In your opinion, what role did the Catholic Church play in the colonization and development of Latin America? The lives of the native citizens changed after the colonization of both Americas. It all started when Christopher Columbus as he sailed into a journey to discover the New World. By discovering the New World, this meant to the Iberian Peninsula more lands to colonize. This colonization caused the death of millions, destruction of cultures, and identity loss. Some people believe that the Roman Catholic Church had generalized role in this colonization meaning that they only focused at religious order and authority without interfering with state order and affairs. This means that they would only focus on the religion aspect of colonization. …show more content…
My argument consist of how the Catholic Church divided the new world between Portugal and Spain, how the Catholic Church destroyed the native religion and culture, and how the Catholic Church benefited from the colonization of Latin America.
The Catholic Church divided the Americas between Portugal and Spain ignoring the million people who already live there. In June 7, 1494, Pope Alexander VI created the Treaty of Tordesillas. This treaty consisted of the division the new lands between Portugal and Spain. “The treaty of Tordesillas secured for Portugal the true and eastward rote to India and the East Indies, for Spain most of the Americas and the pacific ocean” (Krastoska, p.13). this evidence support my argument as the Catholic Church not only they would give the Iberian peninsula the opportunity to obtain more lands, but they would also secure the route way for exchange goods. This is a proof for a papal support for Iberian Peninsula claims to the New World as
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The Church became the single largest landowner within the colony in Latin America, developing commercial agriculture, gold mining and others to support many of its activities such as building huge cathedrals and help spread Catholicism. According to Meade, the church held title to large tracts of lands, and most notably in the case of the convents of Mexico City and Lima, accrued fortunes, usually invested in properties, made loans, and collected rents (p.31). This proves that the Catholic Church supported the colonization of New World as they earned their goods and benefited from them. Both Spain and Portugal stole from Latin America under the church command. For instance, in Bolivia, Mexico and Peru, the natural riches of silver and gold existed there that became the economic base of all modern industrial economies . Meade mentions that the tremendous wealth of the Americans benefited the colonists who traveled and settled, and also benefited the Catholic empires on the other side of the ocean (p.25). The colonist have taken billions of dollars from the mines of the southern Americas by enslaving millions of Indian slave laborers as they were working under inhuman conditions. The Iberian Peninsula have never had so much money before and all of it legally stolen and blessed by colonial Catholicism, an arm of the conquering states of those times . To sum up, the Catholic Church benefited
In the 17th Century, widespread colonization of the new world was constantly changing the face of the Americas. European power-houses like England, France and Spain were building colonies on every coast line of the new world. The Native Americans were being forced from the lands they called home for many years, and those that wished to stay were being converted to Catholicism or other religious practices. In some parts of the Americas Native Americans were even being pressed into slavery.
Colonial Latin American society during the 16th and 17th was undergoing many changes. Society was beginning to form lasting institutions and a well defined culture emerged out of it. The Spanish Crown was now beginning to exert more control over their colonies and the Catholic Church was solidifying its place atop an already highly religious society. The Crown’s new found control would last until the independence of the colonies and the Church influence lasts in those societies up until this very day.
The discovery and conquest of American Indians inspired efforts to develop an ideology that could justify why they needed to enslave the Indians. The Spanish monarch wanted an ideal empire. "A universal empire, of which all their subjects were but servants. Charles V remained for them the dominus mundi, the legitimate and God-ordained lord of the world." (Weckmann, The Transit of Civilization, 23) Gold and religious conversion was the two most important inspirations for conquistadors in conquering America. Father Bartolome De Las Casas was a Dominican priest who came to the New World to convert the Indians to become Christians. He spent forty years on Hispanolia and nearby islands, and saw how the Spaniards brutally treated the Indians and sympathized with them. The Devastation of the Indies was an actual eyewitness account of the genocide by Las Casas, and his group of Dominican friars in which he demonizes the Spanish colonists and praises the Indians. Father Las Casas returned to Seville, where he published his book that caused an on going debate on whether the suppression of the Indians corrupted the Spaniards' values. What Las Casas was trying to achieve was the notion of human rights, that human beings are free and cogent by nature without the interference of others.
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Europeans began their colonization and settling into America. France and Spain both began exploring the New World to find gold and to spread Catholicism. What differed between them were their priorities in colonization. During the 16th century Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther posted the Ninety Five Theses, accusing the Church of corruption. Because of that, he ended up dividing the Catholic Church, which led to the rise of Protestant Churches in Europe. Spain, as a representative of Orthodox Catholicism, wanted to spread Catholicism further. They then established colonies in America, to convert the Indians to Catholicism and to stop Protestantism. France had entered the New World in search
Surely millions of people should be able to defend themselves from outside invaders. However, that wasn’t possible for them. By 1900, only 300,000 of the population remained. Around the time the Natives encountered the Europeans, they suffered from diseases and bloodshed. Later on they were forced by the Spaniards to convert to a new religion, Christianity.
During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was the dominant force in Western civilization. As the Dark Ages came to a close, the monarchies of Europe began to consolidate power; providing an alternative power base. With the Protestant Reformation came another blow to the influence of the Church. Spain, the forerunner in the Age of Discovery, was a fervently Catholic country. During the 16th century, the monarchy combined the forces of "cross and crown" in its imperial policy; much to the dismay and ultimate destruction of the indigenous peoples of the New World. Through an examination of Aztec polytheism and the Catholicism of the conquistadors, comes the central role of religion in the successful conquest of New Spain.
