land and resources. This drive for new wealth lead many of the nations in exploration to what they called “the new world”. Leading this charge was the nation of Spain. During Spain’s exploration of what is now known to be North and South America, the Spanish came across a plethora of indigenous people to these new lands. As documented in the writing of Christopher Columbus and Hernando Cortes, the peoples of the new land were greatly different in almost every way. These different groups of natives had cultures that were as worlds apart from each other as they were with the Spanish. As this paper will
tell more in-depth later, the differences in sophistication, technologically, and religion are many.
The natives Columbus encountered on the island of the Caribbean were of the likes he has rarely encountered before. As stated in many entries of his diary, like the ones on Sat. 12 and 13 of October, “The natives had broader foreheads, eyes bigger then seen before and eyes big and brown like the color of the inhabitants of the Canaries.” Also the natives had Fine shapes and faces with hair as coarse as horse hair. As Columbus traveled these new islands, he observed them to not be very sophisticated but be very simple and pleasant in nature. Columbus came about this assumption by two main facts, their dress and interactions. The natives were naked with little to no clothing when the two cultures interacted with each other. Also, when bartering with the Spaniards, the natives had no knowledge of the value the items they traded had. The natives just traded their values for anything the Spaniards gave them. This was due mostly to lack of experience but also pure fascination with these new white men they thought as gods. As far as for their technological skills, there was little to no evidence of technological prowess. The only skills they shown were as basic skilled craftsmen and as growers of crop. This was evident by that the Natives only had used simple canoes made out of the trunk of a tree. The only evidence of any skill was in the different sizing of the canoes (45 men to 1 man capacity) and the phrasing of Columbus description of the canoes as “wrought in a wonderful manner considering the country.”(Columbus, Thursday 11th,). Also, they had no weapons or idea of what one was. This became when the Spaniards gave the natives their swords. The natives looked confused and one cut himself in ignorance. The only object that look as a weapon was their javelins. These javelins were just wooden sticks and probably mostly used for fishing. As for the crops, the only skilled they showed was in their knowledge to be able to graph different fruits on one tree. However, Columbus states that “their Graph work look as if they had no care for them and wasn’t a work of art like back in Spain.” small exception was when they traveled to the island of Samoet, The natives there seem a little more adept in the knowledge in trading as stated in the diary entry of Columbus Tuesday 16, of October, “..These people are similar to those of the islands just mentioned, and have the same language and customs; with the exception that they appear somewhat more civilized, showing themselves more subtle in their dealings with us, bartering.” But even still, the natives level of knowledge and Signs of no religion made him feel as if the natives would be good servants for them and easily become Christians.(Columbus).
The natives Cortes Encountered were totally different in almost every single way.
The Natives Cortes encountered were called the Aztecs and lived in what is now known as Mexico. The Aztecs were a war and highly religious based civilization that acquired many territories though war and used p.o.w. for sacrifices. The Aztecs level of sophistication and technological skill is what Cortes describes as so lofty a goal to explain that it would take “many accomplished writers, and much time for the completion of the task.”(Thatcher). The Aztecs had cities as large as Seville, Spain and building to match and even surpass Spain’s greatest structures. The Aztecs had large bridges made of wood that were removable in case of war. The Aztecs put a lot of effort in their spiritual beliefs. As Cortes states, “The Aztecs Great temple was grandeur of architectural details no human tongue is able to describe; and there is room enough for a town of five hundred families. Three halls are in this grand temple, which contain the principal idols; these are of wonderful extent and height, and admirable workmanship.” As for the residents housing, all were constructed of mostly stone. The wealthier of these homes had pipe lines that brought water to the residents. Also in the cities, they had many market places for selling/ buying goods. Their market places were organized in sections almost to our modern Wal-Mart’s. Cortes describes sections for all sorts of linens of many different colors, meats
of many types of game, jewelry and even barbershops. The items they sold were in portions of standardize measurements of lengths. The Natives from both areas were completely different from each other but they treated the Spanish in a similar fashion.
When they first met each other, both natives groups showed great respect to the Spanish, as if gods. In the Columbus article, “There came many of both sexes, every one bringing something, giving thanks to God, prostrating themselves on the earth, and lifting up their hands to heaven.” In the LeonPortilla article, “Motecuhzoma had given necklaces to each one.” The only difference was that the natives Columbus saw came straight over in canoes to greet them and the Aztecs in their war like fashion waited for 10 days as the LeonPortilla article states. Also a little animosity brewed briefly after Cortes moved the idols from the great temple. However, after the those minor bumps, the natives were glad to greet new allies. The Spanish also treated the natives as friends but with different intentions. They just treated them as allies only to recon the land and carry out their true motivations. These motivations were to find gold, land, servants, and convert all pagans to Christianity for their own ambition and for the crown of
Spain.

Works Cited

LeonPortilla, Miguel., ed., The Brohen Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico (Boston: Beacon Press, 1962), pp. 6466, 129131.
Thatcher, Oliver J., ed., The Library of Original Sources (Milwaukee: University Research Extension Co., 1907), Vol. V: 9th to 16th Centuries, pp. 317-326
Columbus, Christopher. "Medieval Sourcebook: Christopher Columbus: Extracts from Journal." Internet History Sourcebooks Project. Paul Halsall, Mar. 1996. Web. 14 Jan. 2013. .