The indigenous people of America, otherwise known as Native Americans, have been mistreated for centuries by Europeans who decided to immigrate to the new world. Native Americans have been forced to deal with generations of oppression and abuse. They have been affected so deeply that they have become a minority in their own land. Although they were mistreated by Spanish oppressors, they were also treated well by one specific European power; The French people who crossed the Atlantic ocean and came to settle in the “New World” quickly became close friends with the Natives, rather than their enemies.
Even in the early days of the “New World”, discovered by Christopher Columbus, Native Americans were maltreated by the discoverer himself. There is much controversy over whether we should honor Columbus due to his evidently cruel ways, such as the use of violence and slavery (“Columbus Controversy” 2018). On his very first day in the New World, Christopher Columbus demanded his crew to capture and seize six of the Natives he came across. He made sure to note in his journal that he was confident that the Native Americans would be good as servants. This shows how quick he was to belittle the Natives, by seeing them as people who would obey rules and work in an enslaved state. Throughout the years Columbus spent in the New World, he forced labor upon natives, putting them to work for the sole reason of making profits. “Later, Columbus sent thousands of peaceful Taino ‘Indians’ from the island of Hispaniola to Spain to be sold. Many died en route” (“Columbus Controversy” 2018). Columbus came to the New World, encountering thousands of indigenous people. However, instead of seeing these people as the humans they are, he saw them as a measly opportunity to bag a quick coin and have his name be known for something.
Another thing Christopher Columbus also forced conversion of native peoples to Christianity. The Native people already had their own religions, beliefs, and customs. Instead of being tolerant, he forced an unfamiliar religion upon people that were not his, on a land that did not belong to him. He cared little to nothing about how the Natives felt about this, using violent tactics to get his way (“Trail of Tears: The Native American ‘Problem’ in the New World” 2018).
On top of that, he along with his crew, introduced many new diseases, such as measles, smallpox, cholera, and yellow fever, that had dramatic long-term effects on native people in the Americas (“Native American History” 2018). Within 60 years after Columbus landed in the Americas, only a few hundred of what may have been 250,000 Taino were left.
Further emphasizing how the Spaniards in general especially terrorized the Native Americans, the Indians thought that the Spaniards were angels sent from Heaven at first. They were never violent to the Spaniards. They only started to retaliate after they realized that the Spaniards used extensive violence against them such as killing, robbing, and torturing the Indians. The Spaniard Christians, used horses and swords and pikes to carry out huge massacres and strange punishments against the Natives. They attacked towns and killed everyone, including children, elderly, pregnant women and women in childbed. They would stab and dismember the Indian, cutting them to bits and pieces. They took infants still feeding on their mothers’ breasts, grabbing them by the legs or arms, and threw them into the rivers, laughing and saying, ‘Boil there, you offspring of the devil!’ while the mothers bared witness. Other infants faced death by sword along with their mothers and anyone else who happened to be nearby. “To others they attached straw or wrapped their whole bodies in straw and set them afire. With still others, all those they wanted to capture alive, they cut off their hands and hung them round the victim’s neck, saying, ‘Go now, carry the message,’ meaning take the news to the Indians who have fled to the mountains” (“Spanish Treatment of the Natives” 2014). The Spaniards were merciless, carrying out brutalities on the indigenous, and telling them to pass on the message. Furthermore, the Spaniards didn’t see the Native Americans as human beings, but rather beasts. Those that did survive their brutalities were distributed among the Christians to be slaves, where they suffered and died from exhaustion and hunger. Due to these contributing facts, the Natives who once densely populated the island immensely depopulated.
One European power, France, actually maintained a good, mutualistic relationship with the Native Americans. The Native Americans did not despise the French, and vice versa. One thing the French did that won Native support is that they did not try to change them. They were religiously tolerant and did not care to convert them, or strip them from their beliefs and culture. They also did not compete with the Natives for land. When the French first arrived to the Americas in the 1530’s and 1540’s to engage in seasonal fur trading, they established strong trading ties with the local Natives they came across right off the bat. The Natives had lots of experience in the matter of dealing with the furs of animals, and they had no problem giving a few pointers to their new friends. They tagged along with the French when they went hunting and showed them where the good fur animals could be found. With Native help, the French were able to thrive in the fur trading business.
The French made it a crucial point to learn the Native languages and ways. In being respectful by doing this, the French further strengthened their ties with the Indians. The French established their first permanent settlement at Quebec in 1608. Their establishment in Quebec, as well as future establishments, did not result in any Natives to forcefully move locations and lose their homes. “They respected Native territories, their ways, and treated them as the human beings they were. The Natives, in turn, treated the French as trusted friends. More intermarriages took place between French settlers and Native Americans than with any other European group” (“The French and Native American Relations” 2018). This close alliance, which was based on mutual respect and good treatment from both sides, resulted in a great relationship between the two. Their relationship was so strong that the Natives even sided with the French when the French began having disputes with the English, which eventually led to war.
In conclusion the Spanish did not have a good relationship with the Native Americans. The moment they stepped onto the soil of the New World, they tried to enslave the Indians, and tried to force them to convert from their traditional religions to Catholicism. Their harsh treatment of the Natives eventually lead to their demise. The Natives did not appreciate any of this. The French, however, were able to have friendly relations with the Natives because they treated them well when they first encountered them, and they continued to treat them well afterward. During the whole time the French lived in their establishments in the New World, they enjoyed excellent relations with the Native American people.