Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126
Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127
In a post from September 30, @JELAWS says, “False rumors of the rate of Russian and British colonization caused the Spanish to panic and colonize California.” This is interesting because false rumors are a very critical part to both of the readings for this week. In the Taylor reading, the rumors spread between Russia and Spain are discussed at length. Obviously, neither were as close to each other as the news spreading would indicate. Spain was especially paranoid and exceptionally proactive in making sure to expand as much as possible lest Russia catch up to them. Russia, of course, as Taylor said, never had more than a few hundred settlers living in their barren, isolated colony (452). However, the rumor that the Russians were rapidly expanding their land-holdings (or establishing them at all) motivated the Spanish to increase their aggressive expansion. Additionally, though somewhat of a more minor detail, the long-lasting rumor of the “black legend” motivated the Russian promyshlenniki to treat the natives with special cruelty (Taylor 447).
False rumors similarly impacted the British treatment of colonial Americans following the Seven Years War. Upon returning to Britain, the soldiers who fought in American spread the word that colonial Americans were living a disproportionately luxurious lifestyle when compared to their European peers. These rumors may have had an impact on Parliament’s decision to pass increased taxes–they believed that this was a fair measure given that the colonists were doing so well. This taxation was not solely because of the rumors of success, but also in conjunction with the fact that the colonists had not been paying taxes for many years now. I find it interesting that in an era where communication was so slow and difficult, especially when across such large land masses, rumors had an impact on legislature and colonization practices. It does beg the question of how colonization would go today, in our era of instant communication.