How Did The North American Colonies Influence The Interactions Between Spain And The Natives

here is no doubt about the great impact that European colonies had upon the North American Continent. The initial interactions between Europeans and Indians defined history and set the atmosphere between the two groups for years to come. However, the ways in which different European Powers interacted with the native peoples of the lands they were colonizing were very different. Aside from a few key similarities, the interactions between France and the natives versus the interactions between Spain and the natives differ in the ways they treated the natives, their dependency on the natives, and their motives for colonizing. There is no doubt that the Spanish were much more ruthless in their methods of colonization than the French. Initially colonizing in the southern parts of North America and Mesoamerican regions with expectations of gold, the Spanish were not coming to the New World to make new friends. The name “conquistadores,” in English “conquerors,” is an accurate self-assessment

Sure, they needed the resources that the Indians had, but they were able to take those by force and overcome villages to fuel their own personal needs, so they were unconcerned with the wellbeing of the actual Indians providing these items. Spanish troops easily overcame any Indian resistance due to their more advanced steel weapons. With things like “swords, pikes, and crossbows” (23) the Spanish quickly prevailed over any Indian armed with their weapons made of stone. As the Spanish colonists migrated into the arid southwest regions of the present-day United States, they didn’t turn to the Indians for help. Instead, “the colonists depended on governmental shipments, which arrived only once in every three or four years” (29). These New Mexican colonists would rather live on sparse means from their own government than try and make peace with neighboring Indian