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colonialism

The meeting of two worlds

 Though I have never formally learnt about Christopher Columbus in school, in my mind he had always been portrayed as heroic – possibly I assumed this because of the countries and provinces which are named after him, possibly also because of the fact that he must have been an intelligent individual and highly skilled navigator. Since moving to Canada and learning about American history I am aware of the devastating impact of cultural myopia and colonialism, though I still never held Columbus personally accountable. Reading Columbus’s personal memoir was very strange for me; I found it shocking how brief some of his daily accounts were. Many people who experience historical events of huge difficulty and significance seem to have written detailed thoughtful accounts of their life and plans, for example Anne Frank, Adolf Hitler and Nelson Mandela, whereas this text struck me as more of a report – the prologue implies it was presumably a report to the monarchy of Spain. I had assumed that he wrote to process his thoughts and emotions, but it seems this is not the case. It makes me question – did Columbus have so much faith that he would eventually make it back to Spain to hand over the account? Did he leave instructions for what was to happen to it after his death, or make more than one copy?

Despite the structural style, Columbus described many of his surroundings and experiences in a lyrical, poetic way – as mentioned in the lecture this week. Hauntingly, I found a certain purity in his words – despite the insensitive language sometimes used to describe people he encounters, he is undoubtedly in awe of what he finds, “no man could look at [the fish] without amazement and delight, the colours are so beautiful”. The villain character he is so often made out to be does not line up with the naivety of his words when discovering this new land – and from his perspective just doing his job. He wrote, “They captured [the Native American] but told him they meant him no harm”.

The other assigned reading shows a similar history from a vastly different perspective. I found it uncomfortable to read, though it is more like what I was expecting when learning about colonialism in a class on Latin American studies. It is difficult to consider this piece alongside Columbus’s account. After mentioning how the Inca believed the newcomer to be a “lord in his kingdom” one phrase which stuck out to me was “…the soldiers began to kill Indians like ants”. This notion is supported by the assigned student video “The Meeting of the Two Worlds II” – which discusses the horrific abuse of the native people, and also the after effects of their invasion; 90% of Native Americans were killed from contact with Europeans – largely through disease. I’d like to learn more about how far there was miscommunication between the indigenous people and the explorers, and how far, perhaps, Columbus’s account is untruthful or unreliable?

Posted in Blogs, Week 2 | Tagged with colonialism, Columbus, Inca, indigenous

The meeting of two worlds

 Though I have never formally learnt about Christopher Columbus in school, in my mind he had always been portrayed as heroic – possibly I assumed this because of the countries and provinces which are named after him, possibly also because of the fact that he must have been an intelligent individual and highly skilled navigator. Since moving to Canada and learning about American history I am aware of the devastating impact of cultural myopia and colonialism, though I still never held Columbus personally accountable. Reading Columbus’s personal memoir was very strange for me; I found it shocking how brief some of his daily accounts were. Many people who experience historical events of huge difficulty and significance seem to have written detailed thoughtful accounts of their life and plans, for example Anne Frank, Adolf Hitler and Nelson Mandela, whereas this text struck me as more of a report – the prologue implies it was presumably a report to the monarchy of Spain. I had assumed that he wrote to process his thoughts and emotions, but it seems this is not the case. It makes me question – did Columbus have so much faith that he would eventually make it back to Spain to hand over the account? Did he leave instructions for what was to happen to it after his death, or make more than one copy?

Despite the structural style, Columbus described many of his surroundings and experiences in a lyrical, poetic way – as mentioned in the lecture this week. Hauntingly, I found a certain purity in his words – despite the insensitive language sometimes used to describe people he encounters, he is undoubtedly in awe of what he finds, “no man could look at [the fish] without amazement and delight, the colours are so beautiful”. The villain character he is so often made out to be does not line up with the naivety of his words when discovering this new land – and from his perspective just doing his job. He wrote, “They captured [the Native American] but told him they meant him no harm”.

