Category: American Colonies

“I will not pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands.” This must be the words of thousands of Puerto Ricans living on the island today wishing that their small island would once and for all become free from the colonization of the United States. Puerto Rico has been living under U.S. domination for the past 100 years and it’s considered the last nation in Latin America that is still living in colonization. Puerto Ricans want to be free and should be allowed to be free; to have the opportunity to vote for the president who sends its young people to war, to have their own currency, to fly one flag in all their schools, and finally to feel pride in being an independent nation and not labeled with terms like “territory” and “commonwealth”. Bigger and more powerful nations that inhabit smaller nations for various benefits should never deny a nation’s culture and roots, instead in these modern times people should be allowed to govern themselves and be independent nations.

In the midst of the struggle over status (U.S commonwealth or Independency), only one clear realization can come of this, Puerto Rico ought to be independent and refuse commonwealth to the United States of America. One of the many benefits citizens from all democratic countries enjoy is the ability to choose their chief in command. As a commonwealth under the United States, Puerto Rican citizens cannot vote during the presidential campaign. They are allowed to participate in presidential primaries but not the final event. This is somewhat of an insult to the younger generation on the island being sent off to fight wars representing the U.S. having been denied the 2 privileges to choose the person who is sending them. As an independent nation, Puerto Ricans would have the right to participate in elections choosing who their leader would be. The island does have its own elections where they get to choose who will become governor and other various members of the political cabinet but all of these have limited power in deciding the fate of the island. The Governor is allowed to run the island and handle domestic issues but Washington has the final word.

This struggle for power has also affected the economy and the ability to export and carry out trade with other nations; the United States keeps a tight hold on who the island does business with, ultimately creating a dependent economy. Puerto Rico should be allowed to diversify their sources of capital and its export market something that would strengthen its economy and eliminate the economic dependency that has been created throughout the years. Many on the island believe that independence would allow Puerto Rico to open a broader trading market and as stated by Eric Negron, tax adviser to the independence party, “as an independent nation Puerto Rico could attract foreign investment and it would at the same time be better able to direct what sort of industries is brought to the island.” Remaining a commonwealth takes all of these economic privileges away from the people and the government of Puerto Rico who want to see the island’s economy soar to a new level. Nations across the world can be proud of their heritage and culture, which make up their country and it’s the backbone of each individual society. A nation’s language is a stamp of its history; the DNA that makes up its people. Puerto Rico as a commonwealth could be in danger of losing its national language. Spanish has been the island’s national language since the Spanish conquistadors first discovered it in 1492. The United States wants Puerto Rico to make the change from Spanish to English and demands that both Spanish and English be the national languages.

Being a Puerto Rican is not being part of an ethnic group or speaking Spanish is not speaking a dialect; these citizens are people who have their own language and roots and deserve the right to conserve their heritage and most important their culture. One of the most important benefits is the right to American citizenship upon birth. All Puerto Ricans who are born on the island are American citizens and are free to enter the mainland U.S. If Puerto Rico remains a commonwealth this is a benefit that future generations will continue to enjoy. Another benefit the island enjoys is the aid provided by the United States and the tax exemption the island receives; Puerto Rico is exempt from paying federal taxes.

Many supporters of the commonwealth status clearly point out the help the island receives and how life would be if Puerto Rico did not receive the strong financial support from the United States and research provided in the CQ Researcher article, Puerto Rico: The Struggle Over Status points out that “Puerto Rico receives generous tax benefits and more than $6 billion a year from the U.S government” clearly something that the island will not receive if it became independent. All of these benefits the island receives still do not amount to independency and the benefit of governing itself. As an independent nation, Puerto Rico would open its trading market with various countries around the world expanding the economy and not having to depend on the help the United States provides.

No nation should turn its back on its heritage, culture, and language at the expense of tax exemptions and financial aid. Instead, Puerto Rico ought to be independent to steer its own course and have the ability to conduct economic trades with other nations, keep Spanish as the main language and have the final word in government issues that affect its people. The Puerto Rican people need to cut the umbilical cord it has created with the United States and stand by their roots, culture, and independence.

The colonies are tired of being treated like worthless people. The fact that they needed to pay a big amount of taxes is really concerning, making people give away all their money to a country that doesn’t even consider them part of England. England isn’t letting the colonists protect themselves by not letting them use guns. What happens if outsiders come and attack? If they can’t protect themselves, many people will die. Not only that but the fact that England dicing care about that is really selfish. Based on all the things that England did to the colonists, they decided to take action. They create their first Continental Congress, were they send a letter to the king of England. The letter said some changes the colonists wanted, such as lowering taxes, more rights, and a representation in the parliament. This decision really proves that the colonists were trying to look for a peaceful way to find their freedom. It also shows that they were tired of being mistreated.

Balance of Powers

After the Revolution ended, the colonists decided to become a self-government. this meant that the people could have their own farms, businesses and other things. They could also decide the state of their economy. This was a good way for people to learn to do things quickly and correctly. They learned how to manage their money, farm, and other things. This really proves that every person in each state was independent.

Reasonable Laws

In the American Revolution they were ruled by the British people so they don’t have exact “Laws” but they had rules they need to follow. One of the rules they need to follow was paying taxes and they paid a lot of taxes. These was a reason why the American Revolution was caused. They can´t be in the army of England because they saw them as spies or untrustable. They need to follow British rules. They are treated bad so they start fighting for independence. They paid taxes for food but they don’t give them food and they need to bought their food separately. I think that they follow rules that they don´t need to, and the British people was very rude with the American people.

Fair Justice

They don’t have a fair justice, that’s why they want to claim their independence. They treat them bad and they don´t trust in the Americans. Americans felt betrayed because British don’t trust them. They fight for justice and liberty. They cant take food they trade and they need to bought their own food. They treat them differently.

Self-Sustaining

People in the colony had to get their own food and live by their own. The few amount of colonists that lived in cities bought their food in a market. They ate mostly fruits, vegetables, meat and bread. When men left to the war, women and kids worked in the family´s farm and they also help feed the soldiers. They need to be working a lot because they had so much to be done. If you stop working they´ll consider you as a lazy person. In that time children don´t had time to play games. In the American Revolution they had very small houses and people need to sleep together and people with some more money, can build a few more rooms. I really think that it was nice that people need to work hard but they work a lot and they didn’t had time to live their lives.

Taxes

The Boston Tea Party was a political protest that occured during this time. The American colonists were frustrated and angry at the people of England for imposing “taxation without representation”. They want the British to low their taxes but they ignored them. The 13 colonies wants to fight for independence. They feel that this was unfair because they pay for things that the British people don´y give to them and they need to bought their things separately because the British didn’t care about American people. In the other side, British people felt the taxes were fair so they don´t change and lowed the taxes. I feel that the British people were unfair with the American people because they need to paid for all the British want and they don’t earn something and they treated them bad.

Social Classes

In the American Revolution they divided the people in Social Classes. Depending of their importance or their amount of money they divided them. Some Social Classes were like the slaves. They bring Africans to America to work, mainly in agriculture but others work in the house, for example cooking, laundresses, manservants and others. The “Free Blacks” they had some rights but not the same as white people. The farmers, this was the people who work in the farms. And the important people that they had all rights and they have money and power in other people, they are the “Gentry” people. They are like the “highest” of the colonial society.

