Page 8 - Colonization and Decolonization: A Manual for Indigenous Liberation in the 21st Century

left a trail of destruction, massacres, torture and rape. Tens of millions of Indigenous people were killed within the first century. The Mexica (or Aztec) alone were reduced from some 25 million people to just 3 million. Everywhere the death rate was between 90-95 % ofthe population.
The European invasion of the Americas was, without question, the most devastating genocide and holocaust in history. Despite this, it is still celebrated today as a 'discovery'. With some exceptions, the history of this holocaust has been minimized or concealed.
The main goal ofthe Spanish and Portuguese was to take control ofthe land and enslave the surviving Indigenous people. Settlement was not a main objective. They established huge plantations to grow crops for export to Europe, while vast ranches were set up for cattle raising. Mines were opened to dig for gold and silver. Millions of Indigenous people were enslaved and died working in these mines.
In order to maintain a source of slaves, European traders turned to West Africa. There, Indigenous Africans, engaged in intertribal war,
traded prisoners of war with the Europeans, clearly ignorant or indifferent to the long term effects such actions would have. As many as 15-20 million Africans were shipped onboard slave ships, with an estimated 40 million dying from disease & starvation on t h e . trans- Atlantic crossing.
Despite this high level o f violence & destruction, Spanish & Portuguese colonial forces were largely restricted to the coastlines of Central & South America. Many interior regions resisted for 2-3 centuries and were never . conquered by the
Spaniards. The Maya in the.
Y ucatan Peninsula, for
example, withdrew into the
forest lowlands, where Spanish forces fell victim to disease and the intense heat. The Maya then launched military attacks and were able to resist total Spanish control.
By 1800, the Spanish laid claim to a vast region encompassing parts of South, Central, and North America. Despite this, it was an empire in decline, faced with ongoing Indigenous resistance, slave rebellions, and even settler revolts. By the mid-1800s, settler independence movements forced the Spanish out of the Americas (with the exception of Cuba & Puerto Rico).
At the time of the invasion of the Americas, Europe was in the Dark Ages, suffering from resource depletion, overpopulation, widespread poverty & social decline. Colonialism brought new resources & wealth into Europe, while destroying Indigenous nations in both the Americas and Africa. It is from the colonization of the Americas that the European nations were able to further expand and dominate the world.
1498: Invasion of North America
In 1498, John Cabot, sailing under command of the English King, claimed the east coast of present-day Newfoundland. He was followed by the French shortly after. Throughout the 1500s, the British & French attempted several colonies on the east coast o f the US, but none survived the harsh winters (or, in the south, attacks by the Spanish). Finally, in 1607, a British colony was established at Jamestown, Virginia. It survived due to the help of Indigenous peoples (the tradition o f Thanksgiving, adapted from Indigenous peoples, arises from this).
These early British settlers took great care to not engage in any offensive actions, especially as Indigenous peoples were militarily stronger. At first, peace & friendship treaties were made. As colonist's numbers grew, they began to seek greater land and resources, especially the agricultural lands of Indigenous peoples. By the 1620s there was all-out war in the north-east, with colonists carrying out massacres and scorched earth policies. Combined withthe effects of biological warfare (smallpox), these attacks gradually broke the ability of Indigenous nations to militarily resist.
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