The other assigned reading shows a similar history from a vastly different perspective. I found it uncomfortable to read, though it is more like what I was expecting when learning about colonialism in a class on Latin American studies. It is difficult to consider this piece alongside Columbus’s account. After mentioning how the Inca believed the newcomer to be a “lord in his kingdom” one phrase which stuck out to me was “…the soldiers began to kill Indians like ants”. This notion is supported by the assigned student video “The Meeting of the Two Worlds II” – which discusses the horrific abuse of the native people, and also the after effects of their invasion; 90% of Native Americans were killed from contact with Europeans – largely through disease. I’d like to learn more about how far there was miscommunication between the indigenous people and the explorers, and how far, perhaps, Columbus’s account is untruthful or unreliable?

Posted in Blogs, Week 2 | Tagged with colonialism, Columbus, Inca, indigenous

Week Two: The Meeting of Two Worlds

For a large part of my life, Christopher Columbus was depicted as an “accidental hero” and the man who in some way “started it all.” I remember many teachers would describe how he set out on a voyage to the Silk Road in Asia, took the wrong route and ended up in the Americas. I […]

Posted in Blogs | Tagged with #twoworlds, Colombus, colonialism, weektwo

Week Two: The Meeting of Two Worlds

In this blog post I will be reflecting on the week two lecture video and the journal of Christopher Columbus. The lecture video posed to questions that I will answer and elaborate on in this reflection: What impression did you have of Columbus before you looked at his account? How did your thoughts change afterContinue reading “Week Two: The Meeting of Two Worlds”

Posted in Blogs, Week 2 | Tagged with 1492, Christopher Columbus, colonialism

week 2: the meeting of two worlds

After having watched “The Meeting of Two Worlds”, I began to scour the internet for some reasons for and against Columbus’ exploration as I was quite perplexed by the two questions posed in the middle of the lecture, the first one being “what impressions did you have of Columbus before you looked at his account?”.Continue reading “week 2: the meeting of two worlds”

Posted in Blogs, Week 2 | Tagged with 1492, colonialism, Columbus

Post-Revolution Latin America: Race and Acceptance In a ‘New’ Society

This week we are learning about why liberalism never quite thrived in Latin America, and why perhaps liberal ideals were never fully absorbed and integrated into Latin American cultures and societies. As we learnt last week, the Caudillo revolutionaries had ideologically great ideas for the future of Latin America, included in these were: freedom, equality,  …

Continue reading “Post-Revolution Latin America: Race and Acceptance In a ‘New’ Society”

Posted in Blogs, Week 6 | Tagged with acceptance, caudillos, colonialism, emancipation, indigenous rights, race, revolution

Caudillismo: Indigenous In the Modern World

In this week’s readings, we read about the Caudillo Era in the 19th Century in which once again, Indigenous people were being leveraged and used for the sake of the ‘superior’ classes (elites), after and during the Independence revolution spearheaded by those living in the colonies.  The Caudillo Era was a point in Spanish Colonial …

Continue reading “Caudillismo: Indigenous In the Modern World”

Posted in Blogs, Week 5 | Tagged with caudillismo, caudillos, colonialism, indigenous rights, military, politics, revolution, Spain

Week 5 | The Evolution of Caudillismo

The evolution of the exploitation of the Indigenous People can be traced through the readings we do each week. Since the “first encounters” passing through the Independence movements to the “Caudillo Era” in the 19th century, we can see how Indigenous people were used and manipulated to the sake of the elites. In the vergeContinue reading “Week 5 | The Evolution of Caudillismo”

Posted in Blogs, Week 5 | Tagged with Alexander Dawson, caudillismo, Caudillos Versus the Nation State, colonialism, indigenous people

Bolivar and Colonial Irony

Sometimes I’m taken aback by the lack of self awareness shown by those at the top of social and political hierarchy. If any group is going to be a group of oppressors it is this demographic. However oppressors practically never … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Week 4 | Tagged with Bolívar, colonialism, Power, slavery

Bolivar and Colonial Irony

Sometimes I’m taken aback by the lack of self awareness shown by those at the top of social and political hierarchy. If any group is going to be a group of oppressors it is this demographic. However oppressors practically never … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Week 4 | Tagged with Bolívar, colonialism, Power, slavery

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