Discovery of America and Spanish Conquest

The so-called “discovery of America” and “Spanish Conquest” were not major turning points in world history according to Harris. She discusses how europeans made themselves look as if they were the important ones, whereas some of the indigenous groups didn’t even really pay attention to them. The indigenous folks only started paying attention to them when they were claiming to be the sons of god (Harris, 1995). This is where the instance of how the first contact between Indigenous Americans and europeans has been mythologized since the europeans thought that they could act like they were the sons of god, and the indigenous groups believed them because they did everything to be in good terms with their gods. That being said, the europeans took advantage of their vulnerability and began to demand goods and services from them, therefore the beginning of the conquest (Harrison, 1995). The europeans described the indigenous folks as “barbaric” people who needed to be “purged,” however, the indigenous folks were only following what they believed in, and since the europeans didn’t understand what