Vicious or Mislabled?
The Spanish conquerors are widely known as the cruel rulers who inflicted harsh punishments upon the Native Americans, but that is not the character of every Spaniard during the time of conquest. Numerous Native Americans gladly received counsel from the Spaniards, legal aid, and spiritual guidance.[1] Although popular opinion views the Spaniards as vicious, they were not the ruthless rulers that they were said to be and our opinion is bias.[2] This historical depiction of the Spanish conquerors is incorrect and one-sided.
Most people do not think about the times and events that lead up to the conquering and do not have knowledge on the counsel that the Native Americans received.[3] The Spanish rulers put a new government into place to help the natives receive legal counsel and protection.[4]The Spaniards wanted to make the Native Americans feel more comfortable with these new changes, so they created numerous laws to protect the rights of the Native Americans and to protect them from outside nations.
The Native Americans didn’t just accept legal help from the Spanish, but they also built relationships with each other which lead to economic growth. [5]During this time of conquest, the Spanish grew financially which caused the Native Americans to increase their economic status too.[6] Through the Native Americans, the Spanish received the necessary natural resources and it came to benefit both groups of people. The Native Americans had hit an all time low in their finances, but the Spanish quickly helped them get back on their feet.
The Native Americans received different types of refuge and counsel from the Spanish and spirituality was one form. A huge part of the Spanish voyage was to share their religious faith with others and the Spanish successfully did that during this time. The majority of Spanish missionaries did not force their faith upon the natives and in return many natives welcomed the new faith.[7] Many Native Americans accepted the Spaniards faith and soon incorporated Christian practices and baptism into their own rituals
The acceptance of new faiths lead to the Native Americans being more open to new ideas, which lead to the learning of a written language. Native Americans, especially the Inca and Atahualpa, became curious and soon learned the importance of a written language.[8] The natives soon began to use this new written language and it opened many opportunities for them. Learning a written language helped them with their future military tactics, political gains and in preserving their history.[9]These future opportunities arose because the Spanish shared their innovations.
Although the Spanish are not highly praised for their conquering, they changed history. Even though the Spanish motivated the natives to learn a written language and gave them numerous forms of counsel, many fail to take these benefits into account. Iris Engstrand, a widely known historian, agrees that a great bias is placed upon the situation and we must separate ourselves from that negative conception. In order to get a clear understanding of the events, we must take all factors into account.[10]
Although, Engstrand has the most plausible argument, some historians disagree. Federico Navvarrete disagrees with Enstrand’s idea. He believes that the Spanish were only harsh rulers that imposed unjust punishments upon the natives and that no benefits came out of the conquering.[11] Alan Knight agrees with Navvarrete and believes that this was a time of great chaos and violence, but he also acknowledges the economic benefits.[12]
I understand that the Spanish were not perfect in their conquering of the natives and that there were some mistreatments, but the conquering did have some benefits. My own answer to the debate of if the Spanish are depicted correctly or incorrectly, is that the Spanish do face a particular prejudice and were not as cruel as some think. The portrayal of the Spanish is not completely correct because we have failed to take all matters into account. At times the Spanish did create punishments that were cruel and unnecessary, but that should not be our only depiction of the Spaniards. The Spanish did have their own shortcomings, but that should not be the only character we see.
My conclusion is that neither the Spanish nor the Native Americans were completely innocent in the events of the conquest. However, we are bias towards the Native Americans so it has not allowed us to fully gain understanding of the view-points of the Spanish conquerors. I have came to the realization that the Spanish conquerors did have their flaws, but the Spaniards are not completely the cruel and vicious explorers that historians have made them out to be. We must take into account the numerous events that led to the conquest and not just the the bad portrayals of the Spaniards in order to get a clear understanding.
[1] Adams, Richard N. “The Conquest Tradition of Mesoamerica.” The Americas 46, no. 2 (1989): 119–36. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.astate.edu?stable/1007079
[2] Engstrand, Iris H. W. “How Cruel Were the Spaniards?” 14, no. 4 (Summer 2000): 4. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25163377
[3] Folsom, Raphael Brewster. The Yaquis and the Empire: Violence, Spanish Imperial Power, and Native Resilience in Colonial Mexico. Yale University Press, 2015
[4]Daniel, Douglas A. “Tactical Factors in the Spanish Conquest of the Aztecs.” Anthropological Quarterly 65, no. 4 (October 1992): 187–94. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3317246.
[5]Adams, Richard N. “The Conquest Tradition of Mesoamerica.” The Americas 46, no. 2 (1989): 119–36. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.astate.edu?stable/1007079
[6] Yupanqui, Titu Cusi. An Incan Account of the Conquest of Peru. Translated by Ralph Bauer. Univeristy Press of Colorado, 2005
[7]Adams, Richard N. “The Conquest Tradition of Mesoamerica.” The Americas 46, no. 2 (1989): 119–36. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.astate.edu?stable/1007079
[8]Yupanqui, Titu Cusi. An Incan Account of the Conquest of Peru. Translated by Ralph Bauer. Univeristy Press of Colorado, 2005.
[9]Yupanqui, Titu Cusi. An Incan Account of the Conquest of Peru. Translated by Ralph Bauer. Univeristy Press of Colorado, 2005.
[10]Engstrand, Iris H. W. “How Cruel Were the Spaniards?” 14, no. 4 (Summer 2000): 4. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25163377.
[11]Navarrete, Federico. “Beheadings and Massacres: Andean and Mesoamerica Representation of the Spanish Conquest.” RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, no 53/54 (2008) 59–78. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.astate.edu/stable/25608809
[12]Knight, Alan. Mexico: From the Begging to the Spanish Conquest. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, 2002.
