Columbus in History - Research Paper Example

Task Question one Please explain the nature of "discovery" as a result of Columbus's contact with the Arawak? Be sure to include how the differences between social organization, culture, technology, and ideology played into this initial encounter. The first contact that Columbus had with the Arawak’s was when he first landed at their beach on that Friday morning1. He with his men observed that the ‘natives’, as he had yet to establish their cultural affiliation were, were Godless and very friendly people2. From Columbus’ perspective, he was more intent on discovering new territories and gold for his king. He constantly talks of how he sights ‘new lands’ and keeps his thoughts on exploring these lands for purposes of conquering them for his kings occupation and his interest in these people is geared towards actualising this mission. He states that When we stepped ashore we saw fine green trees, streams everywhere and different kinds of fruit. I called to the two captains to jump ashore with the rest, who included Rodrigo de Escobedo, secretary of the fleet, and Rodrigo Sanchez de Segovia, asking them to bear solemn witness that in the presence of them all I was taking possession of this island for their Lord and Lady the King and Queen, and I made the necessary declarations which are set down at greater length in the written testimonies. 3 He observed that they were poor people in all respects based on their appearance and wore no form of clothing4. Columbus being a Christian was quick to observe that these people could be easily converted to Christianity as they seemed bright and intelligent5. He formed a bias against them based on the misconception that they thought he and his men were from ‘heaven’ and due to their obvious rudimentary social organisation and technological endowment; he thought he was better than them. He alludes to this by recording in his log that they would make good servants. 2 Explain why contact with Columbus is often cited as the beginning of history in the "New World" despite evidence of contact with other peoples and cultures in periods that predated Columbus. Columbus’ contact with the new world is often described as the beginning of the history of the new world because he was the first European documented explorer to set foot on the new world. His was a sanctioned exploration and he managed to keep records of the entire expedition through his log. Ideally, he is not the first ‘outsider’ to interact with the new world because recent anthropological and archaeological discoveries have unearthed the fact that there were human interactions with the new world from outsiders earlier than Columbus’ expedition. Traces of the great Vikings have been in areas of the new world that indicate they might have come here earlier than Columbus did. The only difference with Columbus is that he provided a detailed log and took back samples from the new world that spurred the interests of other explorers and this might even be said sparked off the scramble for the new world in a way. 3 Please explain how the histories and lives of very different indigenous communities are often subsumed by their identities as "Indians?" Please include a discussion of what is not included and if the differences between indigenous peoples are overshadowed by the historic "Indian" identity. When Columbus set out to discover a better route to the East Indies, he completely missed the mark and landed on another part of the world that was new to him. However he believed that he probably had landed in another part of the East Indies and he thus named all these people he found there as Indians. Due to the nature of his expedition he could not spend enough time with these indigenous people to distinguish who was who and what was the relation between these people and most importantly whether there were any significant differences between these people to warrant their classification as different peoples. It is only much later that missionaries and dedicated anthropologists got down to distinguish and draw out the differences between these ‘Indians’ that would eventually have them classified as different peoples with different cultures. The enjoinment of these indigenous people under one cluster created a situation where their histories and lives were drawn alongside same parallels because nobody cared to distinguish between the different societies that existed within this cluster. This cluster failed to include the cultural difference, the social difference, the religious differences and most importantly the economic differences that created conflict between these indigenous people and the European settlers. A good example would be the social difference that existed between the Indians with regard to the use of land. Some Indians practised agriculture awhile others did not. To some land was sacred and the idea of tilling the land to produce food was an abomination to its sacred nature. Therefore to these Indians, they could not understand the European idea of land ownership where individuals could own land for themselves. Therefore the classification of all these indigenous people into one cluster eroded these differences and lead to the European settler dealing with all these indigenous people as one entity with the same social structures and this lead to so much conflict. This blanket identity overshadowed their individual identities because it did not clearly define the boundaries between each individual group. This led to some stereotypes that have up to now stuck with the ‘Indian’ label. 4 Why is Columbus still celebrated in America? What are the contradictions inherent in events like Columbus Day (i.e. the fact that he was Italian and working under the auspices of Spain and America possibly getting its name from another explorer etc.) Discuss. Columbus is still celebrated in America because he was the first European settler to explore the new world and document his travels and bring back evidence from his voyage of the existence of this new world. He introduced the new world to Europe and this generated much interest in the new world. It’s however prudent to differentiate between some often used terminologies like discovery. Technically it would be impossible to assert that Columbus discovered the Americas because there were millions of human beings already there who had being living there for hundreds of years if not thousands. Then what Columbus did was merely bring the new world into the attention of the already civilised and advanced Europe. He however was not the first one to do so as there were