The European colonization of the Americas granted new opportunities to second born males who would have been soldiers or serving under the church or any who were less fortunate. It gave people a new start away from the monarchy and corruption that was prevalent through Europe. The French, English, Dutch and Spanish primarily colonized the "New World" for commercial and trading gains. None of these European nations conformed its entire enterprise to a religious endeavor or even came close to doing so. This brought astounding changes to both the "Old" and "New World" changing the course of history in ways we take for granted.
The Spaniards had a head start in exploration the New World. Soon after Christopher Columbus discovery of the Bahamas in 1492 The Spaniards focused their efforts on New World colonization. (Berkin, 25) According to Roman Catholics, the Treaty of Tordesillas granted Spain exclusive exploration to the Western Hemisphere, which included North, South and Central America. (Berkin, 25) The Spaniards quickly claimed regions, located precious metals such as gold & silver, and Christianized local natives. (Berkib, 27) Soon the Spaniards began minting silver coins that
They gave the least power and human rights to the Native Americans to show dominance over them, and prove who of them had the power. The purpose of the church building was to convert Native Americans to Christianity, many converted to avoid bloodshed and damage to their people. The Spanish forced the Native Americans to work; Encomienda, which means to have Native American labor. The Native Americans labored on haciendas/plantations, which means farms. They forced Native Americans to work
the Church maintained its relationship with the now-Creole elite at the expense of its relationship with other indigenous, mestizo and African sectors of the population. It closely aligned itself with the Conservative rather than Liberal parties in many countries which resulted in the severance of Church-state relationships in Ecuador, Brazil, Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panamá, Chile and Mexico. By the 1930s the Church found itself in the position of losing influence with the Latin American population. Maintaining its links to the conservative party and landowning elites of Latin America. The syncretism of religion in Latin America is the result of when combining beliefs which then changes the idea or the main thought of religion or belief system. This will usually result with the leader or leaders of the principle religion to become upset but not so much for the people who practice it. For example, “After independence was won from Spain, the creole elite split into conservatives and liberals. One of the issues of contention was the status of the Catholic Church. The liberals wanted religious toleration and secularization of some of the church's
Colonization in Latin America had a major effect on the Americas because the Aztecs died of the disease that the Europeans brought over though the Columbian Exchange. Since the Aztecs could not do much about the diseases that were spreading a lot of them began to die. The evidence from the pictures show that the Columbian Exchange took place during the 16th century. (doc 1). A lot of the Aztecs got sick and died. People could not do much about the diseases because they did not know what kind of disease it was. The Aztecs were also not immune to any of the disease that were spreading. Those are some reasons why the colonization in Latin America had a major effect on the Natives.
In the year of 1492, the Queen and King of Spain developed thoughts of strengthening their power and seeking new sources of wealth. This being stated the Queen and King had agreed on financing Christopher Columbus’s expedition, hoping it would bring the kingdom wealth (Ellis 2004). On October 12 Columbus had discovered a new location, due to this discovery; Latin America had been colonized by the Spanish conquistadors sent by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. Overall, Latin America had been colonized for the sake of seeking wealth (Ellis 2004). Obtaining gold was the simple way of gaining wealth. Gold was the resource that attracted Spaniards to the Island of Hispaniola, because it was also King Ferdinand's interest (De la Riva 2003 ). Thus it ended up becoming the ultimate goal of the Christian Spaniards sent to Hispaniola to acquire gold and swell themselves in riches. (Las Casas 1552).Trading was also the key to getting wealthy; the more resources available for trade the more wealth will be gained. Resources in the New World attracted the Spanish conquistadors to Latin America; it was also what he...
The similarity between the Spanish and the French was that they both had colonized for religious reasons. Both the Spanish and the French had used the excuse of needing to spread Catholicism within the Americas. The Spanish first used the excuse of “God, Glory, and Gold” to conquer the New World. Conquistadores like Hernán Cortés and Ponce de León had been a part of this motto and conquered for God, for the land and fame, and for all else the gold. Also when the Spanish had arrived in California, they had enslaved Native Americans to build missions. These missions would be used to place where the Native Americans would be enslaved and converted to Catholicism. In the missions, Native Americans would be again mistreated, abused, enslaved, and infected while they resided in the missions. As the French population was decreasing in Americas, the Ordonnance of 1627 was created for the Native Americans. The Ordonnance was that if an Native American decided to convert to Catholicism, he or she would be considered as a natural frenchman. This allowed religion to spread throughout and increase the French population in the
Scholars have debated not only the nature of Iberian colonialism, but also the impact that independence had on the people of Latin America. Historian Jaime E. Rodriguez said that, “The emancipation of [Latin America] did not merely consist of separation from the mother country, as in the case of the United States. It also destroyed a vast and responsive social, political, and economic system that functioned well despite many imperfections.” I believe that when independence emerged in Latin America, it was a positive force. However, as time progressed, it indeed does cause conflict.
The first Catholic priests came to South America with the conquistadors and through social and political force superimposed 16th century Catholicism upon conquered peoples and in subsequent generations upon slaves arriving in the New World. Catholicism has, likewise, frequently absorbed, rather than confronted, popular folk religious beliefs. The resulting religion is often overtly Catholic but covertly pagan. Behind the Catholic facade, the foundations and building structure reflect varying folk religious traditions. (2)