Spanish Missionaries Research Paper

568 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ruling spanish empire chapter of prentice halls world history book

Spanish Missionaries The Spanish empire had Spanish missionaries, sent by the church, who would help them pass along their teachings and persuade people into converting to Catholicism. As well as becoming part of the Spanish empire. They particularly did this to American Indians because the Spaniards wanted to incorporate the Indians into their empire (lecture). However, they do see the Indians as savage and wild, something the Spaniards have never see in humans before. So, in order for the Spanish missionaries to incorporate American Indians to the empire they had to alter the Indians life style to be more like the Spaniards. The Spaniards imperial style believed that there was a way to live together with the Indians, but not as equals. There …show more content…

Religion was one of the main ways that they used to convert. They would send missionaries to spread the words of god and converting the Indians into the Catholic religion. Based off of the reading we do not know if the Indians had a religion prior to converting, but those that converted have a more set religion. Sharing the same religious beliefs helped unify the Spaniards and the Indians. Sending the missionaries out into the land in search of natives allowed the number of converted Indians in the Spanish empire to grow. The way they dressed was altered as well, with the help of the missionaries (Mission Guidelines). As examples if we compare two watercolor paintings of different Texas Indian people, the Comanches’ and Karankawas’, we can see there is a slight change in their clothing styles. The Karankawas’ stay more true to the traditional Indian culture with bare feet, basic hunting tools and the man barely clothed while the woman is fully clothed with a poncho (Karankawa Watercolor). However in the Comanche watercolor we see that they have been influenced with some of the Spaniards dress. Both the man and the woman are wearing shoes because that makes them more civilized and less wild. The woman wears more of a blouse that is mostly seen as Spanish clothing. One other main thing we notice in that painting is the riffle on the horse. Even the tools that Indians would commonly use were being replaced with Spanish weapons (Comanche

Show More
Related

  • Anne Hutchinson And George Whitfield Religious Beliefs

    268 Words  | 1 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Colombian Exchange and Christianity in 1450 and 1750

    1871 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Columbian Exchange occurred after the voyage of Christopher Columbus. It was the process of the exchange of culture, food, ideas, animals, disease, and religion from the rest of the world to America and more. The Native Americans suffered vastly from the Columbian Exchange and their death rates rose immaculately. Europe, Spain, and Portugal all interested in the goods that the Americas had to offer, made several voyages passing on not only goods, but their religion.[ "Colombian Exchange." Silvia, Joseph. (accessed February 16, 2014). http://ezinearticles.com/?Columbian-Exchange&id=2323785 ] There were many attempts to convert the native people to some form of Christianity. Some efforts were successful and some were not. The conversion of the natives to new religions changed the values and culture of a people and the idea only traveled and expanded over tim...

    Read More

  • Bartolome De Las Casas Analysis

    1150 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bartolome de las casas had hoped to prevent further harm to Indians, and clarify that they were not barbarians. 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 in 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 their buildings, which are like those of Venice”(Poole 4).

    Read More

  • How Did Western Culture Influence The Aztec Culture

    1672 Words  | 4 Pages

    Aztec and Latin American art has only recently gotten the credibility it deserves and it has done become very popular because Aztec and Latin American Art has gradually begin to grow through the mainstream media. Latin American and Aztec art has also found its way into modern art is by targeting the mainstream media through some very powerful trends, such as art, fashion, and graphic designs. These fields have been stricken with what some people call the “Aztec bug.” Everything, from patterns, illustrations, ornaments, shows the Aztec infiltration into modern mainstream media, and it has become an extremely popular trend. Young people all over the world are beginning to wear Aztec patterns on their clothing and footwear.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast French And Spanish Colonization

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 1400’s European countries had been thrusted into overseas expansion in the fever for land and gold. All throughout Europe, monarchies had sent explorers all over the world to conquer land for their country. Each country had conquered and colonized in various styles, but each had a specific goal that they wanted to achieve. During the European colonization of the Americas or the New World, both the Spanish and the French spread the idea of Catholicism throughout the Americas, however the Spanish believed in treating the Native Americans in a harsher way by enslaving them for labor whereas the French established trade relationships.

    Read More

  • The Devastation of the Indies

    287 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Native American And Spanish Civilization

    461 Words  | 1 Pages

    Finally, when it came down to the types of ceremonies and views both civilizations had, they were on two different pages. The Natives believed happiness was the key to good fortune. So, in order to get that fortune, they’d do sacrifices, and rituals to please the “mighty ones”. Then, as stated in the book “A History of Latin America”, it says, “Jews publicly converted to Christianity to avoid the torture…”, In which, this showed how religion and the spiritual views were forced upon people in the Spanish civilization.

    Read More

  • Columbian Exchange Argumentative Essay

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    When they found the “new world” is too weak to resist the invasion of European, they started to establish the colony in America. Bartolomé de Las Casas used to be a priest who explored America on Hispaniola and Cuba. But after he witnessed the colonists enslave and mistreat Indians, he changed his mind and start to protect the Indians. He free his Indian slaves in 1514, and start to against Spanish mistreat them (Foner, p.7). After that, he made the effort to liberate the Indian slaves, and he had backed to Spain several times want to make the King reduce the heavy labor of Indians. Finally, Spain published New Laws in 1542, which indicate that Indians no longer be enslaved (Foner, p.7).