other explorers who had done so before him such as John Cabot6. According to Duggard, what makes Columbus exceptional is the fact that he stayed7. Columbus created a Spanish settlement in the island of Hispaniola of which he was appointed governor over. This is perhaps why Columbus is regarded highly as he was the first coloniser of the new world and it may perhaps explain why the Americas appreciate him as their discoverer. He brought Europe to America. Question two 1. What is a better title "Hopewell Cultures" or "Culture?" Please explain how the archaeological record and analysis of remains substantiates your answer. ‘Hopewell culture’ is a term used to describe aspects of Native American cultures that existed in America in pre-European times. These specific cultures belonged to the different groups of Native American societies that inhabited the regions in south-eastern United States all the way into the south-eastern shores of the lake Ontario in Canada and also to some parts of the Gulf of Mexico. These cultures were connected by economic bonds that were created through the growth of trade between these societies that occupied these regions. It is important to note that the culture was practised by a large group of people who occupied a large geographical area and they did so in forms of villages and that is why it is often thought safe to describe them as a system of societies bound together by their interactions. Therefore any reference to this system ought to reflect the inclusive nature of the existence of these societies. It would be improper to think of them as one homogenous group because there were some distinct variations in their cultural practices that might create some small distinctions in their cultural practices. Therefore it would be better to describe these people as belonging to the ‘Hopewell culture” rather than ‘Hopewell Cultures’ due to the strong similarities that existed between these different societies. 2. What are the perceptions regarding the complexity of culture associated with the "Hopewell Indians" and "Mississippian" mound builders? Please give more than one interpretation offered by archaeologists. For a long time, the Native American populations have been discredited as not being the ones capable of building the huge earth mounds found in America. The Native American population were thought to be too simple to have undertaken such huge projects. This position was supported by a lot of people who cited reasons such as the nomadic nature of the Native American as a reason for their view. It was argued that the Native Americans were nomadic in nature and such projects needed a lot of time that these Native Americans could not have possibly devoted. Archaeologists gave several explanations for the existence of these mounds. One such explanation gave the view that these mounds were constructed by a race of people who had preceded the Native American populations. This race of humans had disappeared during the course of the years. Another theory held that these mounds were constructed by Vikings who had settled in America long ago. They had eventually disappeared. Another theory held that these mounds were constructed by as population that had been part of the ten lost tribes of Israel. These people were thought to have crossed onto the American mainland at around 3000-590 BCE. These people were thought to have possessed the necessary technological knowhow to construct such huge works. It is believed that they went extinct through warfare and other natural causes. Black civilizations 3. What changes had taken place in relationships between the Wampanoag and Europeans in the short time between the Massasoit and Metacomet's rule? Please be specific and include changes in land use, political relationships, technology, and attitudes of later European arrivals. In the short time between the rules of Massasoit and Metacomet, there were a lot of changes to the Wampanoag nation. This resulted from the radical shift in policy between these two rulers. While Massasoit favoured a more tempered approach to dealing with the settlers, his son was of an opposite demeanour. Massasoit favoured integration for his people and went as far as naming his sons with European names. Metacomet however detested the discriminatory nature with which the Europeans dealt with them. He disliked the way they were made second class citizens and the way the Europeans took away their lands and sold them slavery. He therefore went to war with the settlers in a war known as the ‘King Philips War’. After the war, there were adverse effects to the remnants of the Wampanoag nation. The able males were taken and sold off as slaves to the Indies and other agricultural areas. The ones who remained were put into reservations and the lands that they fought to protect were taken from them. There area of enjoying free land use came to an end as they forced into reservations where they could not enjoy the se of their land as they had previously done. Their era of political self-rule came to an end as they did not enjoy the same freedoms as before. Before the war, they had a more established political system as evidenced by the liberties taken by their last king Metacomet. However this changed as they were placed into reservations and they were given a semi-autonomous government and this was later taken away. Technology wise, they were left to use the technologies they were handed down by the settlers. This is because after the war they did not have enough economic muscle to be able to acquire the new and more advanced technologies. This coupled with the fact that the white settlers did not want any competition from the Native Americans only worsened their access to the latest technologies. The later Europeans who arrived later found the Wampanoag in the reserves and often exaggerated tales of their savagery. The prayer towns that had been established to accommodate these ‘savages’ were areas out of bounds to the settlers by choice and this painted a grim picture of the situation. The new arrivals fund these discriminatory attitudes in place and picked up from where they left and went on without missing a beat. 4. What is the history of Thanksgiving? Explain how this differs from current narratives and interpretations of it. It is widely believed that the first thanksgiving holiday was celebrated at the Plymouth colony in 1621. This was a celebration to celebrate a good harvest and it is also believed that the settlers and the native Indian population joined together to celebrate this feast. However, there are divergent views on the origin of this