Lauren Briana
Mr. Boryczka
History 1301
January 28, 2015
Response Paper 1. The Renaissance-era Europeans were at a very lofty position in life. Therefore when they encountered the Indians they found them to be below them in cultural status and way of life. They looked down on the Indians calling them barbaric and half-men because of their simplicity. The Indians didn’t have the same social graces as the Europeans did. The European spiritual leaders were sincere on converting the Indians to Christianity for their own good, however the military leaders in the group were more interested in converting them so they could be more cooperative and obedient. 2. The Spanish’s motivation for colonizing the Americas was to establish land ownership for further exploration of gold and silver, to establish Christian communities in the new world, and to claim and hold new land for the Spanish empire. Colonization was good in that the Spanish brought Christianity and improvements on living for the New World inhabitants. However, the negative part of the Europeans coming to the new world was the bringing of disease to the Indians, which killed thousands and thousands of them. The Spanish also killed many who refused to convert to Christianity and some Indians took their own lives in refusing to convert to a new religion. The advantages the Spanish had as colonizers were better technology, tools of war, horses, strategic planning, and were better educated. The disadvantages the Spanish had were not being familiar with the land and its produce, the terrain, the Indians’ language, and the Indians’ way of life. 3. The Europeans looked to Africa for slave labor in the development of the New World because it was already an established common practice in other parts of the world. Some of the Africans themselves helped promote the slave trade by participating