The First to Come and Those Who Followed

The Encounter The Spanish vs. the Amerindians

The first to come and those who followed

From the beginning we learnt that the Amerindians were the first to settle in the new world before the arrival of the Spanish and later the other European countries. We learnt that they settle in the Caribbean, Mexico and the South American countries and made these countries into there homes introducing a new way of life to the place. These Amerindians were not from one group they may have been related, but these Indians had five different names: Tanios, Mayans, Incans, Caribs and Aztec. These indigenous Indians were there before the arrival of Christopher Columbus who came in the year 1492.

Upon his arrival the Indians who were naive and soon succumb to the Spanish and other Europeans to come accepted him. Columbus on his journey for wealth, conquest and religion encounter these Indians and soon found use for them. His motives weren’t clear to these simple-minded people who lacked in knowledge of the Spanish. These Indians differed in many ways but yet they shared some similarity. The tanios were a nation of indigenous people who flourished in the Greater Antilles-Caribbean Sea (Hispaniola). These islands included Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Jamaica and Puerto Rico when Christopher Columbus landed on beaches of the New World in 1492.

According to most scholars the decline of the Taino people dwindled quickly with the arrival of the Spaniards. The Spanish brought diseases which were foreign to the Taino's immune system. Many were enslaved to pave roads, build housing, farm foods and construct forts like the widely known landmark of El Morro de San Felipe in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Aztecs were a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. They called themselves Mexica The capital of the Aztec empire was Tenochtitlan, built on raised island in Lake Texcoco.

The Spanish colonization of the Americas reached the mainland during the reign of Huey Tlatoani , Moctezuma II (Montezuma II). In 1521 Hernan Cortés and an allied army of American Indians that far outnumbered the defending Aztecs, conquered the Aztecs through germ warfare, siege warfare, psychological warfare, and direct combat.

These groups of Amerindians were scattered around the Caribbean or on the main land the. Caribs / kalinagos were mostly found in the Lesser Antilles and were a wild and warfare set of people. The Mayans were settled on the main land: Belize, Mexico, Peru and other territories. These people were well developed and technologically advanced. Their way of life soon changed from peaceful setting to one of excessive violence when the Spaniards got to greedy. They soon began to work the poor Indians to death, treating them unfairly by killing them for their own pleasure. Their society turned to violence between themselves and the Spanish, the Indians turned to each for help like in the Greater Antilles when the kalinagos joined force with the tanios to put out the Spanish. The impact of the Spanish to the Indians was devasting they almost wipe out the enter population of them. During the encounter of the Spanish to the new world they came bringing a new way of life with them. They introduced us to the European culture and knowledge, which help in the building of a new way of life. Biologically they introduced us to new species of plants such as ackee, breadfruit and other plants that adapted to the tropics well and have become apart of our diet. Not only a mixture of plants but animals such as horses, goats and others who came to the new world and multiply adding to our existing animals. Linguistic was another matter each group communicated with each other through their own language at the same time their writings and drawings were a little different from each other. The Spaniards thought them difficult and savages so they introduce the Indians to their language and style of writing which they had to adapt to. When it came unto religion the Amerindians were very polythesis and worshipped many different gods, they had a god for everything rain, sun, moon and others. Religion was a vital and important part of their lives and it was treated with respect. Religion was just as important to the Indians as it was to the Spanish who tried their best to turn these Indians into Christians which was one reason way they came in the first place but they were not very successful. The people still uphold their culture, which the Spanish tried to discourage and break down. . Religion was just as important to the Indians as it was to the Spanish who tried their best to turn these Indians into Christians which was one reason way they came in the first place but they were not very successful. The people still uphold their culture, which the Spanish tried to discourage and break down. No longer free to practice their way of life or inhabit the lands they once lived peacefully on they became preys hunted by the Europeans who destroyed them. The encounter of both nations and those who came later was devasting, the impact completely changed life it brought both sorrow and a new begining to life. It introduces us to knowledge and technology moving us forward to new life style that has made us who we are today.