Culture Collision: The Spanish and Native Americans APUSH – SPICONARDI
Noble Savages
Noble Savage – oxymoronic term used to described the European belief that Native Americans were
Untouched by the immorality and vices of civilization
Natural life is glorified
Innocent of Europe’s worst characteristics
Noble Savages
Europeans simultaneously lauded the simplicity of the indigenous way of life, but pitied the Native Americans for their “backwardness”
Native Americans are savage in regards to technology, but beautiful and wise when it comes to nature
“I am as free as Nature first made man,Ere the base laws of servitude began, When wild in woods the noble savage ran”
~The Conquest of Granada by John Dryden
Myth of the Noble Savage
Native Americans experienced War
Complex social and political structures
Hereditary succession
Widespread trade networks
Ter Ellingson, an anthropologist debunks the myth Claims Europeans
only saw savages
European Hegemony
Europeans felt compelled to “civilize” the Native Americans for the following reasons
Native Americans were not Christian
Animistic religions needed to be eliminated
Native Americans lacked writing
Europeans believed the gender roles of many Native Americans unfathomable (product of matrilineal societies)
Native Americans were more open about their sexuality
The Spanish & the Black Legend
Encomienda System Spanish colonists could demand tribute and labor from Native American Indians, if they instructed the natives in the Spanish language and Christianity
The Spanish & the Black Legend
Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda Bartolomé de las Casas
Charles I
The Spanish & the Black Legend
The Black Legend – a style of historical writing or propaganda that demonizes the Spanish Empire Term coined in 1914 by a
Spanish historian to describe the anti-Spanish writings and illustrations
The English propagated the legend to justify their own colonization of the New World Portrayed themselves as
altruistic , while Spanish were depicted as cruel and greedy
The Spanish & the Black Legend
The Spanish & the Black Legend
End of the Encomienda System
1537 Pope Paul III outlaws the enslavement of Native American Indians
1542 New Laws declare that Indians no longer be enslaved
1550 Spain abolishes encomienda system and establishes repartimiento system
Repartimiento System While natives were still required to provide labor, they were paid wages and could not be sold
Social Hierarchy
Intermarriage
Spain mandated that wives of colonists to join them in America
Female population remained low despite the mandate
Intermixing began and approved by Spanish government
Seen as way to bring Christianity to the natives
The offspring of a Spaniard
and Indian is a mestizo
A Spaniard and a
mestiza produce a
castizo
The child of an Indian
and a mestiza is a
coyote
And the child of an Indian man and African woman is a
chino
Short Answer Assessment
For this question, address all three parts
A. Briefly explain the system depicted in the illustration
B. Briefly explain how the scene impacted the Atlantic World
C. Cite one specific event and briefly explain the development of the labor system mentioned in part A