Economy

The Economy in the American Revolution was normal. In a war named “The Seven Years War” they fight and they lost a lot of money fighting. They spend a lot of money because they believe that one day the American colonies would undertake a revolution in an effort to create an independent nation state. They fight and lost the fight. They lost a lot of money and they get basically broke. They spend so much money that they had a bad economy and they had very hard times caused by the economy.

Low loss of life

The low loss of life during the American Revolution was mainly the Boston Massacre. It was when some soldiers shot civilians. There were only 5 deaths in this event, but people took it as if all of their Therefore, there was also people that died because of disease, natural death, and some other incidents.population was dead. Compared to other revolution in history, the loss of life in America was insignificant.

Numerous records have been recorded of early life in America. We are fortunate to have the option to see these artistic works and comprehend the preliminaries these early Americans experienced making our nation. John Smith, William Bradford, John Winthrop are three critical men who committed their life to archiving the existence they encountered. Anybody looking at their works can thoroughly analyze their encounters, beginning with brief over views on what their identity was and why their experience matter. Since Smith, Bradford, Winthrop had taken thorough records of what occurred during the experience what their life resembled, we are now ready to investigate their work and experience what life had been similar to for them as early Americans.

Other than being a writer John Smith was a captain, soldier and explorer. Smith was brought into the world an English man in 1580. Before working under King James where he helped to establish a new colony in North America (Petersen, R. 2019), Smith spent time as a soldier. Smith played one of the fundamental jobs in the foundation and persistence of Jamestown. Jamestown was the first established colony for England in America. Smith started composing letters and stories. In 1608 he wrote ‘A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia’. Smith came back to England, needing to come back to the Colonies yet not getting the opportunity he wrote many stories about his time in North America, including ‘The General History of Virginia, New England and the Summer Isles’, which turned into the most notable of his pieces of work being printed in 1624. The book details his work as, “The General History is separated into six books, which incorporate a comprehensive record of the Virginia Colony, as well as briefer histories of the discovery and English settlement of New England and the Summer Isles, otherwise called the Bermuda Islands. The principle character in the book is Smith, who alludes to himself in the third person” (Belasco and Johnson, 2014). Smith made himself to be a hero of the book and overstated his accounts in support of him. His book anyway bases a course of events from 1607-1609. The English pioneers and local natives were in a “strained” relationship (Belasco and Johnson, 2014). We see a popular piece of Smiths story springing up where he was spared by Pocahontas the child of Chief Powhatan. Smith utilized his composition to not just dive deep on the historical backdrop of what occasions had occurred yet in addition to likewise cause himself to appear to be a hero. In contrast to Bradford and Winthrop Smith appeared to expand about his courageous actions and not directly about his religion.

As opposed to Smith, William Bradford‘s life begins awful with the passing of his dad and afterward his mom leaving. Bradford turned out to be very well educated and amazingly inspired by the Bible, which would later pay tribute to a life of “Pilgrim” views. In content you get a case of the scriptural impact, “But their pilgrimage was not simply spiri­tual; it also became an arduous physical journey in quest of a place where they could establish a church and worship God according to what Bradford later described as the simplicity of the gospel” (Belasco and Johnson, 2014). Bradford talks pretty much all the path they looked on the Mayflower and their first winter in North America, however he keeps on showing that they would in any case have confidence and trust in the Lord. They kept on trusting God would give them favor. Bradford’s work was not published until over a hundred years after the fact, as it was simply composed as a draft. Both Smith and Winthrop saw their work distributed.

In an altogether different childhood, John Winthrop experienced childhood in an affluent and advantaged family. Out Smith, Bradford, and Winthrop, Winthrop was the just one to go to a University. Winthrop had solid Puritan convictions and turned into a financial specialist to make the Massachusetts Bay Company (Larsen, T., Bebbington, D., and Noll, M. 2004). This company was made to build a province that depended simply on the Puritan conviction framework. He wrote ‘A Modell of Christian Charity’, while traveling to New England; the religious principles and social ideas of the new colony (Belasco and Johnson, 2014). His work gave a portrayal that addressed Puritans as well as all that journeyed to this new nation and the hard ships they would confront leaving their homes. He would put Biblical information all through the body of his work, fundamentally the same as Bradford’s work. Winthrop’s writing broadly expounds on how one ought to follow the Lord in a new world. After his appearance he began to write a journal, which was printed as The History of New England from 1630 to 1649. This piece of literature offers records to ‘civic and religiuos’ (Belasco and Johnson, 2014) which he had extraordinary involvement with all the titles he had held, including governor. Winthrop, Bradford and Smith all held extremely high jobs inside the network they were a piece of.

Every one of the three of these men, Smith, Bradford and Winthrop expounded openly on their involvement with the New World. These men expounded on what occasions occurred all through their experience building their colonies. Bradford and Winthrop both talked openly about their excursion to the new world and the effect the Lord had on their journey. The two men commended God for the battles and the triumphs. Smith’s writing adopted an alternate strategy; however you can discover reference to God, he talked about his heroic encounters and what he had achieved for King James. Without the composition of these three men, Smith, Bradford, Winthrop we would not have the option to encounter the genuine occasions of what occurred in the Colonial days of America.

Colonization and Colonial Life Essay The phenomenon of globalization led to voyages such as that of Christopher Columbus in 1492 which led to a tidal wave of explorers, conquistadors, fortune hunters, missionaries, religious dissenters, and general migrants seeking a better life. The desires of these different groups led to the journey to the New World which is said to have been started by Christopher Columbus, who was sponsored by the Spanish, followed by Portugal, the English, and the French (Corbett, Ch.1). These different group shared similar goals, but their specific agendas differed. Some of their goals include efforts of religious conversion, religious freedom, the pursuit of riches, new homes, and even to escape of persecution. Hardships resulting from the governments within Europe led to the colonization of the New World by different colonies, such as the English colonies and the Spanish colonies, who shared similar goals for what they expected from the New World but had different ways of attaining these goals.

The emergence of the European colonies in the New World led to interaction with Native Americans which was met with friendly and unfriendly relations but ultimately had a negative outcome. Commonly stated motivations for European colonization of the New World are God, glory, and gold. These three motivations can be simply explained as the push for religious conversion or religious intolerance, the want for global superiority, and the search for routes that would bring riches. The Crusades were “a series of military expeditions made by Christian Europeans to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries” (Corbett, Ch.1). The Crusades resulted in Europeans being exposed to goods from the East which led to trade being developed along various routes known as the Silk Road. In the fourteenth century, two strains of the bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, took over Western Europe and killed nearly half of the population. To recover from this devastating plague, Europe was in search of new products and new wealth, and they were anxious to improve trade and communications with the rest of the world.

The lure of profit also pushed explorers to seek new trade routes to the Spice Islands and eliminate Muslim middlemen (Corbett, Ch.1). In search of this route, new wealth, the urge to bring Christianity to new lands, and wanting to be a dominant world power, the Europeans instead stumbled upon the New World. The English and Spanish colonies were similar in their colonial ambitions, notably through the previously mentioned idea of God, glory, and gold. The English and Spanish Colonies wanted to promote religion. The English colonies were mainly Puritans and had restrictive religious practices but there was some tolerance. The Spanish colonies were Catholics who heavily resented other religions, however, both colonies placed an enormous emphasis on religion. The two colonies wanted to increase the power of their leaders in the world. The English and Spanish crowns wanted to explore and build their empire. Both the English colonies and the Spanish colonies wanted to also acquire wealth. The “lure of profit” was a major motivation in voyaging efforts for the two colonies.

