Oddbean new post about login | logout It was probably the least cruel, but still cruel, colonial empire of the time. I find it funny that the success of their expansion often came from failing to mimic the strategies of other empires of the time. Like they tried to use the Spanish strategies used in South America and it lost them 2 colonies pretty quickly immediately. Wahunsunacock was not having any of it.
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If you want to create an effective long-lasting empire you need to be capable of committing acts of great good and great cruelty. Of course, neither should be done without reason. Also, I would never say that they failed to mimic strategies of other empires. More like showing recognition of the faults of those empires and choosing not to repeat.
Well, they attempted to copy the Spanish Empires strategy of setting up meetings with the chieftains and abducting them. They would then be tortured relentlessly until the tribe submitted all their wealth. Britain tried this, amongst others, and Wahunsunacock didn't fall for it. Smith went back to plead for carpenters instead of soldiers, but it took so long that the entire colony perished. Poor Jamestown. If the strategy worked for one empire but not another, I would call the attempt a failure. Learning from those failures is what allowed newer trade focused strategies to emerge.
I can't argue with that. But, mistakes were made on both sides. The high level of cultural intolerance and misunderstanding led to increasingly frequent periods of conflict. The First Anglo-Powhatan War for instance. The point I'm trying to make is that it wasn't just the Brits fault.