WHAT COULD A SPANISH CITIZEN SAY ABOUT COLOMBIAN HISTORY (week 4)

Hey again,

Today I’m going to start talking about Spanish colonialism in America. When Spanish boats came to America they were amused by all our gold. Not just that, they were also surprised for our food, animals, and different places like the beaches, jungles and mountains. Hermes Tovar cites a text written by a Spaniard conqueror describing this situation: “El Rey llevaba un pectoral de oro sobre su pecho, colgado de una cadena de oro, y una mascara de oro, y en sus pies cuatro campanillas de oro que pesaban un marco cada una, y con el iban veinte indios, todos con mascaras de oro sobre sus rostros, sonando matracas de oro de treinta marcos de peso” (Colombia Imágenes de su Diversidad, page 42).


The Spaniards started to make up stories in each region about fantastic animals and cultures. Because of that, more and more Spanish sailors started coming and invading all America. Colombia, Peru, and Mexico were very good producers of gold and precious rocks, more then other countries in America. When Indians refused to give gold and stones, Spanish men started to take it by force. They started killing, stilling and taking prisoners.

Today, after investigating and knowing what I know, I wonder what a Spanish citizen could think about the colonization period. Many bad things happened to our native cultures. I now wonder if the Spanish people regret what happened more than 500 hundred years ago or they just think it is a situation that has to stay in the past and be forgotten.