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American History to 1700

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Submitted By kingofkings
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The writings of Columbus, Castillo, and de la Casas represented vastly different points of view of the Spanish conquests of the Americas. In his first letter, Christopher Columbus mostly focused on the political victory of the voyage and arriving in the Indies (p. 32), and the splendor of the landscape including palm trees, mountains, and beautiful birds (p. 33). In the subsequent letter to King Ferdinand of Spain, Columbus seems selfish and one-sided (somewhat understandable considering that he was begging Ferdinand for forgiveness of his crimes (p. 35). Bernal Diaz del Castillo's account, however, was not clouded by much bias or opinions at all. Because Castillo was just a simple foot soldier (Castillo p. 42) and was left to follow the commands of Cortes and his other officers, he wrote more of a journal that described in much detail the arrive and battles in Tenochtitlan (Castillo pp. 44-52). In comparison, Bartolome de las Casas did not stray from showing his personal convictions about the overall Spanish conquest and treatment of the Indians. After becoming a priest, he expressed that he believed those who were executing these atrocities out on the Indians for want of riches and gold were not in keeping with Catholic teachings that many Spaniards claimed to abide by (p. 36). Though vastly different, the viewpoints in these writings work to demonstrate the cases that each man is trying to make for the intended reader.

Christopher Columbus shows deep conflict and contradiction in the two letters that are presented in this piece. The first letter Columbus wrote to Luis de Santangel expresses much optimism about the victory of the voyage (p. 32). He also displayed gratefulness to the King and Queen for the opportunity to conduct such an expedition and even declared he named islands after the royals (p. 32). In his letter to Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus seemed to show an exasperated version of himself, enough so that he opens his letter with the line, “I never think without weeping” (p. 33). After having been plotting against by his own men (p. 34), and being unsuccessful in governing, the weary explorer pleads with the King to let him leave the lands in America and perform a pilgrimage to Rome to convey his forgiveness (p. 35). Christopher Columbus once a confident man ready to take up the task and explore the New World, became downtrodden with the inability govern and carry out his personal wishes and those of the country he was serving.

Cortes and Montezuma experienced moments of tension in their interactions with each other. Before they even met, Cortes was sent many gifts of gold and silver by one of Montezuma's men, Quintalbor (Castillo p. 43). Montezuma specifically chose to send Quintalbar because his body and facial features closely resembled those of Cortes (Castillo p. 43). Both of these actions show that Montezuma was all ready becoming fearful that these strange men were going to threaten his land. Unfortunately, his gift-giving was counterproductive because it made Cortes and his men excited that the land was plentiful with gold. This ultimately became the reason that they attacked Tenochtitlan (Castillo pp. 43-44). The first time Cortes and Montezuma met face to face, Montezuma made a grand entrance, most likely to show Cortes how powerful he was. He was sitting atop a richly decorated canopy that was being carried by his men, and when he got down, his men had to put cloaks on the ground so Montezuma's feet wouldn't touch the dirt (Castillo p. 46). Not long after arriving in Tenochtitlan, Cortes was notified that Montezuma's priests had a message from the gods about the Spaniards. The message was that the Mexicans were commanded to go to war with Cortes and his men. Montezuma told them to avoid this, they would have to leave and return to Spain (Castillo p. 48). He hoped that this warning would scare them so Montezuma's land and people would be saved. This obviously shows the great fear that Montezuma had about the strength and determination of Cortes and his men.

The Mayflower Compact, and the motivations behind it, helped to prefigure the United States Constitution. The main reason for the creation of the Compact was because the non-Puritans on the voyage, declared that they would defy the Pilgrims if their settlement was outside of the predetermined land given to them by the Virginia Company (pp. 120-121). While crossing the Atlantic on the Mayflower, the Puritans decided they needed to create a social contract as settlers to avoid such a problem (p 121). The Compact constituted that “just and equal laws” would unify the settlement for the “general good of the Colony” (p. 121). After this document was agreed upon and signed, the settlers also chose a governor, John Carver, to implement the values and ordinances in the Mayflower Compact (p. 121). This set a precedent for the future government of the United States and other countries because the settlers subordinated their rights to follow laws passed by their government to gain protection and ensure survival.

The early days in the Plymouth settlement were not easy for the Puritans. After creating the Mayflower Compact to unify the settlers and deter defiance from the non-Puritans on board, the Pilgrims faced even more difficult times ashore (pp. 120-121). During the first winter, Bradford recorded that half of the settlers perished, many from the lack of proper shelter from the elements and various diseases, such as scurvy, that they contracted aboard the Mayflower (pp. 121-122). The non-Puritans who had come to embrace the Pilgrims in their health, abandoned their former friends selfishly when disease struck the camp (p. 122). These difficulties in the beginning of the colony threatened to destroy the faith of the once spiritually enriched Puritans.

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"American History To 1700." 123HelpMe.com. 30 Nov 2015 .

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