These two colonies heard tales of “untold wealth and the glory of adventure and discovery” in the lands that they intended to find which led to them discovering the New World (Corbett, Ch.1). One very important similarity between the English and Spanish colonies is the search for access to Asia. The search to find access to Asia for its resources, including spices and other culturally and economically beneficial products, led to these colonies journeying on a different route to finding the New World. The Spanish and English colonies differed in the ways in which they tried to achieve their goals for their separate colonies. The Spanish colonies were more focused on God and glory than the English colonies. The Spanish colonies wanted to convert the Native Americans that they found in the New World and in each new place that they would travel to, they would try to proselytize that area to Christianity, specifically Catholicism. If the people did not conform, they would either be killed or forced out of that area. The Spanish colonies also strived to assert the power of the Spanish crown and be recognized as a world power. The English colonies were less focused on God and glory but more focused on the aspect of gold. The English colonies promoted being Puritan and they were more tolerant of other religions than the Spanish colonies.

The English colonies were motivated by the Spanish colonies’ efforts to become a world power and they wanted to achieve this same dominance themselves. The English colonies were more focused on their opportunities for economic gain and drive to increase the wealth of the English crown. The arrival of Europeans to the New World meant tremendous change for Native Americans. In general, the biggest changes regarding European interaction with Native American were the introduction of diseases, new trading opportunities, shifts in their Native culture, and destructive slavery (“American Indians at European Contact”). As the English, Spanish, and even French explorers came in contact with the Native American tribes, they were all in search of resources, but their methods of acquiring these resources differed. In the beginning, the English explorers were initially friendly towards the Native Americans because they relied on them for resources to trade and to help them to survive in the New World. However, the English settlers yearned for more which led to conflicts with the Native Americans accompanied by the spread of “diseases such as smallpox, influenza, measles, and even chicken pox which proved deadly to American Indians” (“American Indians at European Contact”).

The Spanish explorers had a condescending view of Native Americans because they saw them as heathens who needed to be converted to Christianity so if they could not subjugate the Native Americans, they would kill them. Also, the Spanish established the encomienda system which was a Spanish labor system used as a method to not only gain resources but to also instill Catholic religious practices in the Native Americans. As it pertains to Native enslavement, “enslaved natives tended to sicken or die from disease or from the overwork and cruel treatment they were subjected to, and so the indigenous peoples proved not to be a dependable source of labor” (Corbett, Ch.1). The French explorers also tried to convert the Native Americans, but they decided to forge alliances rather than forcing them into conversion. Native Americans “were victims of the arrogance of the Europeans, who viewed themselves as uncontested masters of the New World, sent by God to bring Christianity to the “Indians”.

The Great Meadow by Brian Donahue is an in-depth description of the landscape and agriculture of colonial New England. Despite modern arguments, he explains that the environment was not decimated by the harsh farming conditions that destroyed the prospect of growing crops. On the contrary, the book actually defends the settlers’ ability to sustain and upkeep the land, so that produce would thrive each year. It is a better argument that colonial farming in New England was just as damaging to the environment as the Southern colonies, but without a stretched summer season to keep the crops surviving longer. Donahue explains the differentiating challenges northern colonies faced, as well as the similarities the lands had compared to their southern counterparts, which are now known for their reliance on strong agriculture.

The Southern regions of British North America had begun to utilize a Native American system, known as shifting cultivation, to stop precious nutrients in the soil from depleting each harvest. Without an abundance of minerals in the dirt, certain crops cannot grow for very long in the same place. New England settlers did not have knowledge of this system but opted for another method that not only replenished but strengthened the soil: livestock manure. By composting this organic material in with the farmland, minerals that had been extracted by crops were absorbed back into the gardens. Donahue described this method as a way of “rebuilding” the soil. Using manure did not only feed the farmland soil, but by getting rid of it to till, it was cleaning the area and keeping settlements from becoming polluted with excrement and disease. For this reason, settlers mixed their farms around to complement the livestock with the gardens. This method is so successful that many modern farmers still use this technique for reusing unsanitary and old organics to benefit both the environment and their produce.

It was also due to this need for animals that kept New England farmers from using up all of the available lands solely for crops. Donahue describes the system of allowing the livestock to graze the hay fields during the harsh winters so that the grain would grow more abundantly when the growing season came. It also gave the grazing pastures a chance to regrow themselves for the upcoming time. This balance cost farmers the ability to use all of their available lands in order to produce bulk for trade, but it made sure that the land would continue to be fruitful each year. Workers could switch their livestock back and forth, and whatever land was not being harvested that year, got a break from the work of growing crops.

Additionally, the New England climate was cooler than the South, with shorter days of summer. According to Donahue, however, what the region lacked in warm months, it made up for rainfall. Many areas were covered by swampy marshes during the summer, which would be abundant with berries and grains. Waterfowl were drawn to these places, which also benefited hunters aiming for protein. Beavers in the area that created problems for settlers along the river soon thinned out after the purchase of Concord, which included several rivers. Valleys that were used mainly for farming were taken care of by waterways from the dense rainfall, runoff from the surrounding mountains created small streams that could be manipulated for a husband’s needs, and commons were supplied with water that was flooded with minerals needed for successful agriculture.

One of the ways Concord found sustainability was the division of its labor and land. Donahue explains this method of agriculture through the few families that took possession of the fertile ground. These families split Concord into sections, which were then kept within the family name to prevent a Southern problem of overcapacity and competition. Ebenezer Meriam’s Corner was passed down through both men and women of his lineage, and a Yeoman named Samuel Fletcher left his small property to his son. Meanwhile, the wealthier Minot family had the ability to slowly acquire more land over time. Most children who did not inherit their family’s land or could not afford to purchase free lots left Concord, such as three sons from John Jones. By the late 18th Century, most children were made to leave if they wanted to pursue their own land unless their parents passed by the time of their adulthood.

Subjugation is the custom of one individual controlling or owning another. Some history specialists state it started following the improvement of cultivating around ten thousand years back. Individuals constrained detainees of war to work for them. Different slaves were offenders or individuals who couldn’t repay the cash they owed. African slaves worked exceptionally long and hard. They worked every day from the time the sun ascended until it set. A considerable lot of these slaves lived in extraordinary neediness in little houses with no warmth or furniture. Some of the time, five or ten individuals lived together in one room. There were three distinct slave systems in the colonies: rice-based plantations in Georgia and South Carolina, tobacco-based plantations in the Chesapeake, and no plantations in New England and the Middle Colonies.

American slavery was widely diverse. Down south, specifically in the Chesapeake region, Slaves worked in fields gathering tobacco and planting tobacco. In the Chesapeake, it was a slave society. Southern plantation owners were normally harsh on their slaves. Slavery in South Carolina and Georgia usually tended rice plantations and livestock. Northern slavery was based on tiny farms. In the South, slavery was big and the discrimination between blacks and whites increased during the eighteenth century.

