Now the title I’ve selected is pretty broad, as it covers the dealings between Native Americans and Europeans on two major continents over the course of about three of the most important centuries in human history. The subject is also controversial, owing to the European domination and abuse of Native Americans as we see it today. The Europeans, the Spanish and the English in particular, have been seen as especially hard on the Native Americans in terms of their treatment of them during peace and war. I don’t believe, however; that this is necessarily true. The fact that the Native Americans were severely mistreated is certainly true by today’s standards. The question is why the Europeans pursued the path they did in dealing with the Native Americans.
The first thing I need to do is establish a few definitions. By Europeans, I am referencing primarily those who were active in colonizing the New World between 1492 and 1776, which is generally called the Colonial Period (at least from an Anglo-American point of view). These Europeans include the English, the Spanish, the French, and the Portuguese primarily. The Dutch made their appearance much later, but weren’t as significant in their impact as the former examples. By Native Americans, I am referring to all natives of both North and South America. While encompassing a broad and very diverse group of individual tribes and nations, I try to make applicable generalizations.
One thing that needs to be clarified is that Europeans didn’t treat the Native Americans with any special disfavor or hatred. Eventually this may have been the case, especially in the newly independent and rapidly expanding United States in the 19th Century. The Europeans treated the Native Americans in the same way that they treated other Europeans. Europe was just emerging from the most violent period in its history, and this history reflected on their outlook on warfare and colonization.
The Europeans were constantly at war with each other. The concept of European war was much different than that of the Native Americans. Whereas the Native Americans might develop long-standing feuds with rival tribes that would occasionally break out into small skirmishes, the Europeans struggles were enormous undertakings. The European states poured money and manpower into their wars that, in some cases, left tens of thousands of people dead. The reason for such high numbers is because of the nature of European warfare. The Europeans in general before the era of standing professional armies levied troops and called on feudal serfs to fight for them. The armies during this time did not have the sophisticated logistical system that standing professional armies developed, so it could not adequately supply its soldiers with food. The soldiers obtained food on the march through enemy territory, depriving the local peasants of most or all of their crops and animals. Massive numbers of peasants died from starvation and disease resulting from the lack of nutrition. Many more than actually died in battles, which themselves must have been horrific and bloody affairs.
The Mediterranean Europeans had been fighting a near constant war with the Ottoman Turks and their vassals in North Africa since at least the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The Ottomans themselves raided the coasts along the areas of Greece that they had not yet captured, the coast of Italy, and the various Christian-held islands in the Mediterranean. Their vassals in North Africa, known by the Europeans collectively as the Barbary Pirates, raided from the coast of Portugal to the western side of Italy and all areas and islands in between. The raiders would land, ransack entire villages for their wealth and food, and then make off with most of the villagers to sell as slaves. There were actually more Europeans taken as slaves during the 15th and first half of the 16th centuries than there were Africans taken to the New World. One of the reasons for the rapid expansion of the African slave trade may have been because they were easier to capture than the Muslim raiders from North Africa since other African tribes did most of the work for them. The struggle against the Ottomans was the most expensive endeavor the Europeans had endured to that date. The Europeans, especially the Spanish who had fronted most of the bill, needed the additional sources of revenue that could be found in the New World to pay for their wars against the Turks.
The Europeans treated the Native Americans the same way that they treated other Europeans. It seems reasonable to think that the Europeans were deft political negotiators due to the fractured nature of the continent of the time. The Europeans had to constantly wheel and deal to avoid being destroyed by the violent wars of the time and to create mutually agreeable accords by which to maintain peace. There was also a significant amount of political backstabbing and economic competition, where courtiers attempted to gain the monarch’s favor and merchants tried to secure the New World goods for their own profit. The same principles were applied to the Native Americans. It was beneficial to the Europeans to establish good relations and alliances with the Native Americans when they first began colonization efforts. The Native Americans, totally ignorant of the immense population of Europe, assumed that the Europeans were similar to themselves in that regard. Since they could only see a couple hundred at a time, then they must not be that much of a threat.
The Native Americans were unprepared for the European style of warfare. The European style of warfare involved total war on the enemy. Total war is a term that refers to breaking the ability of the enemy to continue to fight. Europeans would do this by attacking not only the armies of their enemy, but their civilians and access to vital resources as well. The Europeans translated their style of warfare to war in the New World against technologically inferior opponents. The phrase “guns, germs, and steel” is commonly used to refer to the European advantages over the Native Americans. Guns of course, were not as quick to fire or as accurate as the bows that the Native Americans used. Many Native Americans didn’t see why the Europeans would use such an “inferior” weapon. The Europeans, however, had a reason to adopt the firearm over the bow: steel. Steel was revolutionary when it became efficient to manufacture with the advent of the blast furnace. One thing that steel was used for was plate armor. Plate armor was impervious to arrows fired from bows. By the 16th century, steel plate was even “bulletproof.” The bullet proof armor was extremely expensive, so only the most affluent could afford it. Most could not afford such high-quality armor, and were stuck with armor that was easily penetrated by shot. The steel used to make swords, tools, breastplates, and other essential items were of enormous advantage to the Europeans in their efforts to colonize and expand; an advantage the Native Americans did not have. The Europeans suffered a variety of diseases and plagues for centuries. The Europeans also used germ warfare on each other, firing rotten and plague-ridden corpses over the walls into enemy settlements during sieges and the like. The Native Americans did not have the same immunity, and so they died off in large numbers.
The Europeans utilized their experience with fighting other Europeans to fight the Native Americans. There was no special prejudice that caused them to gleefully wipe out civilizations, only the desire to survive. The colonists who settled the New World were Europeans who wanted to escape the feudal systems and poverty of Europe to make a future for themselves and their families. They didn’t go to the New World specifically to kill natives and destroy the land. The survival of your family is a powerful motivator, especially in a time when national identities were only beginning to form. The colonists also felt that they had a duty to their king and their religion to civilize and convert the New World. The only thing that most Europeans settlers disliked about many of the natives was that they weren’t Christian. The Europeans had not developed the sense of racial superiority that they expressed in the 19th century. Europeans didn’t even see themselves as a common group, as they do today. It was much more divided along ethnic and societal lines than anything else. A Spaniard could have been a Basque, a Navarran, a Castilian, and Aragonian, or any other group within the diverse region of Spain. Natives were seen as another ethnic group that had not accepted the true faith of Christianity.
With respect for space, I will post more on this later. I welcome any responses or challenges that may be presented, and will do my best to answer them.
fiercemudcrab
thedeebo