Visual Source: Theodor de Bry, Image from Historia Americae sive Novi Orbis

European Exploration, Perception of the Other, and the Columbian Exchange

How did Europeans perceive the new people they encountered and how were they in turn perceived?

This image shows natives testing their belief in Spanish immortality by holding them under water. The image was engraved by de Bry as part of his Historia Americae sive Novi Orbis based on the travel narratives of Girolamo Benzoni’s Historia del mondo nuovo (1565).

Theodor de Bry, Image from <i>Historia Americae sive Novi Orbis</i>

. What mistaken perception did the native population of central and South America have about the Spanish?

They thought that if they held them under water the white would wash off to reveal brown skin.

They believed they were immortal and so tested it by holding them under water.

They thought they could not swim and wanted to help them learn.

. Why might the Spanish have encouraged that perception initially?

It would be easier to manipulate the native population into giving them resources if they were feared as immortal gods.

They had not bathed in a long time on their ships so they were not upset by being put into the water.

They wanted to learn how to swim and this seemed a good method to try.

Visual Source: Theodor de Bry, Image from Historia Americae sive Novi Orbis

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