Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.
The discovery of America refers to the era of “Great Discoveries”. In the fifteenth century, the first expedition of Columbus reached the lands of a new continent. Europeans began the adaptation of new lands. Zinn and Stannard in their works expose that the new settlement was attended by gross interference into the peaceful life of the indigenous population, provoking war and leading to the indigenes’ total extermination. The goal of this work is to divulge the fatal role of Columbus’ discovery in the Arawaks’ and Aztecs’ history.
When America was discovered, Europe experienced a time of considerable economic changes. The merchants came into conflict with feudal rulers. They searched for new territories to establish authority and use them as sources of raw materials and cheap labor. The period of “Great Discoveries” was caused by the need for new sources of metals, especially gold. When Columbus reached the continent of America, it was already populated by Indian tribes. The establishment of the new arrangement in the lands led to resistance of indigenes. “When he landed the Bahamas Island, Columbus, and his men, greeted by peaceful and generous natives, set out on a ruthless quest for gold that led to enslavement, misery, and death of that population” (Zinn, 29). The territories of Bolivia, Peru, and Mexico were settled by the Arawaks and Aztecs. These peoples were peaceful and well-organized. They had their tribal government, industry, and cultural principles. Europeans interfered in their peaceful life, enslaving strong men and women and moving the others to the so-called reservations. The vacant territories were settled by Europeans. Stannard comments on this fact, “The white settlers were part of the government’s plan to drive the Indians off their land” (Stannard, 122). The reason for the expansionist policy of Spain was rich deposits of gold and silver. When the tribes were plundered, Europeans captured for slave labor to extract precious and nonferrous metals. The first discovering of gold was made by Columbus. It was depicted by Zinn, “Seeing the natives he encountered, the peaceful Arawak Indians, as less than human (though in his diary he described them as gentle and generous), he tortured them to force them to find gold for him” (Zinn, 29). The European economy was greatly increased with the expansion of new lands. But for the native population, it was a disaster, leading their civilizations to disappearance. “By the 1560s and 1570s European militiamen were traveling throughout the southeast, spreading disease and bloody massacre everywhere they went” (Stannard, 102).
The works under study are not only the only sources of information about the Arawaks and Aztecs, but their significance is in their documental description of the negative influence of European expansion. “An Indian war usually was a response to personal insults or individual acts of inter-tribal violence”, states Stannard (Stannard, 110). It is the witness of the cruel and illegal actions against those peoples who had the full authority to occupy their native land and rule their communities in their proper way. No one can judge cultural superiority if its spreading accounts for death and destruction.
Works Cited
Stannard, David. American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Zinn, Howard and Anthony Arnove. Voices of a people’s history of the United States. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2009.
Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.