Black Legend – U.S. to 1877

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Although I’m saddened to be done with Taylor (I’m only being somewhat sarcastic), his conclusion, like much of his work, challenged traditional historians’ conceptualizations of colonization in North America. Although most of the blog posts this week have already extensively covered how interesting it is to conclude with stories of island colonization, I found Taylor’s descriptions of Spanish and Russian interests in California even more compelling.

Both Sperry and Wells discussed the differences between Spanish and Russian practices in “civilizing” locals; however, I think it’s important to further examine the modes of brutality that both nations enforced. There seems to be an understanding that the Russians were significantly more brutal in their efforts to colonize than the Spanish. However, Taylor never claims such a bias, rather he describes the atrocities that both nations contributed to and allows readers to take a stance.

Although Russian abuse sounds more damaging, as it’s characterized by ransom and rape, that doesn’t mean that Spanish abuse was any less significant. It seems like we are forgetting that the destruction of landscape, culture, language, and lifestyle has just as harsh of an effect as more direct brutality – even if it doesn’t immediately jump out at a reader.

In discussing disparities between brutalities, I am reminded of the “Black Legend,” which I described in more detail in an earlier blog post. Any instance whereby we try and rationalize brutality by saying that one country was worse than another does history a great disservice. Almost every European countries interested in North America had some lasting, damaging effect, which was brutal and significant, although perhaps in different ways.

In the given reading, Taylor has, again, helped to reshape my understanding of early colonization in the New World. In particular, I was shocked at how bluntly Taylor tried to describe Spanish interactions with native peoples. The way by which the Spanish were so brutal (albeit successful) was made even more apparent by Taylor’s descriptions of the civilizations that they conquered. For instance, after describing the magnificence of the Aztecs and the city Tenochtitlán, Taylor bluntly states, “after four months of fighting, the Spanish and their native allies reduced the city to a bloody rubble” (Taylor 53). In a sense, this is another instance of Taylor’s tongue-in-cheek attitude when writing about colonization. His bluntness may appear ridiculous to some, but it allows for the reader to from their own opinions on morality and justification, although Taylor may subtly advocate his own opinion from time to time.

Upon reading chapter 5, I gained a better understanding of different practices of colonization between European countries. In particular, this made me more conscious of the fabled “Black Legend,” which served to condemn the brutish way that the Spanish treated the natives. However, in response to several classmates, I felt that it was important to remember that the “Black Legend,” as perpetrated by the English, did not solely condemn Spain. Rather, it was also an attempt to whitewash their own practices towards natives. As such, almost all European countries treated natives poorly – save for perhaps the French, but only out of necessity. However, the “Black Legend” only pushed guilt onto others.

All in all, I enjoyed this section of American Colonies and am now more interested in learning about English acquisition in the New World, having already thoroughly examined the French and Spanish.

Tag: Black Legend

An Interesting Goodbye

American Colonies 3 & 5