I remember a couple of years ago things were going around saying the conquistadors were good to the natives and all the bad publicity was a product of anti-spanish propaganda but I only heard people say that on twitter and tumblr and assumed it was a load of crap.
It’s absolutely a load of crap. The conquistadors were horrendous even by the low standards of violent conquerors in the 16th century. And that’s a low fucking bar to beat.
I feel like there was a time period in the last decade where after people realized how much history we were taught was false they gravely overcorrected and just assumed everything was a lie.
Or it was all part of some agenda I don’t have the brainpower to comprehend.
In the Anglosphere, conquistadors being bad has been the ‘standard’ take in part, yes, because of anti-Spanish propaganda. But by happy accident, the England/Spain rivalry resulted in a take that was accidentally correct - the conquistadors were horrific. After years of attempted whitewashing by elites in former Spanish holdings, a much more indigenous-positive view has taken roots in the once-colonized countries, despite backlash from conservatives within some of those countries who want to preserve the “Brave Spanish hidalgo civilizing and Christianizing the terrible natives” myth.
I remember a couple of years ago things were going around saying the conquistadors were good to the natives and all the bad publicity was a product of anti-spanish propaganda but I only heard people say that on twitter and tumblr and assumed it was a load of crap.
It’s absolutely a load of crap. The conquistadors were horrendous even by the low standards of violent conquerors in the 16th century. And that’s a low fucking bar to beat.
I feel like there was a time period in the last decade where after people realized how much history we were taught was false they gravely overcorrected and just assumed everything was a lie.
Or it was all part of some agenda I don’t have the brainpower to comprehend.
In the Anglosphere, conquistadors being bad has been the ‘standard’ take in part, yes, because of anti-Spanish propaganda. But by happy accident, the England/Spain rivalry resulted in a take that was accidentally correct - the conquistadors were horrific. After years of attempted whitewashing by elites in former Spanish holdings, a much more indigenous-positive view has taken roots in the once-colonized countries, despite backlash from conservatives within some of those countries who want to preserve the “Brave Spanish hidalgo civilizing and Christianizing the terrible natives” myth.