Acts Of Possession: The Spanish, French, And English

In the document “Acts of Possession”, the Spanish, French, and English profess their reasoning and methods to the uptake of Native American lands. Each had similar ideologies on why they believed they could take the land, and that was by the use of religion. It was prevalent in the document that religion was the main motivation for their justification, yet, the Spanish, French, and English each had a slightly different interpretation on why they were capable to take the Natives land. Whether it was threats, teaching, or a compromise, each European power had their version of religion to help them take over the land.
Starting with the most aggressive approach to conquering the land was by the Spanish. They began their rationalization by stating

that God made a man named St. Peter to be followed by the people. The Spanish then go on to establish that to be a follower of St. Peter, you would also need to follow the King and Queen. They gave the Natives a harsh ultimatum. Either they follow the Church or they would be attacked, killed, enslaved, and destroyed. The Spanish felt the Natives to be barbaric, but coincidentally, they threatened to wreak havoc on them if they opposed their rule. The Spanish also had no limitations on gender or age. They threatened to enslave the women and children and do as they please with them. They were the first example in “Acts of Possession” where religion was used to take over the Native lands. They believed if the Natives didn’t follow the Church, they were in turn able to punish them through the power of God; that in a way, they were committing a good deed in the name of their religion. (“Acts of Possession”, par. 1)
The next European power “Acts of Possession” introduced was the French. Now, the French had a completely different method towards using religion to gain the Natives land. While the Spanish were much more aggressive, the French used a more teaching style approach. They began to build and put up a thirty foot cross in the presence of the Natives (“Acts of Possession”, par. 2). While doing so, they also united in prayer to further show the Natives what they wanted them to adopt. Even though the French were not destructive like the Spanish, they still viewed the Natives as lesser people. With their method, the French seemed to want to intrigue the Natives into their religion. It still didn’t seem as though the Natives had much of a choice, which is a unifying them throughout the document.
Lastly came the English approach to taking the Natives land. They didn’t see why there was a problem to make use of the land when Abraham did so with the Sodomites (“Acts of Possession”, par. 3). The English believed they had a right to use the land based off of previous experiences in Christianity, which they used as the same concept into taking the Natives land. The part that distinguishes the English from the others was their willingness to see there was enough land for all. Yet, like the others, they believed God favored them and sent down a punishment to the Indians. This was their justification for the Natives dying of the plague, and another reason they believed they could take the vacant land.
In conclusion, the unified theme throughout “Acts of Possession” was the use of religion to justify the conquering of Native American land. The Spanish, French, and English each had a different approach in spreading this message, but it can be seen inclusively they believed the Natives didn’t bear the same humane rights as them. Each didn’t give the Natives much of a choice. The Spanish were aggressive, the French were teachers, and the English were a middle ground. Each European power had a different tactic, but in the end, they all took the Native American land to use to their benefit.