Slaves in New England had some privileges in the South that were unknown. House slaves, for the most part, lived in the home of the manor proprietor. They’ve done the house cooking and cleaning. House slaves worked fewer hours than field slaves, yet we’re all the more firmly administered by the proprietor and his family. Laws endorsed in the southern provinces made it illicit for slaves to marry, claim property, or gain their freedom. These laws additionally banished slaves from getting training, or figuring out how to peruse. Be that as it may, a few proprietors allowed their captives to gain their freedom, or gave them cash for good work.

According to Robert Davis, between 1 million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured by Barbary pirates and sold as slaves to North Africa and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 19th centuries. Slavery was far less conservative in the North. Northern ranches had shorter developing seasons, lower harvest yields, and a lot of little farms because of the quality of the land. Long winters implied months when slaves had little work but were a channel on the rancher. Along these lines, Northern slaves were basically in the urban communities working for tradesmen as talented specialists such as Furniture, timber, shipping, or as household help.

Slavery was abolished first in the North as it was relatively uneconomical. In the Caribbean and parts of Central America, slaves were utilized in tremendous numbers for risky employments, for example, developing sugar sticks and mining silver. Between the ailments, heat, hazardous conditions, and serious work required, these slaves had a lot shorter life expectancies than US slaves.

However, if cotton and sugar were able to be grown here, slavery would have lasted much longer. ‘There are no records of how many men, women, and children were enslaved, but it is possible to calculate roughly the number of fresh captives that would have been needed to keep populations steady and replace those slaves who died, escaped, were ransomed, or converted to Islam. On this basis, it is thought that around 8,500 new slaves were needed annually to replenish numbers – about 850,000 captives over the century from 1580 to 1680. By extension, for the 250 years between 1530 and 1780, the figure could easily have been as high as 1,250,000.’ North American slavery, or new world slavery, was unique among the different types of slavery practiced in Europe and the northern coast of Africa. For one thing, you were a slave for life and could not buy your freedom, and your family was born into slavery, something that was unusual for European slavery. Slaves learned English in the Chesapeake, experienced the Great Awakening, and subjected themselves to white culture. Two distinct societies have emerged in South Carolina and Georgia. One group was clearly engaged in African culture, while the other was more closely associated with American culture. Northern Slaves had an African-American culture that was unique because they had more access to mainstream culture. The culture grew less quickly than the other slave colonies, as the slaves up north were so far apart. In just the second half of the 17th century, the transportation of slaves to American colonies accelerated. In 1660, to trade in slaves and African goods. The English ruler Charles II established the Royal African Corporation. Enslaved people endeavored to adjust to their new lives by shaping new networks among themselves, frequently holding fast to customary African traditions and recuperating strategies. The improvement of families and networks was a significant reaction to the injury of being enslaved. Other enslaved individuals managed the injury of their circumstances by effectively opposing their condition—regardless of whether by challenging their proprietors or fleeing.

“People who escaped enslavement formed what was called maroon communities; these communities successfully resisted recapture and formed their own autonomous groups. The most prominent maroon communities controlled an interior area of Jamaica, keeping the British away. ” In the Americas, other than the impressive wealth their free work made for other people, the importation and consequent enslavement of the Africans would be the central point in the resettlement of the landmasses following the deplorable decrease in their indigenous populace. Somewhere in the range of 1492 and 1776, an expected 6.5 million individuals moved to and settled in the Western Half of the globe. More than five out of six were Africans. Albeit deceived and abused, they made another, to a great extent African, Creole society, and their constrained movement brought about the development of the alleged Dark Atlantic. The transoceanic slave exchange established the framework for current free enterprise, creating huge riches for business undertakings in America and Europe. The exchange added to the industrialization of northwestern Europe and made a solitary Atlantic world that included Western Europe, western Africa, the Caribbean islands, and the terrains of North and South America. Then again, the mind-boggling sway of Africa of its inclusion in the production of this advanced world was negative. The mainland encountered the passing of a critical piece of its physically fit populace, which had an impact on the social and political debilitating of its social orders that left them open, in the nineteenth century, to pilgrim mastery and misuse.

After 1700, the importation of guns uplifted the power of a significant number of wars and brought about an incredible increment in the quantities of subjugated people groups. European powers mediated in a portion of the restricted battling and in fighting up and down the Atlantic coast. They tried to acquire hostages legitimately in fights or as political prizes for having supported the triumphant side. Working from their changeless states at Luanda, Benguela, and other beachfront focuses, the Portuguese directed joint military endeavors into the hinterlands with their African partners. Africans additionally moved toward becoming subjugated through non-military methods. Legal and religious authorizations and disciplines evacuated asserted hoodlums, individuals blamed for black magic, and social oddballs through subjugation and expulsion. Insubordinate relatives may be ousted from their homes through oppression. Human pawns, particularly youngsters, held as security for obligation were quite often shielded from oppression by relatives and standard practices. Notwithstanding, obligations and the security for those obligations were once in a while exposed to illicit requests, and pawned people, particularly kids, were in some cases ‘sold’ or generally expelled from the careful gazes of the relatives and networks that had attempted to defend their privileges. Africans were additionally abducted; however, the hijacking was a wrongdoing in many networks and sold into bondage. Hostages were at times recovered, however, this training regularly supported the taking of detainees for money-related prizes. All through Africa, individuals of all convictions attempted to shield their own.

Some offered themselves in return for the arrival of their friends and family. Others attempted to have their family recovered even after they had been delivered away. Opposition appeared as assaults on slave terminals and boats, just as rebellions in the posts, in barracoons, and on slave ships. Be that as it may, at a more significant level, the political fracture – numerous little brought-together states and organizations administered through mystery social orders – made it essentially difficult to create strategies for a government that could adequately oppose the effect of the slave exchange. Indeed, even the biggest states, for example, Asante and Oyo, were little by present-day benchmarks. Individual addition and the interests of the little business elites who ruled exchange courses, ports, and mystery social orders likewise neutralized the liberating of hostages, guilty parties, and uprooted youngsters, who could without much of a stretch end up in the slave exchange.

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13. http://www.inmotionaame.org/print.cfm;jsessionid=f8301974381569675257180?migration=1&bhcp=1
14. https://www.coursehero.com/file/24788149/Chapter-4-questionsdocx/

When the “New World” was discovered, many important parts of people’s lives became greatly different. People became curious and wanted to see what else there was. Countries like England, France, and Spain quickly became involved in the development of colonization. In some ways, each country had similar styles of colonizing. However, in many other ways, each country had very different ways of colonizing. All three countries did this to gain control of the Americas.

The three most important parts of colonizing are political, economic, and social. The British had a very structured system for this. In order for colonies to be established, colonists must receive a royal charter. Those who left included farmers, artisans, tradesmen, indentured servants, specialists, criminals, and immigrants. Their political lives were also very structured. Distance from Britain allowed for a free government. Colonists had created local governments and assemblies. Additionally, they were free to tax themselves. The only condition was that colonists were not allowed to go to war with Britain. Colonists were also economically advanced. A British colony’s economy largely revolved around farming, fishing, and trading. They would trade items such as tobacco, rice timer, and fish. However, tobacco was a large part of their economic success, being the main source of trade in Virginia and North Carolina. In addition to being politically and economically advanced, the British colonists were also socially advanced. For example, they were initially kind to the Native Americans. In fact, they would trade and get help from the Natives. However, their greed eventually got in the way and led to conflict. Furthermore, the population was rapidly growing. The reason for this was because of immigration encouragement. The colonies included large portions of Germany and French. Finally, British colonies were largely non-Catholic. Puritans in Massachusetts had an autocratic religion, which was very restrictive whereas those in Pennsylvania were free to practice whatever they wanted.

