When the Spanish began to colonize the regions of South America, particularly Colombia, it began to become a part of the empire of Spain. In 1525, a Spanish conquistador by the name of Rodrigo de Bastidas founded the settlement of Santa Marta. This would become the first formal settlement in Colombia, and also the oldest city in Colombia. Santa Marta is located in the Northern coast of Colombia. From the beginning, this was set up to become a profitable city. It was a port city and there was plenty of land for farming and vegetation to grow.
The relationship between the colonizers and the colonized is one that is not talked about in history as much as it needs to be brought to our attention. We are quick to celebrate the hateful and violent actions that the colonizers did to the indigenous peoples there and the pain that they suffered through Spanish profit. The most notable conquistador that is known for partaking in this is Christopher Columbus. But there was many, many more that partook in the slaughtering of these people. Bastidas and his men also set out to kill all of the indigenous peoples. The indigenous people were really no match for the Spanish, who were the most powerful country in the world at that time, both in riches and also militarily speaking. At first the Spanish brought goods and would trade with the locals, but that quickly turned because the Spanish were simply more dominant. Many men were killed, the women were raped, and children were enslaved. The Spanish mindset when coming to the “New World” is referred to now as “The Three G’s”, which are glory, gold, and God.
The Spanish carried out their colonization of the Americas by thinking and justifying that it was for all the right reasons. These reasons were justified by the Spanish for God, glory, and gold. Spain was a country who was a country who heavily practiced Catholicism. Spain was extremely powerful at this point in history, so they believed that they were the model and that it was their duty to spread their beliefs and culture to this new land. In their minds, what they were doing in the Americas was for all the right reasons. They colonized lands in the name of their Mother country, Spain. Gold was the number one priority in settling in the Americas. It was believed to have been plentiful, with some even believing there were entire cities made of gold. If economic gains could be made in this new region, the Spanish were going to use any means necessary to gain that profit, whether that be by enslaving people, slaughtering them, etc. If a Spaniard could imprint his legacy in the New World and for the king and queen of Spain, he was going to do so.
I believe that piety and profit do not go hand in hand, as piety means that good practices are being carried out for religious benefits. The Spanish colonization of Colombia was only carried out for profit to the empire. The Spanish actions contrasted with their religious aspect of settling and colonizing in the New World.
Citations:
WILSON, D. de A. Killing for God and for Gold. Chronicle of Higher Education, [s. l.], v. 47, n. 34, p. B14, 2001.
Trask, Roger R. “Columbus: Admiral of the Ocean Sea Columbus: Man and Myth Columbus: The First Voyage Columbus: The Search for La Navidad Columbus: The New World Columbus: God and Gold Columbus: The Later Voyages Columbus: First Landfall Debate Omni graphics, Inc.” The Public Historian, vol. 14, no. 4, 1992, pp. 135–138., doi:10.2307/3377870.
Taylor,
ReplyDeleteI never knew the "Three G's" of Spanish conquest. I also liked how you provided a true account of how vicious the Spanish were during their colonization efforts but you also have us understand that this was a completely different time period. I completely agree with you when you mentioned how the Spanish thought that what they were doing was harmless: they are simply a product of their environment and cultural times. Overall, I really enjoyed reading your post and I look forward to seeing what you discover this semester!
Kindest Regards,
Nani Sison
I did not know that Santa Marta was the oldest city in Colombia. I think it was wrong what the colonizers did to the indigenous people. We know have barely anyone from those cultures in the world anymore because of the Spanish. I realize that in the Spanish mindset there were no other ways to achieve their goals for; God, gold, and glory. The indigenous people never would have given the Spanish everything they wanted. The Catholic church should not have allowed the Spanish to act thing way, it goes against much of what the Bible teaches.
ReplyDeleteto start off, I think you did a great job of explaining and breaking down the history of the discovery of Colombia to the dummy-proof version, just like the previous blog. I also think mentioning the founder of Santa Marta and the importance of the port-city is an important point of attention as its importance increased in the following years of this imperial Spain era; however, i think you could have included further details since you are stating facts about this time period i understand that there are not so many primary sources found about Colombia but you could have used other methods to include details, but overall i enjoyed reading the blog and hope you continue to develop your blogs in the next couple of weeks.
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