    Read More

  • Mexican-Americans' Fight for Equality in America

    1800 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Americans settled all over the United States and in the 1820s began showing interest in the West because of trade with Asia. Certain leaders were sent out on missions' to "help" better the lives of the Indians and Mexicans. When the white settlers first came to West they viewed the Indians and Mexicans as savages. They did not think of them as human because their lifestyle was unsuitable, or rather different then their own. The only way that they could tolerate them was to try and change their way of living. They attempted to convert them into the Christian religion, to change the way they ate, what they ate, how they ate it, the way they dressed, teach them English, etc. "The object of the missions is to convert as many of the wild Indians as possible, and to train them up within the walls of the establishment in the exercise of a good life, and of some trade, so that they may be able to provide for themselves and become useful members of civilized society."1

    Read More

  • Spaniards in Southwest America

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Spanish began their movement to Southwest America in the late sixteenth century. From that point on, their influence both on the Native Americans and the environment was extraordinaire. The goal of the Spaniards with regards to the Native Americans was to transform them “into tax-paying Christians.” This is in contrast to the idea that their goal was to eradicate the Indians form the Americas. Consequently, the Spaniards took many Indians so that they may plant their religion in the Natives and to use them as cheap labor. This led many Indians to learn the customs and language of the Spaniards so they could to be able to thrive in the Spanish culture. Thus, some Natives acquired Spanish, which was the main source of their Hispanicization; this was the notion of Indians becoming encompassed by the Spanish society. Furthermore, Indians gradually learned skills, obtained land, and sometimes found Hispanic spouses, thus furthering their Hispanicization. They now began to live in a Spanish manner and blend into the bottom of the Spanish societal ladder. This “acculturation” of the Native Americans was in contrast to the models of early English colonization. Spanish goals and plans sought to involve the Indians so that they may live in their society even if at the lower end of it’s ladder. English colonies viewed the Natives as savages and looked to them for slave labor or to rape their women. They did not plan to take the Indians into their society as the Spaniards did so throughout this era.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Spanish And English Colonization Of The Spanish And Native Americans

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1492, Columbus, the first of the Spanish explorers, sailed the Atlantic Ocean for the purpose of converting the inhabitants of the land he arrived on (thought to be Asia) to Christianity. He wanted to use them, according to Taylor’s writings in American Colonies, “to recruit their bodies and wealth to assist

    Read More

  • Religious Conquest of the Americas

    1904 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Spanish And Puritans Compare And Contrast Essay

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    Once settled down the English and Spanish went in two different directions in regard to their religion. The Spanish conquistadors’ and friars’ in the southwest wanted to spread christianity to anyone they could. The Spanish would conqueror Native American tribes and force christianity upon them. To the Spanish in the southwest they just wanted the Native Americans’ to have some type of Christian beliefs. The Puritans’ however were very strict about following their values. For instance, Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams were both banished from the colony for going against their official teachings. As well, as being less tolerate, the Puritans’ were not as aggressive as forcing their religion onto Native Americans’. Other than praying towns, the Puritans’ did not force their beliefs on to the Native Americans’ who lived around them. The Spanish on the other hand sought out Native Americans’ to convert them. The Spanish, after conquering a tribe or ransacking a village, would force the Native Americans’ to convert. If they refused they would use the encomienda system to convert them. The encomienda system was a Spanish practice, where they enslaved Native Americans who refused to convert to Christianity. The conquistadors’ would force them to mine gold and silver until death or conversion. How they Spanish and Puritans’ managed their religion reflected on how the two interacted with Natives. The two differed in their treatment toward Native Americans’ with the intimate relationships they had with them. In the southwest many Spaniards would marry Native American women and bear children called mestizos. In Massachusetts, however it was unheard of to have any type of intimate relations between whites and Native Americans.

    Read More

  • The Fall of the Aztec and Inca Empires

    1414 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...th empires. The Indian overlords made no attempts to assimilate the other cultures to their own and thus provided the basis for a full scale revolt against them. With diligent work by missionaries, the Spaniards tried to bring together the people of present-day Mexico and the southwestern United States by converting them to Christianity. The resulting extension of the Spanish empire, New Spain, was the most strongly united of the American empires for years to come.

    Read More

  • The Mexican Folk Art And Mexican Folk Art

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the worlds history, many forms of folk art have been established. One easily identifiable is that of the Mexican folk art. Mexican folk art has great range and variety. This is primarily because the difference in available materials spread throughout the land. There are over a hundred types of clay, different woods and metals, and even a vast array of vegetable fibers used in textile work that let to a drastic amount of recognizable differences in the art. Artists used a large variety of animal, mineral, and vegetable products to dye and paint their pieces. There is also a very different stylization based on geographic locations and split of communities. This is due to the settling of invading Mesoamerican culture mixed with the Spanish and Arabic cultures. Although there is a vast amount of traditional folk art products from Mexico, pottery, wood burning, glass blowing, and paper mache are staples of the Mexican folk art culture. When Mexico ...

    Read More

More about Spanish Missionaries Research Paper

Open Document