The French’s first colonies were initially trading posts. However, others wanted to explore the St. Lawrence Valley, parts of Canada, and the Mississippi River. The French eventually settled in Quebec and Montreal. Colonists included fur traders, merchants, missionaries, and soldiers who received land. Those who were protestant or peasants were not allowed to leave. French colonies were only similar to the British socially. For example, the French people were very kind to the Natives. They had a deep respect for the Natives which allowed for many alliances. Unfortunately, that is where the similarities end. Unlike the British, the French population grew slowly, and most growth was from the arrival of slaves. Continuing on, the French were highly Catholic because Protestants were excluded from the colony. French politics was also very different compared to the British. The British were free to create their own local government whereas French colonies were subject to the kind. The French were not allowed any political rights or representation in government. They also were not allowed to host public meetings without permission. Although the government encouraged farming, the French colonies began fur trading. The fur trade greatly boosts their economy. The Coureurs de Bois (Algonquians and Hurons) would go into the wild and trap animals for their fur. Then, they would trade the fur with the French, making up most of the French economy.

Spanish colony’s colonization was very different than the French and British colonization. The Spanish came to the Americas when granted permission from the crown. The purpose for them was to gain riches and land. Eventually, Spanish colonies would be settled in the south and California. Because Spain was looking to expand and conquer, the first people to come to the Americas were conquistadores, soldiers, and missionaries. Eventually, farmers and traders would migrate. Politically, the French and Spanish were similar. Spanish colonies were under the direct control of the crown and their leaders were governors picked by the king. Additionally, settlers could not create any of their own laws. Socially, Spanish colonies stood alone. Unlike the French and British, the Spanish viewed Natives as savage and civilized. They were very cruel and believed that natives must: be converted to Christianity, killed, or made slaves. Furthermore, Spanish colonies grew very slowly due to a strong focus on conquest. The largest Spanish colonies were in Florida, Texas, California, and Mexico. Spanish colonists were also very Catholic. In fact, Protestants have driven away from the colonies. Finally, the Spanish depended on trade to make up their economy and there was not a lot of farming. All trade was controlled by Spain and all regulations were enforced by the military.

To conclude, the first British, French, and Spanish were all after the same goal but achieved their goals in different ways. In some ways, colonization was similar between all three countries. In other ways, colonization was drastically different.

The eras of colonialism and post-colonialism saw the rapid rise of such kinds of literature whose main focus has been the effects of colonialism on the colonized. Whereas many writings were set in the colonial era with the acknowledged theme of the scars of colonialism, some other writings were set in the post-colonial era with a rebellious tone. A play like Shakespeare’s The Tempest is set in a time when colonialism was not in its zenith; on the other hand, Aime Cesaire’s A Tempest is set in the post-colonial era and interprets colonialism along with Shakespeare’s play from a completely different point of view. As a reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Cesaire based the main plot on the former one but Cesaire’s Caliban is much bolder one who is determined to be violent to achieve his freedom from the rule of Prospero. It is in the relationship between Prospero and Caliban and basically through Caliban’s speech that Cesaire expresses his notion of Negritude, the establishment of the fundamental rights of the Blacks. Cesaire’s Caliban is more rebellious in his words than his action; nonetheless, by the end of the play, he is able to sing his freedom song. My writing will reflect on both colonialism and post-colonialism and would be a critique of Caliban from a postcolonial point of view as represented in Cesaire’s A Tempest. Keywords: Colonialism, Negritude, post-colonialism, freedom.

Introduction

Reinterpretations and re-imagination of literary works is as old a tradition as literature itself and the basic aim of this reinterpretation is to observe the particular work from a different contemporary and societal point of view. Aime Cesaire based his A Tempest on William Shakespeare’s The Tempest which was written as long back as 1611. Commenting on the re-writing of Shakespeare’s play, Cesaire told in an interview that: “A great work of art such as Shakespeare’s play belongs to all humanity–and, as such, it can undergo as many reinterpretations as do the myths of classical antiquity.”

As every piece of literature is a product of its own time, Shakespeare’s The Tempest was written merely for the entertainment of the contemporary audience; but Cesaire’s is a rebellious one; a rebellion against European colonization. The fact is that Cesaire himself was one of the founders of the Negritude Movement, a movement which was primarily commenced to assert the native black tradition.

Adapting Shakespeare’s play in a post-colonial context, he puts forward all his detest against the colonizer. He brings out his post-colonial attitude in his play mainly in the relationship between Prospero and Caliban and gives Caliban the supreme power of articulation to protect himself from the wrath of Prospero’s curse. Cesaire’s Caliban is much more powerful, much more furious than that Shakespeare’s, and in him, Cesaire provides the Post-colonial writing back attitude.

Cesaire and Negritude Movement:

Though by birth he was French, Cesaire always used to consider himself a member of the Igbo family of Nigeria and was well aware of the psychological and mental effects of colonialism. By the time he was writing A Tempest, many of the famous books on post-colonialism had already been written including Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Frantz Fanon’s two of the most extraordinary works regarding post-colonialism Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth. No doubt, he was highly influenced by those books and was determined to make a mark of his own in this field, the result being the Negritude movement. In his own book on Colonialism titled Discourse on Colonialism, he highly criticizes the inhuman aspects of colonialism and wrote colonization leads to:

“No human contact, but relations of domination and submission which turn the man into a classroom monitor, an army sergeant, a prison guard, a slave driver, and the indigenous man into an instrument of production.”

In his Return to My Native Land also, where he first introduced the term ‘Negritude’, he wrote highly about the brutality of colonialism. As an adaptation of The Tempest, Cesaire’s plot differs very little from that of Shakespeare, nonetheless, Cesaire made two significant changes as far as characters are concerned. He gives Caliban a specific identity of a black slave and Ariel is identified as a mulatto slave instead of the mere airy spirit of the earlier play. Besides, he adds Eshu, a black devil-god of the Yoruba people of Nigeria, and thus adds a native spirit to his characters.

Caliban’s Voice in the Play:

For colonizers, language and its tactical use had always been a masterstroke in their relationship with the natives. Emphasizing the role of language in colonization, Bill Ashcroft in his Caliban’s Voice: The Transformation of English in Post-Colonial Literatures wrote:

“…colonization occurs most subtly and comprehensively in language because language itself is so manifestly connected to power, it seemed natural to see that language somehow embodied the thought process and values of the imperial culture.” Caliban’s first utterance in his interaction with Prospero in the play is ‘Uhuru’, a Swahili word that means liberty. It was Prospero who taught Caliban the language and which Caliban uses in both plays only to curse Prospero. Prospero’s imposition of a language on Caliban was that of a master’s language; not that a vernacular one which Caliban first uses in the form of ‘Uhuru.’ This is an attempt from Caliban’s side to assert the value and importance of his native language obviously, much to the astonishment of Prospero as he bursts out: “Mumbling your native language again! I’ve already told you, I don’t like it”. It is not that Caliban did not talk back to Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, but Cesaire gives Caliban a more dominant, more fearless voice in order to gain his liberty. When Prospero describes Caliban as an ‘ugly ape’, Caliban’s reply is a befitting one: “…I don’t think you’re so handsome yourself…you look just like some old vulture.”

