A methodological approach of focus on the intentions or actions of colonisation splits the historiographical debate on this topic. J. H. Elliot focuses on intention and suggests that the complexities of the Spanish and English motivation for colonisation, and the time lag between conquest, infer a differing approach to conquest. Viewpoints of a similar approach are held by scholars such as Stannard, whose investigation of actions, such as ‘Indigenous genocide,’ leads him to a conclusion of fundamentally violent approaches by both empires. We need to look at this via media, that the approaches by colonisers were not homogenous throughout the process, therefore, I believe it is possible to see a converging approach to conquest because England and Spain began with different intentions of conquest, but England developed a violent agenda and followed similar actions of violence the Spanish empire had performed a century earlier.
Spanish intention was conquest right from the discovery of the Americas in 1492. This mentality was largely influenced by European policies such as the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 and the Encomienda System in 1503. The former here was an agreement between Spain and Portugal of who was entitled to which land, the latter policy rewarded colonisers with the labour of non-Christian indigenous people. Therefore, from the onset, Spanish colonisers were encouraged to colonise, and as early as 1496 Spanish settlements in Santa Domingo were founded. Evidence of Spanish intention can be seen in Columbus’ letter to Queen Isabella in the 1490s stating the islands are “as much your own as is Castile.” The first English settlement was a century later in 1607 called James Fort. The English, however, had been present for ninety years beforehand, but instead of settling, built trading posts for English fisheries where indigenous people processed the fish ashore. Although the challenge may be levied that, as the English had not settled until 1607, this commercial approach does not apply to that of conquest.
A major similarity of approach to conquest was violence, an important aspect of this was the use of alliances with indigenous people. Cortes allies with Tlaxcaltecs and Tezcocans in his conquest of Mexica. Similarly, Pizzaro seized upon the Peruvian Civil War to make alliances and conquer in 1537. The English also used alliances in North America which can easily be seen in times of violence such as the Pequot War from 1636 to 1638 where the English, Dutch, Mohegan, and Narragansett all fought against the Pequots due to disputes in trade. Evidence for this can be seen from an image of a battle during the war which shows colonisers with muskets, and Mohegan people carrying bows and arrows jointly attacking the Pequot fort. Furthermore, Andrew Lipman identifies the use of exchanging body parts to express trust and power, and that both indigenous and colonial powers participated in this symbolism. These alliances should not be thought of as permanent however, during King Philip’s war, forty years later, from 1675 to 1676, the English were allied with the Pequots and were fighting against the Narragansetts.
There are early examples of connections between English and indigenous people outside of a violent context. The Powhatan’s Mantle at the Ashmolean Museum is believed to be a gift for King James I, given to Captain Newport in 1608 by the Powhatan tribe. This demonstrates English and Indigenous relationships early into English settlement. A healthy relationship between the English and Powhatans did not last long however, as there were three Anglo-Powhatan wars in the first half of the seventeenth century. Inversely to Spanish violence, this was instigated by the Powhatans who attempted to exile English settlers. However, the English and Dutch also instigated violence against indigenous people as can be seen from the 1644 Pound Ridge Massacre, a part of Kieft’s War over land use and trade. Violence did not necessarily take the shape of direct conflict, but biological violence can be seen in the spread of disease. The “Columbian Exchange” establishment of trade brought with it the devastation of European diseases to a nonimmune indigenous population. Smallpox spread widely amongst the Mexica Empire. This can be seen from skeletal evidence found in 2009 at the pyramids of Tlatelolco as well as primary testimony such as Bernal Castillo’s documentation that “we could not walk without treading on dead Indians.”
