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Pueblo Revolt Summary

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Before the start of the traditional American narrative, that begins with the colonization by British setters, European contact in America had already radically reshaped the population of the so called “New World”. Spanish exploration landed in North America beginning in 1492 and sparked a pattern of travel to the continent following Columbus’s find. These trips to America consisted of a series of expeditions in search of gold, silver, and other treasured resources that could be used by Spain. These trips also consisted of establishing permanent peasant towns of enslaved Indigenous people for manual labor to chase these resources in the mines that sprouted across the southern part of the country. These enslavements, sponsored by King Ferdinand …show more content…

This forced control of the Natives sparked revolts against the self-entitled Spanish out of frustration. This frustration is expressed in the article An Indian Explanation of a Pueblo Revolt when and eighty year old Pueblo man, whose life spanned the era of Spanish colonial rule, stated that “the resentment which all the Indians have in their hearts has been so strong, from the time this kingdom was discovered, because the religious and the Spaniards took away their idols and forbade their sorceries and idolatries.” This quote explains the immense frustration felt by the Pueblos caused by the forced assimilation and control of the Spanish in the 16th and 17th century through a harsh form colonialism that some would argue as benevolent paternalism or even an ethnic cleansing. This was true in almost all European colonialism attempts, and this quote shows the level of control these empires assumed while taking North America from the Indigenous people and how they did …show more content…

This misunderstood title reflects the Indigenous people as “imagined as only antagonists to the British” to further the heroic historical narrative that is modern American history (Kelton, 791). The fact of the matter is that the Natives fought on both sides, allying with the French and the British. The Cherokees, by allying with the French, played a pivotal role in deciding this great war that eventually led to a dominating imperial power in North America. Other key tribes that were involved in this chess match of a war include the Iroquois, Creeks, and Choctaws, all allying with the American or English side of the conflict. This fact going so unnoticed clearly illustrates the lack of recognition that the Natives deserve in shaping American history. Even the alternative title “the Seven Years War” “coined by scholars to move away British’s simplistic notion” is misleading due to the fact that the fighting took place from roughly 1754 to 1763 within French and British colonies across the globe and roughly 1754 to 1760 in North America (Kelton, 792). The way that Europeans imagined this pivotal role in history has developed into the defeat of a “savage” foe to bring civilization and democracy to the new country, when in reality, the situation was much more complicated with Indigenous Peoples backing each side of the conflict. This misinterpreted historical

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