From the beginning of the colonization, the Whites had been under the belief that the native Blacks were illiterate, uncivilized, and undeveloped and that they must be taught by the colonizer. They acted in such a way that as if their teaching would only benefit the natives, would only develop the natives as a civilized ones. However, the reality is quite different and a contrastive one: whatever they taught, whatever they did was for their own benefit only. Thus, when Prospero is repeatedly complaining to Caliban about how he ‘educated, trained’ him, Caliban points out the truth brutally: “You didn’t teach me a thing! Except to jabber in your own language so that I could understand your orders.”

Colonization is not about possessing a land only; it is about possessing one’s mind also. A figure like Prospero is gentle as long as his purpose is not fulfilled; once it is done, the beastly side would come out. In the beginning, Prospero’s gentle address to Caliban like ‘dear Caliban’ soon turns out to be a detesting one (‘Caliban the animal, Caliban the slave!’) once he learned everything about the land from Caliban. So Caliban bursts out: “Once you’ve squeezed the juice from the orange, you toss the rind away!”. When Prospero accused Caliban of trying to rape his daughter Miranda, Caliban in turn puts the blame on Prospero by saying that: “…you’re the one that put those dirty thoughts in my head.” Whereas, in Shakespeare’s play, Caliban admitted his attempt of raping Miranda and felt guilty, Cesaire’s Caliban, as a post-colonial figure, accusing the master and setting the example of how to begin a revolution against them.

Violence and physical torture had always been associated with colonialism. Writing on the prospect of this violence, Edward Said in his famous book Orientalism wrote:

“Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy…and sadder still, there always is a chorus of willing intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires, as if one should not trust the evidence of one’s eyes watching the destruction and the misery and death brought by the latest mission civilization.”

Caliban is forced by Prospero to live in a filthy cave called ‘ghetto’ and throughout the play, he threatens Caliban of whipping him. Cesaire’s Prospero differs as much from his Caliban from the earlier play Shakespeare; his Prospero is no longer a gentle one, rather he represents the worst side of colonialism.

Colonizer does take everything from the natives, but none is as humiliating as their own identity. Imposing their own cultures and religion is not enough for them; they become content only when they impose a new name upon the natives. Even in Robinson Crusoe – the earliest of literature dealing with colonial issues – we find that how Crusoe imposes upon a prisoner the name of Friday. For Caliban, liberty means rejection of everything that is associated with the colonizer, including his name (Caliban) which he believes was given by Prospero in hatred. Instead, Caliban would prefer if Prospero calls him ‘X’, which means a person without a name or as he says: “a man whose name has been stolen.” It is interesting that Caliban would like to have a historical name and no other name is as historical as ‘X’, which here represents the historical figure of Malcolm X who was associated with the movements like Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism and always fought to assert the rights of the Blacks.

While observing Caliban from a post-colonial point of view, it is important to keep the focus on the mulatto slave Ariel also; after all as Ariel says they are brothers, ‘brothers in suffering and slavery. Though both Caliban and Ariel’s aim is to get freedom from the clutch of Prospero, their methods of getting it are quite contrastive. While Ariel is submissive, Caliban is a rebellious one. While talking with Caliban, Ariel mentions Prospero’s promise of setting Ariel free but Caliban knows well that for a colonizer like Prospero, a promise is only in words, not in action. Thus he says: “He’ll promise you a thousand times and take it back a thousand times.” Ariel’s nonviolent approach to getting freedom would certainly remind one about Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘satyagraha’ movement in India’s freedom movement against the British; as Caliban rightly points out: “That’s it, someone strikes you on the right cheek and you offer the left.”

Sometimes Ariel appears as a naive character as compared to Caliban, having very little practical knowledge. He is neither in favor of violence nor in submission, rather he prefers a mediated one. He wants to awaken conscience in Prospero and make him realize his injustice towards them, but Caliban knows that Prosper is an ‘old scoundrel’ having no conscience. In Ariel’s utopian world, Prospero, Caliban, and Ariel would build a ‘wonderful world’ and form a brotherhood among themselves; but it is only possible in his imagination as Prospero is not a ‘collaborating type.’

Ariel continuously reminds Caliban that Prospero is ‘invincible’ and stronger than both of them but Caliban’s mental spirit does not allow consider himself weak in front of Prospero: “Weakness always has a thousand means and cowardice is all that keeps us from listing them.” For Caliban, freedom is now or never; his victory lies not in his physical power but in his fiery spirit and fearless attitude. He would prefer death instead of facing humiliation from Prospero, as he says: “Better death than humiliation and injustice.” Caliban’s such kind of indomitable attitude at once reminds the readers of Satan from Milton’s Paradise Lost.

In both Shakespeare’s and Cesaire’s plays, Caliban tries to fight against Prospero in association with Stephano and Trinculo and ironically on both occasions, he fails. The mere fact of his defeat is that his mental spirit does not match with his partners; both Stephano and Trinculo are nothing but a clown who neither have physical spirit nor mental. Caliban does realize it but perhaps it is too late; the only thing he can do is excuse himself: “History won’t blame me for not having been able to win my freedom all by myself.” It is interesting to notice that when finally Caliban faces Prospero alone and the latter repeatedly urges him to strike, instead of striking Caliban can only say: “Defend yourself! I’m not a murderer.” Cesaire’s message to all his fellow sufferers is clear here: it requires the efforts of a team, a community, a unity to defeat the colonizer; not any single human being.

One would be simply amazed at the way Caliban maintains his spirit and goal of achieving freedom throughout the play; this actually shows how much important freedom is for Caliban, for a colonized. Even when Prospero is in a ‘forgiving mood’, Caliban still shows his wrath towards the former and insists that he would throw out Prospero from the island if he gets freedom. His daring speech to the

“white magic”, to Caliban like, “I’d spit you out, all your works and pomps” may seem astonishing to a reader but not to Prospero; he is quite accustomed to it. It is noticeable that in the ending part of the play, a gentle Prospero is found, even though he forms an attachment with Caliban. Living with Caliban for ten years is enough for Prospero to make him fond of Caliban as he says:

“However, in spite of everything I’m fond of you, Caliban. Come, let’s make peace. We’ve lived together for ten years and worked side by side! Ten years count for something, after all! We’ve ended up becoming compatriots!”.

Any colonial rule – no matter how much power it may be – will face its end and that is the exact message Cesaire wishes to convey at the ending part of the play. Now Caliban is more ambitious, more ferocious than he was earlier in spite of knowing that Prospero is stronger than him: “You’re still stronger than I am/ But I don’t give a damn for your power.”

Colonizers ruled as much on the lands of the natives as much on their minds; controlling the psychology of the natives was their main weapon. Their constant representations of natives as uncivilized, illiterate, and undeveloped had always made the natives form a negative image of themselves. As Caliban points out to Prospero:

“And you lied to me so much, about the world, about myself, that you ended up imposing on me an image of myself: underdeveloped, in your words, competent that’s how you made me see myself!”.

The best part of Caliban is that he knows very well that this representation is only an image, rather a false one. He has come to a point of realization that his ‘bare fist’ is enough to destroy the world, Prospero. His complaint to Prospero for not leaving the island is a dubious one: colonizer will not leave their colony themselves; it requires a rebellious figure like Caliban to drive them away.

