And that’s why there were rumors like the Black Legend and mistreatment of natives. The “Black Legend” described the cruelty of the Spaniards towards the natives. Gregory Cerio mentioned in his article, “Were the Spaniards that cruel?” About how badly the natives were treated. He quoted a soldier in the army of Cortes who later wrote a history of the conquest of Mexico, the soldier said, “We came here to serve God, and also to get rich.” There were also details about the how Spaniards hanged natives in groups of 13 and then lit fires beneath them. It was pretty sad, but later on, people spoke against the negative treatment of the natives. Example, Bartolome de las Casas, a priest that fought for the rights of Native Americans in Spanish America. He made some attempts to protect the natives. He wrote the “Short account of the Destruction of the Indies” In graphics and sometimes exaggerated details, he recounted Spanish cruelties to the Indians and the different mistreatments. He sent it to King Philip II of Spain. This convinced King Phillip II of Spain to create the New Laws of the Indies. It was a set of guidelines signed by the King to instruct Spanish colonists on how to create and expand towns in Spanish America and that the colonists needed to treat the natives better and increase the preservation of the Indians.
So in the end, there was a place for the natives in society even though it was like the lost part of society, they at least had a place. Lots better than the British. (click)
For the British, it was consistent throughout. The British treated the natives like savages and slaves. All the British wanted to do was to find gold and be rich. They destroyed hunting and burial grounds, destroyed native cultures, and stole land. They excluded the Indians because they found no use for the Indians. There was not really anyone fighting for the rights of the natives except the natives themselves. One major war between the Indians and the colonists was King Phillip’s war in 1675. King Philip’s War was one of the bloodiest and most costly in the history of America. One in ten soldiers on both sides was injured or killed. The outcome of King Philip’s War was devastating to the traditional way of life for Native People in New England. Hundreds of Natives who fought with Philip were sold into slavery abroad. Others, especially women and children, were forced to become servants locally. Since all the traditional values of the natives changed due to the Colonists’ victory, Native communities had to adapt certain aspects of their culture in order to survive. The British never really even tried to convert the natives to Christians. They basically came to the native’s home and drove them off their own land.
The Spanish at least made a place for the natives in the Spanish society; the British on the other did not at all. According to Woodrow Borah of the Univeristy of California, “The Spanish made a place for the Indians as part of the lowest order, but had a place. North Americans in many cases simply exterminated the Indians.” (click)
So why did the British and Spanish treated the natives the way they did? The main reasons I say were the difference in religion, which was a big thing, culture, family status, and economic needs and wants like getting profitable resources and new trade routes.
In the Spanish society, religion was very important and definitely had a large impact on the treatment of the indigenous people. The Spanish really wanted to covert the natives to Christianity and tried to integrate with the Indians. They tried to use the Encomienda system to try and get the natives to join the Spanish society and follow Christianity.
British didn’t care the Indians and thought they were savages anyways, so they didn’t have to care about them.
The British and the natives lived with different cultures. What the British thought was good manners was the same as what the natives thought were good manners. It’s just the difference between were people lived. Also, British’s past experience with Ireland put them in the mind set that the natives they found at different places were the same as the Irish people they found on Ireland. The British did not like the Irish because according to historian Takaki, “the Irish were viewed as savages people living outside of civilization. To the colonists the Irish lacked Knowledge of God or good manners.” (click)
Family status also had a large impact on the way people treated the natives. In the Spanish society, it is usually men that traveled to the new world so in order to create families, the Spanish men married the Indian women and had kids. This created a new class called the mestizo. The Spanish had to treat the natives nicer because they are marrying the natives and living with the natives. On the other hand, with the British, not only did males came to the new world, females and children came to the new world. Since they came in families, they did not need to create a new class of people with the Indians.
In both the Spanish and British, they had used natives for slaves in order to make economic gains. There were new crops and spices people want to get and the only way to get