Analysis Paper: CH 01 SOURCES OF FREEDOM ONLINE READER
The chapter selected for analysis in Chapter 01 Sources of Freedom Online Reader covering the history of early European exploration and conquest of the New World, Americas. The sources entail primary sources of information on the events that marked the conquest and the enslavement of the locals in the discovered lands. For instance, the reason for European expansion encompasses the search for raw material and resources such as minerals like gold, for a direct route to India Ocean, the spread of criticality, discovering of new land, and enslavement of the colonies. Between 1404 and 1474, a Portuguese chief chronicler records a summary of the reasons Prince Henry was interested in western Africa to encompass military and economic benefits, spreading of Christianity as a tool to civilize the “infidels” to abandon their pagan way of life. The Portuguese explorers were seeking new trading partnerships and searching for the shortest route to Asia via the Indian ocean. The prince’s interest in western Africa was to acquire products and merchants at a cheaper cost from any friendly land. The discovery of new things and adventure, desire to meet Christians, grow in faith in the lord, spread the seed of Christianity in Africa were among the outstanding driving force in the conquest of ‘the land of Guinea’ by Prince Henry of Portugal.
The Spanish exploration, discoveries, and conquest of the Americas were rooted in the historical voyages of Christopher Columbus. The Spanish king and queen were interested in discovering new lands, and they sent out explorers and promised gifts to those that found new land, and Columbus ship and crew was among them. The first discovery was the Guanahani island, according to the natives. It was a beautifying island inhabited by indies, and the Admiral took possession of the land for the king and queen of the Spanish empire. The article explores the description of the people that inhabit the island as either black nor white. Columbus recommends the strategy to convert them into Christianity using a friendship approach as the people seemed to have no sect at all. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Further, the chapter gives an overview of the Indian populations before European contact and their subsequent conquest by Spanish conquistadores. The Indians were the native Americas before the arrival of the European explorers and later conquest. The people were primitive, went naked, and depended on farming, hunting, and gathering for food. The Aztec empire, for instance, was under Montezuma II when the Spanish arrived. The leader sends messengers to report on the strangers that arrived at their coast, and the description of the Spaniards by Montezuma II’s messenger communicates the kind of people they were. The first European contact with Indians was in 1492, the Spanish in the voyage of Columbus. Spanish took possession of every land they discovered to colonize the locals for different reasons. For instance, the Spanish had superior military experience, weaponry, and armor as compared to native Indians using sticks as weapons without any armor. Reasons for conquest encompass the economy, forms of labor, and Spanish relations with Indians.
North America natives were composed of Indians, and the arrival of Europeans in North America resulted in different issues. The Europeans were Christians worshiping God through his son Jesus Christ; the Indians had different sects or religions that guided their culture. Physically, Indians have thing hair like that of a horse cut short, and they are of canary Islanders color, neither black nor white, while Europeans were predominantly white. The Indians paint their body or parts of their body with various colors. Indians had no idea of weapons, could not handle swords; they have spear made of wood; they had no iron at all. Culture and perception of land were different compared to that of Europeans whose perception of land as a resource for agricultural and extraction of precious minerals such as gold, iron, silver, among others (Traboulay, 21). Roles in the society and family are based on gender, women take care of the children and the home, while men engage in economic activities. Europeans and Indians defined freedom differently, with the Europeans concluding that the concept was an alien notion for the Indians.
The Reasons for British interest in North America are diverse. Britain was interested in North America because of its resources encompassing fertile land for agriculture, the raw material for the industrialization, market for manufactured products as well as free labor. The conquest of the colonies to gain economic, political, and social influence on the native Americans. Through colonization, the Europeans were able to spread Christianity as a tool to control the primitive natives by preaching submission, repentance, and promised salvation.
In conclusion, the unique history of the English revolves around the Magna Carta of 1215, concerning the Civil War of the 1640s gave the English the belief that they were the world’s guardians of liberty (Holt &Holt, 123). As such, the English were destined to “free” the Americas from the hold of the Spanish. King John was the first to issue the charter of liberties with enduring statements of the rights of freeborn Englishmen explores the rights and privileges of the English people across the world as the guardians of liberty, particularly in America, or New World.
Work Cited
Holt, James Clarke, and James Clarke Holt. Magna Carta. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Traboulay, David M. Columbus and Las Casas: the conquest and Christianization of America, 1492-1566. University Press of America, 1994.