holiday. Gioia published a book about the origin of the feast and stated that she believed the first thanksgiving feast was held by the Spanish at the newly established city of St Augustine at the coast of Florida on the 8th of September 1565. She backed her claim by the evidence of oral tradition and also historical records to indicate that there was such a feast at that time. Other versions of the origins of thanksgiving contend that the original feast was conducted at Virginia and not at Plymouth colony in Massachusetts. This argument is backed by the fact that 1676, a town in Massachusetts called Charlestown enacted that the 29th of June be the official Thanksgiving Day for the town. This is also considered as an origin of the thanksgiving celebration. QUESTION THREE 1. How have Native Americans aided the United States in various conflicts and wars with European superpowers? Please give at least two examples. The Native Americans have been actively engaged in wars for the United States since the days of the civil war. During the American civil war, the Indians were recruited into both sides of the conflict as auxiliary troops. They fought for their sides with determination and this earned them recognition. The US army recognised that they were good scout and they formed a unit for them as scouts for the army. It is believed that the Native Americans were part of Gen. John J. Pershing's famous expedition to Mexico in 1916 in pursuit of Pancho Villa. During World War I, the Native Americans once again came to the battlefront in defence of their country. Rough estimates place the numbers of Native American troops at 10,000 to 15,000 who were actively engaged in the military. The most prominent ones were the ones who were in the 142nd Infantry of the 36th Texas-Oklahoma National Guard Division. These troops saw action at the battlefronts of France. 2. How did Native Americans change the nature of warfare for Europeans and how have these contributions lasted into the present day? The Native Americans changed the nature of warfare for the Europeans because they gave the Europeans support during their various conflicts such as the revolutionary war, the civil war etc. Even during the world wars they provided troops that were actively engaged in the conflicts and this helped the Europeans to achieve dominance in whatever conflicts they were engaged with. 3. In the early colonization of the US, how did allegiances in trade and warfare between Europeans and Natives impact relationships between the tribes? Give at least 3 examples. Alliances between the Europeans and the natives had a wider effect on the tribes and their neighbours. This is because of the nature of the interactions that the different tribes had with the Europeans. Some of them had to war with these Europeans and some of them and some of them had been negatively impacted by the European settlements. This then motivated them to view as traitors any tribes that collaborated with the Europeans. An example would be during the king Phillips war where the Narragansett Indians refused to cooperate with the Wampanoag because they thought they were benefitting more from the Europeans settlers and that by going to war they would the favour they had. Further, it was acceptable customs by the Native Americans that by the giving of gifts, there was created an alliance. This was the practice back then. However the Europeans did not understand this and they took the gifts from the Indians and went their way. And in the vent of conflict the Europeans supported the side that brought them the most benefit and this was usually between two tribes who thought they had alliances with the Europeans. 4. Name three impacts of new economies introduced to Native peoples by Europeans. Be specific and include examples. The Native American population were impacted in several ways by the introduction of new economic practices by the migrant European settlers. Among the impacts of the new economies was the introduction of wage labour. The natives had for long lived as communities and they had never experienced the need to have paid labour as a factor of production in their own subsistence economies. This was a new concept t them and it had several impacts on them. It introduced the concept of migration to go earn a living elsewhere and also introduced the negative aspects of brutal slavery. This marked a shift in the way these people thought and practiced their economic practices. Another impact was on the concept of Land ownership. The Native American population had a longstanding tradition and customs that revolved around the concept of communal land ownership and this was not in tandem with the European economic system which revolved around private ownership of factors of production. This is the greatest contributing factor to the decline of the indigenous economic systems. The Native American populations did have individualism as a concept in their production processes and they often did thing as a community. The introduction of the European economies also brought about the advent of the money economy for the Native American populations. The natives did not practice the use of money as a key method of transactions. They practised batter trade and they exchanged goods for others at their markets. The Europeans however had an established practice of using money and this brought a marked change in the way the natives conducted their business. The natives had to change their traditional systems to accommodate this new concept. QUESTION THREE 1. Please name and discuss two policies that were designed to "assimilate" Native peoples into mainstream American society. The American government has over the years developed policies aimed at integrating the large Indian population into the mainstream society. These policies include an example of the Education policy and the Land policy The education policy was crafted as a way of creating a new breed of young Indians who would be living a life free of their native cultures and embrace European cultures that the settlers had imported into the country. It was aimed at the young children of the natives and included government funding to missionaries to open schools on Indian reservations and also government run boarding schools.8 In these schools the children were taught how to read and write in English and they were taught European customs and practices that they were expected to live by. The children were forcibly acquired from their parents and they lived in these boarding schools until such a time that they could be able to lead a European life. However these