ShmoopTube

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:03

And here's your shmoop du jour,

00:05

brought to you by conflict resolution,

00:07

the optimal hi-def format for

00:09

viewing, uh, potential solutions.

00:13

Anonymous.

00:13

[ mumbles ]

00:16

[ mumbling continues ]

00:19

Yeah.

00:20

All right, well, here we go.

00:21

Conflicts between Spanish colonizers and native populations,

00:25

compared to conflicts between British colonizers

00:27

and native populations were... what?

00:31

And here are your potential answers.

00:33

[ mumbles ]

00:37

Huh. All right.

00:38

Well, so, this question's asking us about the difference between

00:41

the conflicts the Spanish and British had with their native populations.

00:45

Well, the one thing that they for sure had in common

00:48

was that there was tons of conflict to begin with.

00:51

So, let's see which of these answers accurately

00:53

distinguishes the two.

00:55

Well, were the Spanish conflicts with native populations A -

01:00

relatively less hostile than the British,

01:02

resulting in a relationship of mutual benefit?

01:05

Well, it is true that the Spanish fought much less

01:08

with their native population than the British did with theirs,

01:10

but the Spanish relationship with American Indians

01:13

was by no means mutually beneficial.

01:15

That means both sides would benefit, right?

01:17

The Spanish enslaved large portions of the native population,

01:21

forcing them into sub-human labor conditions for no pay.

01:25

Doesn't really sound like a two-way street there

01:26

of fun times and good cheer.

01:28

So A isn't right.

01:30

And since we know that the Spanish were less hostile

01:33

than the Brits, well, we can go ahead and knock out B as well.

01:36

So, were conflicts between Spanish colonizers and natives C -

01:41

more related to agriculture and settlement?

01:44

Hmm, well, no, that was the British,

01:46

who came over to the New World with the hopes of

01:48

setting up farms and getting all comfy and cozy on their new land.

01:52

Which eliminates C. That means that the Spanish conflicts

01:56

must have been D - more related to religious conversion and exploitation.

02:02

Now, remember the whole "God, Glory, and Gold" motto

02:04

of the Spanish conquistadors?

02:06

Well, they wanted to expand the power of the Catholic church

02:08

and find as much mineral wealth as humanly possible.

02:11

Which meant forcibly converting native populations to Catholicism

02:15

and exploiting them for labor both in mines and later plantations.

02:20

Sounds like D is the best fit here.

02:22

Uh, but, remember, sometimes it's better to focus

02:24

on the common ground than what makes us different.

02:28

Go ahead, do it.

Full Transcript