Jade Lawton
Mrs Judy Liebenberg
The coming of the Spanish to the Americas was catastrophic for the indigenous Mayan civilisation.
The coming of the European to the Americas was catastrophic for the indigenous American civilisations because the Mayan was conquered by the Spanish in a brutal and harsh way. The Mayan built an ancient civilization that stretched throughout much of Central America. The Maya civilization was never unified but rather made up of numerous small provinces, ruled by kings, each a centred on a city. Sometimes, a stronger Maya province would dominate a weaker province and be able to exact tribute and labour from it. The Mayan civilisation was known as the land of riches, that was one of the many reasons why the Spanish wanted to conquer the Mayan empire. When the Spanish arrived in Central America in the 16thcentury, the diseases they brought devastated the Mayan population, the Spanish forced the Maya to convert to Christianity, going so far as to burn their books that they worshipped. They enslaved and killed many Mayan. The Spanish retrieved riches from the Mayan lands and later took over the Mayan civilisation.
The indigenous Mayan population was divided into number of dependant provinces referred to Kuhkabal in the Mayan language. A number of the provinces shared a common culture but their social political organisation varied as did the access to resources of each province. The boundaries between provinces were not stable. The country lacked political structure and these differences in political and economic makeup often led to hostilities between the provinces. The country contained very powerful Mayan kingdoms such as Palenque occupied by present day Chipas. Yucatan, Belize, Guatemala, honderous ands el Salvador.
The Mayan civilisation did not know of certain diseases prior to the arrival of the Spanish. It is a land of diversity and ethnolinguistic groups that are spread out in towns and villages across a river less and flat landscape. It contained no large city and no political centre. Yucatan was believed to be a land of riches and wonder due to the gold and silver found upon the land. The Mayan religion was characterized by the worship of the gods of sun, rain and corn. The importance of astronomy and astrology, rituals of human sacrifice, and the building of temples.
The European nation that came into contact with the Mayan civilisation was the Spanish.
The Spanish had a strategy of concentrating native populations in newly founded colonial towns. Yucatan was believed to be a land of riches so the Spanish wanted to obtain large quantities of gold and silver so they did out of wealth and ease. They wanted to spread the word of Christ among the Mayan population and to enslave many people as marketable commodities. Native religion was driven underground by Spanish persecution and this brought the Native Americans together. The Spanish felt as if they had the right to force the Mayan to provide labour on Spanish owned farms, ranches and mines, working conditions were terrible and people that resisted were killed.
The First contact between the Americas and the Europeans was when Columbus came across a trading canoe that led him to the gulf of Honduras, the next contact was when a Spanish vessel was sailing from panama to Santo Domingo and the boat sunk on the way but 18 of his men escaped in a small boat, they eventually beached along the east coast of Yucatan ,so therefore it was by chance that they had arrived on the American land. When the Spanish vessel under the commando Valdivia sank, all 18 were captured and 4 of them were sacrificed. The Spanish arrived in 1515 and 1516,they brought with them diseases that caused the Mayan population to decline. In 1546 the city of Merida was founded and served as a capital for Spanish incursions to the South. In 1618 Spanish churches were constructed to try convert the Mayan into believing in Christ. In 1695 and 1696 the Spanish decided to subjugate the Pet''n Itza by force.. The Spanish would hurl native Americans into pits with sharpened stakes if the dared to resist them. The Native Americans dug pits for the Spanish to ride into but the Spanish used the pits against them and threw the Native American They revolted against the Spanish. The Spanish engaged in a strategy of concentrating native populations in newly founded colonial towns and as a result of them trying to create native populations many of the settlements fled to inaccessible regions or to join other Mayan groups not yet involved in the conflict. Maya prepared for battle but the Spanish beat them. The Spanish massacred the Mayan but the Mayan launched a coordinated attack in response but, the rebels retreated after a savage counter attack. When the Spaniards enslaved the Mayans, if a Mayan revolted they were burnt alive and hung because the Spanish believed that if they did not keep the Mayan at a constant state of fear the Mayan would rise up against them. The Spanish would hurl native Americans into pits with sharpened stakes if the dared to resist them. The Native Americans dug pits for the Spanish to ride into but they used the pits against them and threw the Native Americans in.
Because the Spanish had now conquered the Mayan civilisation they were able to map areas of the north and South America. The Spanish had engaged in a strategy of concentrating native populations in newly founded colonial towns and as a result of the Spanish trying to create native populations many of the settlements fled to inaccessible regions or to join other Mayan groups not yet involved in the conflict. Communities were founded that soon became cities. The gold and silver found became a source of treasure for Spain, enriching the crown and increasing the money brought into the country. This later caused the birth of the global economy.After a series of events after defeating the Mayan, the Spanish ended up with a translator which helped them communicate better and because of this they went on the conquer the Aztecs.. The Spanish language, culture and religion became dominant among the Mayan population. Spanish cities were founded in the Mayan lands as the Spanish took advantage of existing rivalries between provinces. The boundaries between provinces were not stable and because of this they fell easier during the conflict making it easier for the Spanish to take over. In the end the Spanish took over. Although they did establish the capital, the conquest of the Yucatan was never fully achieved. The Spanish might have won the conquest many of them were killed by the Mayan population.
The Mayan population was faced with a number of consequences both short and long term. From 1511 to 1697 the Spanish slowly but surely diminished the Mayan civilisation. The Spanish engaged in a strategy of concentrating native populations in newly founded colonial towns and as a result of the Spanish trying to create native populations many of the people fled to inaccessible regions or to join other Mayan groups not yet involved in the conflict.The population of the Mayan civilisation declined as the diseases raved the inhabitants and severely affected the various Mayan groups, they were not immune to disease. Those who survived were not allowed to practice their native culture and religion because the Spanish wanted to spread the word of Christ among the Mayan people, meaning the culture will be lost forever. Many died because the Spanish had the upper hand when it came to armed conflict. The people were introduced to weapons, domestic animals, sugars and farming practices. Many died due to the harsh treatment during enslavement where the Spanish took thousands of women as servants; these memories will be left with the people forever. Due to the lost political structure and the absence of gold, silver and other riches, the region soon became a colonial backwater. The Spanish burned idols and many of these were books, this meant that history of the Mayan civilisation was then lost. They lived through 400 years of seizures through sales abroad, resettlement and forced removal from their towns, to be taught the conquerors religion or to add to his wealth and ease. Existing native leaders were killed or stripped of their power; they no longer had social structures on which they depended. Locals were subjected to forced labour known as Encomiendia. The political system was destructed and the local region was outlawed but the practice of the native religion underground by Spanish persecution also brought the Native Americans closer. The Mayan empire later collapsed and the Spanish took over.
The conquest of the Maya was hindered by their politically fragmented state. Spanish and native tactics and technology differed greatly. The Spanish engaged in a strategy of concentrating native populations in newly founded colonial towns; they viewed the taking of prisoners as a hindrance to outright victory, whereas the Maya prioritised the capture of live prisoners and of booty. Among the Maya, ambush was a favoured tactic; in response to the use of Spanish cavalry, the highland Maya took to digging pits and lining them with wooden stakes. They were taught Christianity meaning they were no longer allowed to practice their own religion and enslaved by the Spanish. Native resistance to the new nucleated settlements took the form of the flight into inaccessible regions such as the forest or joining neighbouring Maya groups that had not yet submitted to the European conquerors. The practice of the native religion underground by Spanish persecution also brought the Native Americans closer. The Mayan empire later collapsed as the Spanish had taken over.