Conquistadors: The Effects Of European Colonization On The Indians

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Europeans had many effects on the area now known as Texas and on the Indians. Few if any of those effects were positive. The Conquistadors affected the people, the land, and caused the colonization of Texas. They had many motives for their deeds, converting the Indians to Christianity, finding cities of gold, or just claiming land. A Spanish conquistador named Cabeza de Vaca crashed into the mainland near Galveston in 1528 and began exploring the area now known as Texas. He spent about eight years wandering among the Indians. In this time he met, traded, and earned the trust (and) respect of many Indians. De Vaca had a relatively friendly and peaceful relationship with the Indians. Unfortunately he encountered a hostile tribe of Indians who took …show more content…

Although renowned for his skill as a soldier, Alvarado is known also for the cruelty of his treatment on native populations, and mass murders committed in the subjugation of the native peoples of Mexico. Unlike De Vaca, Pedro was feared by the Indians and had many conflicts with them. He was known as the red sun whether this was because of his red of hair or a more malicious reason is disputed. Both of these conquistadors had extremely different experiences during their encounters with the Indians. Both of these conquistadors had major effects such as starting the development of New Spain and the search for gold in the Americas. The term new spain refers to both a geographic space and a specific historical era.“Spatially, it denotes substantial territories in North and Central America that include the modern nations of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, as well as much of the modern United States west of the Mississippi River.“ the territory that lasted only during the Spanish colonial era, which in new spain lasted from 1521, when Hernán Cortes (1485–1547) defeated the