Before Columbus landed in the West Indies in 1492, The Spanish Inquisition made it known to anyone within Spain’s domain of influence that if a person was not of the Catholic religion, they were to be punished severely and sometimes even fatally. This influence would undoubtedly be brought over to the Americas a century later, as the colonization of the New World would begin by then. While it was very essential for the Spanish (as well as the Portuguese) to improve their economy by using the resources they found in Latin America, it seemed to a number of them as if that was the only reason for being there, or the main reason at the very least. During the Spanish Inquisition and from that point after, it was the Pope’s main goal, to convert everyone to Roman Catholicism; an opportune moment arrived as the Americas were found, along with the Natives who resided there who were waiting to be converted. Although it may not have seemed fairly difficult in theory, The Pope along with the Crown of Spain set out with the goal to convert the Native Americans. One decisive factor that challenged that decree of conversion was the economic benefits that Spain would receive. This would eventually change the agendas of Spain, and ultimately it would indirectly make those living in the New World choose: Spain or Religion? This was not said in these exact words, but people, especially religious orders would have to choose to fight for what they believed in, or to follow the orders straight from the Spanish Crown. Two conflicts during this time are seen as significant towards this battle between the interests of the Natives in the Americas. One of which was between two men: Bartolomé Las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda. Las Casas defends t... ... middle of paper ... ...es. While Eduardo Galeano’s poetry may be fiction, he does say one sentence at the end of one of his poems that sounds so very true to this conflict: “The desire to make money, not win souls, is what builds empires.” Bibliography Charles III. Expulsion of the Jesuits. Letter. The Spanish Tradition in America. 1767. Galeano, Eduardo. Genesis: Memory of Fire, Volume 1 (Memory of Fire Trilogy). New York: W.W Norton and Company., 1998. Joffé, Roland. "The Mission." 1986. DVD Las Casas, Bartolomé. Cruelties of Spaniards. Essay. The Spanish Tradition in America. Chiapas: 1542. Las Casas, Bartolomé. Treatise. Treatise. The Spanish Tradition in America. Seville: 1552. Paul III, Pope. Indians are Men. Letter. The Spanish Tradition in America. Vatican City: 1537. Sepúlveda, Juan Ginés de. Just War Against Barbarians. Essay. The Spanish Tradition in America. 1544.
Anais Nin once said that “we write to taste life twice: in the moment and in retrospection.” In his book, Seven Myths of Spanish Conquest, Matthew Restall tries to change our perception of the past in other to open our eyes to what life was really like during the colonial period. As Restall puts it, the main propose of the book is to “illustrate the degree to which the Conquest was a far more complex and protracted affair” (p.154) than what was supposed in the latters and chronicles left by the conquistadores. Each one of Restall’s chapters examines one of seven myths regarding the mystery behind the conquest. By doing so, Matthew Restall forces us to look back at the Spanish conquest and question
Hate and anger was spreading throughout the pueblos concerning the Spaniards power in New Mexico. There was a small skirmish in Santa Fe that the Indians won, but Pope said they needed more than that. He wanted Indian organization, leadership, and a magic spark with which to set the country aflame. He traveled to each pueblo and won their loyalty during secret meetings he held. He wanted each pueblo to strengthen the courage of their Indians by cleansing the ranks of informers. He suspected his son-in-law as being as a spy for the Spaniards, so they killed him. The Spaniards found out about this and went looking for Pope, but he hid in the Taos Pueblo.
“The Conquest of New Spain” is the first hand account of Bernal Diaz (translated by J.M. Cohen) who writes about his personal accounts of the conquest of Mexico by himself and other conquistadors beginning in 1517. Unlike other authors who wrote about their first hand accounts, Diaz offers a more positive outlook of the conquest and the conquistadors motives as they moved through mainland Mexico. The beginning chapters go into detail about the expeditions of some Spanish conquistadors such as Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, Juan de Grijalva and Hernando Cotes. This book, though, focuses mainly on Diaz’s travels with Hernando Cortes. Bernal Diaz’s uses the idea of the “Just War Theory” as his argument for why the conquests were justifiable
Despite helping individuals, it is clear that rival tribes displayed animosity in larger scale interactions. Tribes engaged in war against each other, much like Europeans engaged in war against each other. The fact that de Vaca draws this comparison shows an equality in how native tribes and European peoples handled adversaries. For the most part, de Vaca's writing shows neutrality in Indian to Indian relations. “When the Cultalchulces, who were in company with our Indians, were ready to return to their own hearth.”
