Discovery, Conquest, and Colonialism

Animals on ships

• livestock for food

• dogs and cats for companionship and pest control

• horses and cattle for military and settlement use

• ships were floating ecosystems - animals often sickened or died en route

Challenges at sea

• disease, overcrowding, and malnutrition affected animals

• animals thrown overboard when sick or during storms

• journals often mentioned the loss or suffering of shipboard animals

Instruments of conquest

• horses amazed and terrified indigenous peoples

• Spanish cavalry used horses for military advantage

• dogs used in warfare to chase and attack

Violence and agency

• war dogs trained to maul and kill during conquests (Caribbean, Central America)

• horses gave colonizers a speed and height advantage in battle

• animal resistance: biting, bolting, stampeding

• some animals became fugitives or went feral

Military and symbolic power

• horses used by Spanish, British, and French forces for cavalry and intimidation

• elephants used in Southeast Asia and India in colonial processions

• dogs used to terrorize indigenous populations

• animals symbolized imperial dominance and civilization

Shock and power

• indigenous groups had never seen horses or large war dogs

• animals became symbols of European dominance

• psychological warfare through animal presence

Cultural encounters

• indigenous cosmologies often featured animals as sacred beings

• colonial violence included killing animals central to native cultures

• missionaries targeted animal worship as pagan

• cultural misunderstanding led to conflict

Extraction

• mules, oxen, and horses used in mining and plantation economies

• enabled extraction of silver, sugar, and cotton

• often overworked, malnourished, and died young

Exotic curiosities

• explorers brought monkeys, parrots, and other animals back to Europe

• displayed in menageries and used as diplomatic gifts

• animals reinforced Europe’s image of distant lands as strange and bountiful

Symbolic and scientific value

• New World animals fascinated scientists and collectors

• featured in illustrations, books, and paintings

• supported narrative of European natural and moral superiority

Settler colonialism and environmental change

• colonizers brought livestock, plow animals, hunting dogs

• disrupted local ecosystems, ate indigenous crops

• European animals competed with and displaced native species

• landscapes transformed through grazing and land clearing

Ecological exchange

• the Columbian exchange: transfer of plants, animals, and diseases

• Introduction of horses, pigs, cattle, and sheep to the Americas

• transformed indigenous economies and landscapes

Columbian Exchange

Disruption and transformation

• animals caused environmental changes and food competition

• pigs damaged crops, cattle eroded pastures

• horses reshaped indigenous cultures

Hybridity and adaptation

• animals adapted to new geographies (ex. pigs in the Caribbean and sheep in Australia)

• hybrid breeds emerged through crossbreeding and selection

• colonial societies developed new animal practices (ex. gauchos, cowboy culture)

Symbolism

• animals became symbols of anti-colonial resistance (ex. elephants in Indian rebellion art)

• runaway animals joined maroon communities

• folktales and oral traditions celebrated animal tricksters or survivors

Gauchos

the traditional way of life, folklore, and rural philosophy of the semi-nomadic horsemen who roamed the open grasslands, or Pampas, of Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) starting in the 18th century