schools were mostly underfunded and the children went through horrors just to survive. This policy has failed to live up to its promise of a more civilised Indian population and is largely seen as a failure. The land policy was used by the government as a device of choking the Indian population and freeing up the lands they occupied for the white settlers. This policy culminated in the enactment of legislation to create processes for the eventual reduction of the land under the ownership, destroy the concept of communal ownership of land that was inherent in the Indian cultural systems. This policy worked by removing the Indians into reservations where they had their own facilities and this was seen as a way of handling the Indian problem. This policy resulted in the displacement of large Indian population and rendering them homeless. The lands that were taken away from them were converted into farms and towns they never got to benefit from them. 2. Please discuss the differences between Henry L. Dawes's and John Collier's approaches to governance and policy design for Native people. The major difference between the two approaches adopted by these two persons is all about the issue of Indian Land. Henry L. Dawe’s is well remembered for the Dawes Act9 which provided a procedure for the pushing through of the state land policy for the Indians. This act provided a way for the state to take away the lands held onto by the Indian populations. The act empowered the state to survey the lands occupied by the Indians as communal property and subdivide the land for individual ownership by the individual Indian families. Through this act, the state was able to acquire huge tracts of land form the native Indian populations and rendering them homeless while also destroying their way of life as hunters. He was of the opinion that the best way to deal with Indians was to have them assimilated into the mainstream society and have them living as the mainstream society did. John Collier on the other hand was an Indian rights activist. He felt that the assimilation policies pushed through by the federal government were unfair to the Indians and they were of greater harm than good to them. He felt that the official government position that there should be one mainstream society was wrong and that the Indians should be left to live their independent lives and continue practising their cultures and traditions. He therefore lobbied against the Dawe’s Act and the federal government Indian policies and was a staunch believer in the rights of Indians to live their lives without outside interference. 3. Discuss some differences in the treatment of Native peoples before and after the Removal Act after the US had been established (i.e. post-Revolutionary War). Be sure to describe changes in power, political recognition, and ideas regarding the rights of Natives. There were a lot of differences after the passage of the Indian Removal Act 1830. The native people lost a lot of power in terms of their ability to negotiate for their rights as this act empowered the government to remove them from their lands in exchange for compensation and land in other places. The situation was however not as easy as that as the natives mostly from the five civilised tribes were forcibly evicted from their lands as standard government procedure. Due to the fact that they were now displaced persons who could be moved from their lands at any time, they lost considerable power as the lands they were sent to were often not as fertile as the ones they had left behind. This considerably weakened the Native American populations because they were now affected by famines, diseases and other problems that they were previously not facing. They lost a lot of their political recognition due to the fact that they were weakened by these evictions. They lost a lot of their economic abilities and this resulted in them becoming poor and hence denied them an opportunity to actively engage in the mainstream political activities as they had lost a crucial bargaining chip which was the prime land they had been evicted from. The rights of the Indians become theoretical rights because even in the reservation that they were settled in, they were squatters. In the Supreme Court decision of Johnson v. M'Intosh10 the court held that the Indians could occupy lands within the United States but could not hold titles to these lands. 4. Given what we know about the nature of the Lewis and Clark expedition, what can we infer about their characterization of some Native peoples who were hostile to the idea of American rule as "savages?" Please be specific and include a discussion of the presumptions Lewis and Clark were operating under. The expedition was all for the purpose of seeking a way of expanding the United State territory all the way to the Pacific Ocean. After the Louisiana Purchase, the emerged a need to get the other lands all the way to the Pacific Ocean under United States control before the Europeans could lay a claim to it. The best way to achieve this was thought to be through the establishment of a claim on the land that the US had discovered it first. Lewis and Clark had therefore a mission to go and plant items and come back with records of specimens both of animals and plants that existed in the new lands. They had also a mission to go and declare American sovereignty over all the tribes of the Native Americans residing along the river Missouri and this would help the US achieve its goal. They therefore labelled anybody or any group of persons who rejected or in any way obstructed their achievements of these goals as savages. This was very unfair and unjust because they had gone there to conduct their mission regardless of any opposition by the indigenous tribes. The label of savages was meant to depict the natives as uncivilised people who were to be subdued. This shows a presumption that they operating under that these natives had no rights whatsoever to choose whether or not they wanted to remain independent or to choose which side to pledge their alliance to. References Cummins John (Ed), The voyage of Christopher Columbus: Columbus own journal of discovery New York: St. Martin's Press (1992) Dugard, Martin. The Last Voyage of Columbus, New York: Little, Brown and Company (2005) Johnson v. M’Intosh 21 U.S. 543, 5 L. Ed. 681, 1823 U.S. 8 Wheat. 543 J. Noriega, "American Indian Education in the United States: Indoctrination for Subordination to Colonialism," in Annette Jaimes (ed). State of Native America, Boston, South End Press. (1992) General Allotment Act 1015, 1018, 25 U.S.C. § 405 Read More