The religious views of the Indians and the Europeans were different. The Natives were very willing to take up Catholicism as an addition to their religious practice. Although, the Spanish misinterpreted the situation and thought that the Indians were accepting Catholicism as their only religion. If all Natives would have truly converted to Catholicism, then it would have resulted with their own religious practices dying out and Catholicism becoming the only religion. The Native’s refusal to give up their own religious practice, I would say, played a key role in setting a precedent for other believers to continue having the same perspective or form a new one. Similarly, Anne Hutchinson and George Whitfield changed their perspective on how much
In Matthew Restall’s book The Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest, he argues that many of the widely accepted modern beliefs about the Spanish Conquest are misguided or skewed. These myths more importantly show how dependent history is on the perspective of the one who is writing it, and how the writer perceives the events happening around them. One example, is the myth of white Spaniards going to a foreign land on the decree of a king and finding barbarous natives who are inferior to these so-called great men. Using documentation written from both sides, and taking into account the context of the time period, Restall explores the myths of the Spanish Conquest in order to frame a less romanticized, well-rounded view of what actually happened
Of the text named Bartolome de las casas: In Defense of the Indians(c.1550) it covers what is to be the Spanish Conquistadores, and talks of the natives to which at the time seen by many are barbaric, ignorant, incapable of learning, just another group of people to be conquered. But to the Catholic missionaries they see the Natives as new people to influence and enlighten. But if at any time the person drops the belief of Christianity they would use deadly force against the person or family. Adding to that Hernán comments that their cities are “ worth of admiration because of its building, which are like those of Venice”(Poole 4). While the argument remain if really would the Natives had stood a chance what
For many years’ native people of the North America lived in peaceful in their homelands. However, one day the lives of the Native Americans would come to an upsetting stop. In June of 1540, Hernando De Soto, a Spanish explorer to led the first European expedition deep into the United States mainland in search of god, glory and gold. Hernando set to out to conquer the empire and to capture the Aztecs, .On his next journey out as govern, he encountered the native’s people. From that day forward, natives would adapt to the settlers ways and even involved themselves in wars.
Bowden’s idea of why this happened focused mainly on the old misunderstood traditions of the tribes living in Mexico. He shows how the friars, churches and icons took the blunt of the revolts force. Bowden points out the religious differences and similarities be...
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.
Bartolomé de Las Casas begins by providing a vivid description of each land being invaded by the Europeans and the type of peopl...
Schwartz, Stuart B. Victors and Vanquished: Spanish and Nahua Views of the Conquest of Mexico. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000.
The destruction of entire people is often overlooked, due to the important fact that it is usually the victor that writes the history books and the facts to be. In Alex Nava’s Wonder and Exile, in the New World adventurers of many backgrounds such as Cabeza de Vaca and Bartolome Las Casas, help to develop three important concepts within the cultural, religious, and literary representations of modern day Latin America. Over a span of 500 years Nava’s three concepts of wonder, exile, and deprivation are shown to have an importance in the shape and further development of the Americas and its Native peoples.
To the defense of the Spaniards, there was little knowledge that the diseases of the Columbian exchange had caused the widespread, mass deaths of the natives. Las Casas was pivotal in bringing to light the brutal treatment of the natives. The crown took this information seriously. If it hadn’t been for Las Casas stance on anti-brutality against the natives, change would not have come for a long
The Counter-Reformation was a response to the Reformation. Realizing that the popularity of Christianity was decreasing, Jesuits traveled to spread Christianity. Their goal was to have people join the Catholic Church. In the Age of Exploration, the Jesuits were able to travel to South America –– something that they weren’t able to do before. Both Spain and Portugal had motives for exploration. The Spanish wanted to spread Christianity among the Guaraní tribe. The Treaty of Madrid allowed the Portuguese to own the land of the Guaraní, which led them to be in danger from the slave trade. This is because of mercantilism –– where the nation’s strength is depended on its wealth. They believed that there is a fixed amount of wealth in the world, this led to intense competition between the nations. In the beginning, Mendoza, a slaver and mercenary, would kidnap natives and sell them to plantations. Cabeza, the Spanish governor, bought these slaves from Mendoza. The Counter-Reformation and Age of Exploration heavily influenced the actions of the Spanish and