Conclusion

At the very ending part of the play when everyone has left the island, Prospero indulges in self-musing as if summing up his ten years’ journey with Caliban. He is now determined to revenge Caliban for showing his wrath to Prospero throughout the play, though Prospero always ‘tried to save’ the former. Thus Prospero utters: “…I will answer your violence with violence!” (Page 67). But everyone is a victim of time so is here Prospero; in the stage direction, Cesaire describes Prospero as an ‘aged and weary’ figure as if the playwright is in a hurry to end the colonial rule and his play. Everything is changing on the island now including the climate; it is now much colder than it was earlier and is difficult to survive for an aged figure like Prospero in this climate. But he is still determined to ‘protect civilization’ and speaks out about the importance of Caliban on the island: “Well, Caliban, old fellow, it’s just us two now, here on the island…only you and me. You and me. You–me…me –you!”. Homi Bhabha’s concept of difference in forming a colonial identity as proposed in his The Location of Culture (1994) is applicable here. As a colonizer Prospero cannot form his identity alone, he requires a colonized like Caliban to maintain his identity. It is quite interesting to note that Cesaire does not provide any clear description of Caliban’s freedom except in his song like “FREEDOM HI – DAY, FREEDOM HI – DAY!”. It is only an indication of his freedom, after all, Cesaire knew quite well that getting freedom was not an easy process.

The Rise of the American Nation

The historical record of the American nation before the colonization era is very sparse. The onset of colonization period beginning in the 16th century marked the beginning of a long historical journey to establish the American nation. The most significant events shaping the nation’s course occurred after the 16th century, prompted by colonization efforts. The kingdom of England began establishing colonies in America as early as the 16th century, with the first permanent British colony being established in 1607. The century also witnessed expansive exploration from the Spanish who were among the first settlers of the current United States region. Over the next century, America witnessed evolutional political, social, military, and economic events that shaped the nation’s destiny.

Before contact with foreign explorers, America was occupied by different diverse societies, mostly practicing farming and nomadism. Numerous factors, including a spike in the English population, social instability, and poverty, contributed to Britain’s quest for colonies. In 1607 the English established the first colony and permanent settlement in the United States at Jamestown. Over the next decade, the colony collapsed into chaos characterized by starvation and the collapse of the main economic stronghold- the Virginia Company. The establishment of tobacco saved the colony from destruction and marked the beginning of a commercial establishment that contributed to tremendous development. Tobacco farming led to the rise of the plantation economy and plantation economy, making Virginia an attractive investment and settlement destination.

The American social structure also experienced a great deal of social revolution during the early colonial era. Numerous religious reforms occurred in the middle colonies in New York and Tidewater colonies, including Georgia and Carolinas. These events were characterized by a highly stratified social structure and radical social class segregation, such as in the newly established Plymouth colony. Religious milestones include the Puritan experiment, which sought to reform the Roman Catholic Church of England. The 1630s experienced a wave of internal violence following strained alliances with the natives. The Pequot War of 1637 led to reprisals by white settlers leading to more social disintegration. The 18th century witnessed the growth of British America to the world’s most prosperous and populous colony. Tobacco had become a lucrative crop with the planters controlling the economy and influencing significant aspects of American society.

In 1676, however, a drop in tobacco prices resulting from rising taxes led to political and military upheaval in Virginia, leading to the famous Bacon’s Rebellion. While the uprising did not last for long, it played an essential role in the events that followed. The rebels’ sabotaging of the colonial capital shook the colonial planters’ confidence and strengthened the local elite’s power. Colonial slavery was a significant phenomenon in the 17th century, with colonial North America being a society with slaves. This meant that society could still thrive without slaves. However, over the next century, the institution of slavery became so prominent that the South became a slave society. The great awakening, one of the most remarkable religious revolutions, occurred in the 17th century. The religious revival greatly impacted the British colonies resulting in permanent alterations in Protestantism and spiritual devotion.

Growing tensions between British American colonies and the colonial government led to the outbreak of the revolutionary war, popularly known as the American Revolution in 1775. Ideologically, the quest for liberty and power for the Americans was the primary driving force behind the revolution. The previous events of the seven years’ War played an essential role in fuelling the revolution. The ‘stamp act’ of 1765 established direct taxation legislation on colonists serving as a major blow to their economic status. In 1768, Britain sent four thousand troops to Boston, further heightening the tension. While skirmishes within the British escalated, American rebels waged a full war for their freedom. Over the following decade, numerous military and political upheavals resulted in major legislative changes and brought America closer to independence.

In July 1776, the thirteen colonies claimed independence from England leading to the formation of the United States. Three years later, the United States elected its first President George Washington. Americans celebrated the establishment of a republican nation as a form of government and as a way of life, culture, and a commitment to liberty. In the next century, the most remarkable events involved the development of the constitution, ratification, and the struggle to maintain internal stability. The drafting of the constitution and the journey to its ratification was a major milestone in establishing stability in the emerging nation. This was followed by the formation of political parties making the country a multiparty state. Internationally, America remained neutrally allied in its foreign relations.

In sum, numerous political, social, and economic events contributed to the establishment of the American nation. From foreign influences resulting from the colonial era to internal revolutionary movements, these events led to the development of Americanism. External forces fostered unity among the American people, created a sense of identity, and instilled an ideology of self-governance. On the other hand, internal events triggered the quest for liberation the need for freedom, and self-rule. Foreign contact led to the dismantling of pre-established American societies and the restructuring of social institutions. Religiously, foreign invasion brought about variant religious beliefs, hugely influential to the natives. While such reforms resulted in unified societies, erupting disputes led to the social disintegration of American society. The establishment of republican America enhanced the American sense of identity, making it a way of life, culture, and a commitment to liberty. The variant events from the colonial era through to the independence era were nonetheless crucial in building and shaping the nation’s destiny.

Since Christopher Columbus discovered the United States, it is always viewed as a “land of opportunity” with a considerable amount of possibilities for immigrants to settle and fulfill their dreams. The book, American Colonies: The Settling of North America, by Alan Taylor, presents a remarkable perspective on the colonization of North America. The book mentions how the European colonists and local individuals; Natives met each other and communicated at a pace and power. It also discusses the emergence of the New World, which was being worked by the Natives and how the Spanish and other European colonizers treated the Indians, and how millions were dead due to lack of resources and infections. The assertion Taylor gave from the primary sources was, for the most part, affirmation against the cases he made regarding the wretchedness, the Natives went facing. The greed of expanding the lands and dominating the world with their power made the Europeans inhuman. The author incorporates primary and secondary sources and provides support for the readers to understand how inhumane Europeans were when trying to settle in America and how it affected the religious practices of the Natives.

Primarily, Taylor began when the Europeans settled into the New World: Spain. Examining over the brief period when the colonizers stepped on the land and the Spanish’s behavior towards the Natives. Indians of different clans were mistreated by the English, like the Spanish, which obliged themselves to ensure the Natives. Between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the “New World” underwent extreme changes. The destruction of North America and the Caribbean and the impact of Europeans’ advance through the land. European areas could exchange goods from the New World at a higher cost, growing pay, which along these lines empowered them to make and affirm more land for their different countries. The events at the start of colonization are essential for understanding the history of the United States. It has shaped the future of the country that is introduced to us today. Despite the oppression done by the Europeans on the Natives, it did fit fiddle the inevitable fate of this nation. Europeans highly influence Americans. Almost all Americans practice Christianity, and the swearing of the President into office is similar to that of Europeans. All in all, the colonization of Europeans and have helped in shaping present America.

