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Taylor aims to show the more complex side of early American life and not display it so one-sided as many other accounts do. Robbie notes in his post that, Taylor recognizes many groups of people contributed to the colonization of America, not just Europeans, but Natives and Africans, too. I agree with Robbie’s point that the history of America “cannot be developed through a single story line,” because there are too many different groups of people that contributed to the colonization of the New World to only focus on one. More importantly, the path the English took to colonize hinged on the actions of the other European colonizers and the Indians. Taylor forces his readers to consider that the Natives are not always weak and subordinate, and the Europeans do not always easily conquer and colonize.
For example, Taylor portrays the French as more of a tool of the Natives instead of the other way around, as I previously would think. Once the French and Indians established a trade of furs and European goods, the Indians began to dominate the exchange. They “became adept at driving a hard bargain” and when they received higher payment for their furs, the Indians became lazier with their work, while the French still had to hunt and fish to supply the trade (Taylor 97). The French, in starting trade relations with different Indian tribes, were also forced into an unspoken alliance with these tribes. As a result, the Indians expected the French to help in intertribal wars, and the French had to deal with their own casualties as the enemy Indians attacked French villages in retaliation.
In his account of the history of New Spain, Taylor is thorough in his descriptions of the failures of this colonization, not just its successes. While many Spaniards, like tailor Diego de San Lorente, thought they would have a life of riches in Mexico, most early Spanish settlements failed. Eventually, the Spanish began to establish more successful towns and develop strong military protection. Taylor still mentions, however, the opinion of the Spanish king’s prime minister in 1631, who questioned whether the difficulties that came with New World colonization actually strengthened the Spanish empire or only made the homeland weaker (Taylor 66).
Taylor writes one of the more powerful accounts of early American history because he does not write solely from the perspective of the successful European colonizers. He notes the powerful role some Indians did have at the time, details the many failures of the first colonizers, and makes readers notice that the early days of colonization created cultural conflicts that still exist in our country.