APUSH
SEPTEMBER 16, 2014
1. Unit 1 Notes: Spanish & Other European Views of
Natives and Africans
2. Unit 1 DBQ Introduction
3. HW: Examine Documents- Briefly write the main
point of each document.
Period 1: 1491 - 1607
UNIT 1
SPANISH VIEWS OF
NATIVES AND AFRICANS
SPANISH VIEWS OF
NATIVES AND AFRICANS
• Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal ensured Spain’s
claims in New World (Mexico, Peru, Spanish West Indies)
• Spanish did not understand Natives and their cultures.
• Natives were viewed as primitive illiterate savages by many
Europeans.
• Many Spaniards advocated harsh treatment of Natives and claimed
slavery for Natives was justified throughout Catholic conversion.
• Some Spaniards argued that Natives deserved the same treatment as
all other men.
• This belief played an instrumental role in the ending of the
Encomienda system.
• Replaced with Repartimiento System.
• Over time most Europeans developed a belief in white superiority to
justify the harsh treatment of Africans and Natives.
• The promise of gold, other riches, and/or more labor prompted
Spanish explores to venture north into modern day US (Southwest
and Florida)
VIEWS OF NATIVES AND AFRICANS
• Spanish Catholic Conversion of
Natives:
• Mission System:
• Outposts throughout the
Americas to help convert
Natives
• Outposts were often
military bases as well
• Spanish defeated the Pueblos
• Spanish established Santa
Fe in 1610
• Spanish priests and
government suppressed
Native practices that were
inconsistent with
Christianity
• Spanish demanded labor
from Natives
(Encomienda)
AFRICAN SLAVERY
• African slavery
across the Atlantic
began with early
Spanish
colonization of
New World.
• Spanish turned to
Africa for cheap
labor after Native
populations were
destroyed by
disease or war.
• Many Africans
tried to preserve
their culture in the
New World
• Many would
combine elements
of Christianity with
their native
African religions
and customs.
DBQ #1
• Using the documents and your own understanding of
early American history, determine the initial
impressions that the Europeans and non-Europeans
created of the other, reaching some conclusions about
how these initial impressions and attitudes might have
influenced the ways each group chose to deal with each
other in the New World.