I believe that the conflict between the Europeans and the Native Americans was inevitable due to a number of reasons. First, one of the main objectives that the Spaniards had was to expand their empire. Columbus’s probands de méritos had caused them to think of the Native Americans as gentle sheep who “fled without a moment’s delay” when they saw the Spanish arrive (“2.1 Portuguese Exploration and Spanish Conquest – U.S. History | OpenStax”).
This defenselessness of the indigenous people made Europeans feel empowered to behave like “fierce wolves and tigers and lions who have gone many days without food or nourishment” (“2.4 New Worlds in the Americas: Labor, Commerce, and the Columbian Exchange – U.S. History | OpenStax”). As soon as Indians began refusing to do what colonizers asked of them, the latter started taking brutal measures.
The second reason why the conflict was inevitable is the fact that the Spanish saw the Indians as inferior people to be exploited for the attainment of wealth. For example, describing “the nature and manners” of those people, Thomas Harriot wrote that they were “people poore, and for want of skill and judgment in the knowledge and use of our things” (“Indians of Ossomocomuck; an Excerpt from A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia by Thomas Hariot” (1588). Convinced that the Indians will not be able to fight back, European colonizers set a goal to achieve economic gains.
The third reason why I think that the conflict could not be avoided is that Native Americans resisted the attempts of Europeans to convert them to Christianity. Similar to their strong principles in relation to the concept of land, their culture and lifestyle were extremely important to them. They did not want to change their way of living and make it similar to the European culture. Therefore, the relationships that were initially friendly and based on mutual assistance soon deteriorated because colonists were outraged by the Indians’ refusal to assimilate into a new culture.
Works Cited
“2.1 Portuguese Exploration and Spanish Conquest – U.S. History | OpenStax.” OpenStax. Web.
“2.4 New Worlds in the Americas: Labor, Commerce, and the Columbian Exchange – U.S. History | OpenStax.” OpenStax. Web.
“The Indians of Ossomocomuck; an Excerpt from A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia by Thomas Hariot (1588) – Encyclopedia Virginia.” Encyclopedia Virginia – A Free, Reliable, Multimedia Resource That Tells the Inclusive Story of Virginia. Web.