The contrast between this section on the life given to the Indians if they don’t surrender is a complete one eighty to the life given to the Indians if they do surrender. They basically give a massive warning to to surrender immediately (which would in turn save the Spaniards money and men). Massive fear tactics are presented as the consequences are not just to those that fight back but rather to everyone they know and love as well. If you fight your loved ones will be slaves to be sold, killed, destroyed, and stripped of everything they have. It’s really pushed on the Indians that surrendering is what’s best for everyone. To be honest it might have been if the situation really was unavoidable. The Spaniards don’t lose people to war or lose valuable resources and the Indians won’t either. War costs a lot for all parties so the strong psychological effort for peace first makes sense.

Again the Spanish push home the point that this conquering is inevitable. It’s not a if we win then xyz will happen. Instead it’s a we’re going to take over and xyz will happen. The only option the Indians have is whether or not they choose to fight or give in to the “peaceful” version. Not only does this prove the confidence of the Spanish but it also attempts to convince the Indians that there is 0% chance that they could go unconquested.

By analyzing ones surplus goods you can tell alot about the person's rank within the society. Rulers could claim whatever they wanted which put there surplus at the highest. Under rulers gradually flows a connection between the power over goods and ones position in society. These goes even further with harder to get goods. People with the lowest surplus and lowest social standing have the least connections to get rare goods and the least to trade for them should they even have the chance. Rulers or higher officials on the other hand have all the connections and surplus to do higher trade. This is where you can see the beginning of economic class divides simply from agricultural production.

This gives us alot of insight into the lifestyle of these early people. It shows the lack of room for comfort, time off, and storage. These people had to work constantly and were surviving off the moment rather than surplus or past goods. It also shows that they likely knew alot about the nature of the area as this is where they spent most of their time.

Back in 1492 science had not developed to the point that people understood how dangerous bringing nonnative people, animals, or crops can be if you're not careful. Many people died during invasions not because of the physical weapons or force but rather because of pathogens being carried over. Although it may be fairly harmless to invaders who have built up immunity the population being invaded can find even the smallest illnesses deadly. Now a days so much older pathogens have already spread and preventative measures for new pathogens have been developed that we don't face this issue as extremely.

It's crazy to think it took 500 years for the reality of Columbus to even spread above the whispers. Despite the truth spreading further in 1992 then it had been prior it's still an issue faced today. There is somehow still history books teaching the personification vs the reality in schools and there are still so many things named after him.

With this biased account being the only record at the time available of Columbus it's no wonder people blew him up in American history to be greater than he was. This is a prime example of why little documentation and sources only from one side doesn't lead to good scholarly discussions. The lack of knowledge allowed a metaphor to be set that people knew would spread in America and make him popular and thus successfully covering up his savagery.

This just shows the vast difference between the two groups of people. One is so much more advanced than the other that they come across as having to be from Heaven to exist as they do.

Despite an ethical refusal to make an unjust trade and to have these people give them anything they're still expecting things out of them. Instead of letting them pay for the goods now they're offering the goods for "free" so they can build relations with these people easier and get more out of them in the long run should they convert them to Christianity. It is then in the future that they expect these people to give them goods for their kingdom for free. It's honestly a massive lie with a mirage of friendship.