Talk:European colonization of the Americas
From Academic Kids
Is it just me, or is the "History of" prepended to all the pages linked from here completely redundant and unnecessary? French colonization of the Americas would make a lot more sense than History of French colonization of the Americas. Brion VIBBER, Sunday, May 19, 2002
- I agree - it is far more likely that somebody would make a natural link to X's colonization of the Americas the the History of X's colonization of the Americas.
For example, one could say that sugar cane production was an integral part of X's colonization of the Americas. But having "History of" before that is just too wordy and a bit redundent: Of course colonization is the "history of", you really can't give a physical description of it like you can for a nation or area ("history of" is appropriate when talking at length about just the history of an area. Colonization is inherently a part of history and it is redundant to have "history of" as part of the title), --maveric149, Sunday, May 19, 2002
- Okay, done. --Brion VIBBER
Does anyone know wjy the vikings abandoned their colonization? I heard the Native Americans chased them away. But I think its a myth, as I can't imagine big bulky Vikings being chased by Native Americans. -fonzy
Perhaps the majority of the people of most of the SPanish speaking nations are Native American and/or part Native American, but those countries are dominated by whites, and Native peoples are still massacred (Chiapas, Guatemala, Colombia). Its sort of a "leyenda rosa" that the Spanish were more benevolent to the Indians than those dirty "Sajones".
- I can't find my references for this, Fonzy, so bear with me while I do this from memory. The Viking colonisation of the Americas was small-scale and not backed by any great resolve or wealth. It took place at a time when unusually warm climatic conditions in the North Atlantic were giving way to a period of relative cold: they had colonised Iceland some time previously, then Greenland, in both cases, using the new-found lands for things that would soon be quite out of the question - in particular, running cattle. In the first few years of the Greenland settlement, the summmers were warm and the colony prospered. As time went by, however, life became more and more difficult. In addition, the Vikings had a lifesyle that they were firmly wedded to: no self-respecting Viking would lower himself by learning from the "wretches" or "rascals" (as they called the native Greenlanders), let alone give up his beloved cattle in order to eat seals.
- In the case of the American colony, there were just a few ships sent, and as private ventures. The settlement of America wasn't a determined plan, it was just a few Viking warlords and a handful of their followers cruising around looking for the easiest place to make a living (and, if I remember correctly, looking for a place to escape from their enemies - in today's terms, you would probably call them "fugitives from justice"). So they stuck it out for a short while, but on discovering that the native Americans were no pushover, that the climate was still far from ideal, and doubtless also because they felt that the heat had gone out of the murder charges (murder was not so bad a crime in those days), they wrote it off as a bad idea and pushed off for home. Tannin 10:17 23 Jun 2003 (UTC)
ok thankyou, never known much about the vikings in America. -fonzy
It would be nice if someone covered the reasons of the colonization. - CaptainWoodman
Since Christopher Columbus is believed to be Italian, shouldn't he be called with his original name like the other people in the same article? - Straficchio
Legality
Some discussion of the legal mechanisms surrounding the invasion of America by Europeans, and their rationalization of dispossessing the inhabitants, would surely be helpful to readers.
