Relationship Between Columbus And Hernan Cortes

Many know the poem “In 1492” in which the first two lines state, “In fourteen hundred ninety-two/Columbus sailed the ocean blue” or the tales of the Pocahontas, Sacagawea, or Squanto. All of these events and people were important figures in the early Americas. Many times, the relationship between the explorers and settlers is not read about or is easily forgotten. These relationships were crucial in the making of early America and it is important to differentiate each relationship and see how they evolved overtime. “Early European explorers to the Americas likely experienced emotions including awe at the vast “new” environment, amazement at meeting ‘others,’ and the thrill of the unknown” (Schwartz). Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortes

Many Europeans came to the New World in hopes of religious freedom. However, coming to the New World, posed many problems for the settlers like disease and scarcity of food. John Smith and William Bradford were two of the earliest settlers in the New World and both relied on the Native Americans for much help. The Natives taught the early settlers how to farm, find shelter, and gave other vital advice of how to survive in the Americas. This was a hard transition from England and without the help of the Natives, the early colonies of America would not have made it. These relationships were not made without some difficulty though. In the case of John Smith, the Powhatan Indians captured him, but through this capture, he was able to make an alliance with the Powhatan, which helped the colony survive its first year ("Indians & Smith | Captain John Smith Historical Trail"). William Bradford is known for the “First Thanksgiving”, which they celebrated with the Indians ("William Bradford and the First Thanksgiving"). Bradford maintained friendly relations with the Indians, which can be credited with the help from the English speaking Indian, Squanto ("William Bradford and the First Thanksgiving"). Squanto taught the settlers of Plymouth Bay how to fertilize the soil and produce corn ("William Bradford and the First Thanksgiving"). Sadly, not all of the settlers’ experiences with the Natives were

The explorers only traveled to the land for temporary purposes, while the settlers were there for good. The Indians might have felt threatened by the settlers because they were taking over land that was once theirs and this might have been the sole reason for the brutal attacks. Another difference in their relationship was that the explorers thought of ways to change and better the Natives, while the settlers needed their help. Since the explorers were only there for a short time, they did not need to find ways to live on the land, unlike the settlers. The writings of the explorers also might have portrayed the Natives differently because the explorers were there on a funded voyage. Perhaps they early explorers did encounter hostile Natives, but did not write about these because they wanted to write about the positives. They wanted to make the land that they explored look and sound like paradise. However, the settlers were there on their own terms and while they did want to write positively about the new land, they also wrote on the realities of settling in the New