Sweet Tooth for Empire: Sugar and the British Atlantic World

More documents

Recommendations

Info

cannibalism, in the midst of a glowing description of the new lands, where Chanca’s focus on cannibalism bordered on an obsession. Chanca did not, as the expression goes, pull any punches and he did not try to minimize what he saw. In explaining the differences between Chanca and Columbus, other factors do come into play, such as the fact that Columbus put a positive spin on events because of the very nature of his mission, where Chanca was under no such obligation. Another difference lies in the fact that Columbus did not have any substantial firsthand contact with the cannibals; he generally learned of them through secondhand rumors, where Chanca actually explored a cannibal village. As time passed, it would be Chanca’s style of describing events which would be adopted, that is to say, a blunt style, which pulled no punches, and was quite realistic. Descriptions such as Chanca’s and the subsequent ones modeled on his, would shock and disgust Europeans, but at the same time fascinate them. Andrés Bernáldez, the parish priest of Los Palacios, a town near Seville, also commented on the presence of cannibalism in the New World. He described the discovery of some abandoned dwellings, “Of everything he took a bit, including three or four human arm and leg bones. After seeing the latter, they understood these were Carib islands.” 16 In a section which is rather similar to Chanca’s writing, Bernáldez wrote, “These Carib men showed great cruelty toward them to a seemingly incredible degree, in fact they reached the point of eating the children conceived by them [the captive women] while raising only the ones born from their women. The men they are able to capture are taken into their huts and slaughtered at their whim, whereas those killed in action are eaten immediately. They claim human flesh is so good that no other thing in the world is better.” 17 The fact that Bernáldez offered an account which was 16 Andrés Bernáldez, “Memoirs of the Catholic Sovereign’s Reign,” in Unali, 87. 17 Bernáldez, 93.
easonably similar to that of Chanca demonstrated that Dr. Chanca’s brutal descriptions were already beginning to be circulated among Europeans. Questions of Authenticity Though all but an exceedingly small number of Europeans appeared to have accepted the fact that the Indians were cannibals, perceptions have a way of evolving over time. Today, the opinion among scholars is more balanced over the idea of cannibalism. Many scholars believe that the Indians were not cannibals and often reference Fritze’s argument that Columbus and his men were conditioned to expect to see cannibals and therefore made cannibals, even if none existed, to justify their perceptions. However, there are other reasons why authors feel that the cannibalism should be stricken from the historical record. One author mused, “as to the truthfulness of these accounts, one cannot help wondering whether they really were cannibals—the Canibas or Caribs they had been warned about during the first voyage—or whether Columbus and his men used this to justify what would ensue. Slaughtering cannibals would be fulfilling God’s wrath/…/demonization of the victims was a way of justifying genocide,” 18 Still another author opined, “the evidence that these bones and this flesh were of humans is weak. Could sailors from Seville have told the difference between the flesh of men and that of monkeys?” 19 Of course, other authors do take the opposite stance: that cannibalism was indeed prevalent among the Indians. This position is quite appealing, because there are strong pieces of evidence, such as the fact that Dr. Chanca, a respected physician, did accompany the soldiers into the abandoned village and it stands to 18 Klaus Brinkbäumer and Clemens Höges, The Voyage of the Vizcaína: The Mystery of Christopher Columbus’s last Ship (Orlando: Harcourt, Inc., 2004), 155. 19 Hugh Thomas, Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan (New York: Random House, 2003), 133.
Page 1 and 2: The Gettysburg Historical Journal V
Page 3 and 4: Walfield ’10 examines how colonia
Page 5 and 6: originally as a new, curious, and r
Page 7: Columbus and his men went expecting
Page 11 and 12: the middle of their shoulders, larg
Page 13 and 14: hear.” 32 Dal Verde also noted wh
Page 15 and 16: In his account of Columbus’s seco
Page 17 and 18: accurate, he nevertheless managed t
Page 19 and 20: Contarini was talking about the Azt
Page 21 and 22: hanging from large trees on poles,
Page 23 and 24: was posed: “Also, if the know and
Page 25 and 26: which would continue for decades in
Page 27 and 28: ehavior and regarded it as low, inh
Page 29 and 30: was not able to eat, but the chief
Page 31 and 32: huts.” 109 Staden explained that
Page 33 and 34: piety and religion) than in roastin
Page 35 and 36: Throughout the course of the late f
Page 37 and 38: viewpoints. The general trend in th
Page 39 and 40: Evan Haefeli and Kevin Sweeney’s
Page 41 and 42: “parallel war.” 26 The authors
Page 43 and 44: captivity narratives coincided with
Page 45 and 46: hand and to see that our help is al
Page 47 and 48: The perception of the American wild
Page 49 and 50: demonstrates Whittier’s belief th
Page 51 and 52: great favor of God that his heart w
Page 53 and 54: Female captivity narratives serve a
Page 55 and 56: enabled them to distinguish themsel
Page 57 and 58: addition to their trade by it imagi
Page 59 and 60:
facilities, which meant better road
Page 61 and 62:
Pushkin and Gannibal: Ethnic Identi
Page 63 and 64:
After Peter’s death in 1725, Gann
Page 65 and 66:
esponding to Russian advances by be
Page 67 and 68:
Dwight D. Eisenhower, The National
Page 69 and 70:
criticism from himself. 10 It is im
Page 71 and 72:
administration years and how that b
Page 73 and 74:
information at his disposal and at
Page 75 and 76:
asked to stay on. 30 Based on the a
Page 77 and 78:
cumbersome. However, the Planning B
Page 79 and 80:
make it work to his liking.” 48 P
Page 81 and 82:
In January of 1954, France had been
Page 83 and 84:
the Vietminh, but a political one.
Page 85 and 86:
problems. NSC 5405 had not made pro
Page 87 and 88:
he “expanded the advisory process
Page 89 and 90:
and psychological warfare operation
Page 91 and 92:
United States. Also present were Ri
Page 93 and 94:
the U.S. intervened. MacArthur judg
Page 95 and 96:
of Defense. To do otherwise,” Rid
Page 97 and 98:
objectives.” 123 Dulles would use
Page 99 and 100:
later, Eisenhower let the matter dr
Page 101 and 102:
Planning Board report was too optim
Page 103 and 104:
establishment of such a coalition a
Page 105 and 106:
allied powers before Geneva. 150 Th
Page 107 and 108:
Stassen countered that the U.S. cou
Page 109 and 110:
In the first five weeks after Dien
Page 111 and 112:
particularly Britain, for his decis
Page 113 and 114:
crucial role of all presidents,”
Page 115 and 116:
egularly in the first place and his
Page 117 and 118:
vetoed their request, “for the re
Page 119 and 120:
people.” 14 A large crowd gathere
Page 121 and 122:
Revolution.” 21 This was held on
Page 123 and 124:
held the Bank’s presidency until
Page 125 and 126:
Spectrum was published in 1892 it c
Page 127 and 128:
solutions to the town’s problems.
Page 129 and 130:
impromptu address at the church’s
Page 131 and 132:
“Com. [Commonwealth] vs. Henry Ga
Page 133 and 134:
familial atmosphere provided a soli
Page 135 and 136:
with thievery after he stole goods
Page 137 and 138:
could have been stopped by Mrs. Net
Page 139 and 140:
Photograph by William H. Tipton of
Page 141 and 142:
Men gathered outside of Landau’s
show all

Sweet Tooth for Empire: Sugar and the British Atlantic World

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?