"Conquer"

Since this class really focuses on the meaning of words, I've been thinking about the word conquer and how the Natives would have felt about the use of that word. According to Webster, the definition of conquer is: 1 : to gain or acquire by force of arms 2 : to overcome by force of arms 3 : to gain mastery over or win by overcoming obstacles or opposition 4 : to overcome by mental or moral power. In terms of the Europeans "conquering" Natives; I think that the first definition is the only some-what accurate because the Europeans did gain certain things through force of arms. Mostly they gained land, trading power, and some slaves.

Some may disagree, but I think that the other definitions are inaccurate. The Europeans never "mastered" the Natives, even when they were successful in converting them. One could argue that they "overcame them by mental or moral power" through conversion, but I think that implies the Natives had no choice in the matter, when we know that some Natives thought that perhaps these new people were religiously superior since they weren't dying off from disease as quickly. This goes back to the discussion about "conquer" and disease being dependent upon each other- it really would have been impossible to conquer (in any definition of the word) without the presence of deadly diseases.