The Spanish settlement in the New World was in 1492 when Columbus found the Caribbean. By the 1650s, the Spanish Empire procured and expanded their command through tricky procedures and driving their standards and ethics over the Natives. With the use of arquebuses’ sixteenth-century guns, horses and warfare dogs, and deadly diseases, Spaniards were victorious in instilling fear in the minds of Indians. Spaniards commanded to take over and colonize parts of North and South America, and the Caribbean. They wanted to show power over the Natives, which illustrated “uniquely cruel and far more brutal and destructive than other Europeans in their treatment of Indians” (Taylor 71). Taylor refers to many primary sources to present Spanish cruelty. One particular primary source indicated interpreted why Natives were ill-treated by the Spanish who felt obligated to do so. Taylor mentioned, “To provide new slaves, Spanish military entrepreneurs raided the mainland of Central America, grabbing Indians for profitable sale to the miners and planters of the islands” (Taylor 72). When the Spanish army diminished due to the diseases, the colonizers needed someone to work for them. The need for slaves was one of the primary reasons the Spanish behaved in executing Natives. The Natives passed away rapidly because of hunger, tiredness, and infections. The Spanish army sought this opportunity and started to raid towns and kidnap Indians to work the farms, mines, and estates. The Spaniards were successful in frightening the Natives, and “The safest course was to submit to their rule and their god in the desperate hope of some relief” (Taylor 77). To save their lives, Indians didn’t have any other choice but to give up and work for the Spanish army, which leads them to their downfall. The Spanish had control over the Natives with just a few weapons that they could topple long lengthy stands and areas. However, when the Spanish army used it, they either slaughtered or tormented the locals.

Like the Spanish, the English were also to blame for killing Natives. The English promoters wanted to venture to the New World, to expand the English colonies and enrich themselves. They colonized across the Atlantic and named it Virginia. “By applying the fair and loving meanes suiting to our English Natures” (Taylor 142), English was successful in wooing Indians. About 100 colonists’ men were sent to settle in Roanoke. They behaved like a conquistador and demanded food from the Algonquian Indians who themselves didn’t have enough to sustain their living. It resulted in the English taking away the Indians’ crops, and the Indians learned to distrust the colonists. “Spanish and English mariners sometimes kidnapped or killed natives” (Taylor 148). English looked down on Indians and their religious practices, and by subordinating them, they freed most of their lands for their settlement. If any Indian refused to practice Christianity, they were regarded as “wild and dangerous beasts” (Taylor 149). Upon the settlement of Jamestown, about half of the colonists died due to hunger. When Indians refused to provide food to the colonists, Captain John Smith attacked Indians for the survival of his fellows. He attacked the neighboring town and burned their houses and brutally killed women and children. It gave rise to violence between the English and Natives.

Distressed by hunger, the English terrified Algonquians by executing them. Later, when Powhattan died, to prosper and get rid of the substandard living, the colonists started tobacco plantations. Tobacco grown in Virginia was taxed and exported to English. “As tobacco cultivation expanded and the population grew, the planters needed more land, which they obtained at the Indians’ expense” (Taylor 155). Knowing the side effects of the use of tobacco and enraged by the cattle ruining their cornfields, Indians attacked the colonists and burned the tobacco plantations. The colonial leaders were waiting to take revenge for this behavior by the Indians. The governor invited Indians in an attempt at genocide. The tobacco boom drew colonists to settle in Virginia, which outnumbered the Algonquians who died due to the brutality of the English, hunger, and diseases.

The development of America was a direct result of the moves European colonizers made against the Natives. Natives were difficult to persuade the Europeans to colonize and settle in America. It is evident with the use of primary sources that Taylor references, yet the sources could not provide enough support. To do so, Taylor depends on secondary sources to reinforce his arguments. A secondary source Taylor cites is The Spanish Conquest by J.H. Elliot and The Only Land They Knew: The Tragic Story of the American Indians in the Old South by J. Leitch Wright Jr., to explain more about the misfortune went through by the Natives. In their first plight against Indians, the Spanish had dominated the Natives by bribing them with weapons. Columbus considered the Taino inhabitants as Indians and believed that they were weak and had no strength to fight against Spaniards, who possessed weapons. He “unilaterally declared the natives subject to the Spanish crown” (Taylor 55). Columbus seized the land of Hispaniola and left behind his crew members to run the colony. When he returned from his exploration, he learned that Taino Indians killed his fellow members. In vengeance, Columbus killed and captivated Indians to sell them in Spain. Taylor concurred Spanish were cutthroat in their takeover to develop into the best dominant area in the world. Their narrow-mindedness made them behave and conduct cruel acts against innocent natives. Elliot’s reasoning agrees with Taylor’s claims that the Spanish would not tolerate any hinder that comes along the way of achieving their goals. Wright’s clarifications also concurred with Taylor’s cases, as he portrays that the Spanish accomplishment and colonizing brought death to many innocent lives.

Furthermore, Taylor clarifies that similar to the Spanish, the English also behaved harshly with Natives when they thrived on settling in America. The Algonquians Indians were fond of English and their technology. English was successful in gaining trust until Lane killed the local chieftain Wingina and his deputy chiefs for refusing to supply food for the colonists. “The English considered the Indians lazy and benighted” (Taylor 148). English considered Native Indians inferior to them and subordinated them. To provide enough evidence on this situation, Taylor mentions another secondary source, The Rise and Fall of the Powhatan Empire by James Axtell, which explains the fall of the Powhatan Empire. Before the arrival of English colonists, it was a unified colony of thirty tribes ruled by one chief Powhattan. To obtain the lands, the English massacred whole towns to intimidate the chief to surrender. Instead of captivating Powhattan, Captain John Smith surrendered. “Powhatan seized the opportunity ritually to adopt Smith as a subordinate chief. Staged as a mock execution interrupted by Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan, the ritual was supposed to render Smith’s people tributary” (Taylor 152). In revenge for his planned execution, John brutally killed the Algonquians and their tribe leaders. As discussed by both Taylor and Axtell, the outcome was the Indians submitting themselves to English for the sake of their lives. The empire was brought to an end by the English colonists as they considered themselves superior and egocentric as they were successful in subordinating and converting the Natives.

In conclusion, the relationship between European and the Natives had a significant effect during the colonization of the New World. By proving a lot of insights, Taylor made a strong basis for many incidents on how the Natives were treated. The use of primary and secondary sources helped Taylor provide enough evidence and understanding of the events to future readers. When informing the readers about colonization, Taylor mainly focused on the groups that were cruel to the Natives, withdrawing his arguments for the groups that supported Indians. The interpretation of the events by Taylor could help students of history today to comprehend what they can do to forestall something as grievous as that ever happening again. Europeans believed that they know how to use their lands until they encountered Indians. To build up an economy, Europeans slaughtered and seized lands from the Indians. The history would have been entirely different if both the Natives and Europeans had worked together and respected each other rather than condemning them. All the events have negative and positive effects. The greed for expanding the lands created tension between the two clans: Indians and Europeans. If the colonists did not settle and colonized America, it would not have developed. Even with the criticism of culture, deaths, and wars, America has now become a “Land of opportunity” for many immigrants.