the Spanish saw the natives abundance of gold and that they were not Christian, and they felt justified in mistreating them because they thought they were helping them religiously
Juan de Oñate: The Last Conquistador Your name Name of the University Juan de Onate: The Last Conquistador Juan de Onate, described as the last conquistador was a great person who led hundreds of families to settle in one of the oldest European colonies in the United States in search of unimaginable wealth. Juan de Onate was born in 1550 to aristocrats Cristobal de Onate and Catalina de Salazar in Vera Cruz, Mexico. Cristobal and Catalina were wealthy Spanish colonists and proud owners of a silver mine in Zacatecas, which is currently located in the north central Mexico. Juan involved himself in safeguarding his father’s silver mines right from an early age.
They saw Catholic Spain as their enemy and decided to move forward in settling the New World in hopes of spreading Protestantism. Bartolome de Las Casas’ writing was seen as justification to “rescue” the inhabitants of the New World (Foner 126). While Spain’s main focus was to expand its empire, the English came to America on the premise of religious freedom and economic independence. Unfortunately, after working well with the Native Americans for a period of time in “Anglo-Indian harmony”, the English settlers eventually began to overpower them. The English way of living disrupted that of the Native people which resulted in conflict, prompting the Uprising of 1622.
Some factors that best explain the success enjoyed by the 16th century conquistadors in conquering Native American empires include riding horses, wearing helmets, advanced weaponry, intimidation, strategy, and disease. Riding horses allowed the conquistadors to move fast and carry their weapons with them, causing fear in the Natives and their defeat. The conquistadors wore helmets that helped protect their heads from the Native American retaliation; this is a very vulnerable part of the body when not protected. Advanced weapons such as guns were terrifying to the Native Americans instilling fear in them and put them at a disadvantage in fighting off the conquistadors. Conquistadors were also armed with very perfected swords that were much
Under the “dogmatic assumption that the new world belonged to Spain by the right of Pope Alexander’s bull of donation,” Cortés believed that he was the “instrument of divine justice” permitting him to violently act upon the inhabitants if they did not cease their possessions to the Spaniards. In addition, Cortés believed that he had the right to destroy the natives’ forms of idols and replace them with Christian statues. Through the narrative of Cortés’s leadership, it is evident that religion was valued since it served as a guide to administer Spanish expansion. The narrative of Sundiata demonstrates that religion was important to the Mandingo culture because it was spiritual force that granted Sundiata blessing and fortune in
One of the first Christian missionaries to arrive at Huarochiri was a young Jesuit named Blas Valera. Being the son of an Indian women and a Spanish man, he struggled with the idea of replacing the customs and beliefs of his mother with those of Christianity. (Hyland, 2) Valera believed that Andean religion was a precursor for Christianity and mirrored the ideas and beliefs. Therefore this meant that Andean religion was not inferior to Christianity. (Hyland, 3) Conversion to Christianity was often done by force of the Spaniards and through violence.
Latin America Essay 1 In 1521, Hernan Cortes captured the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, ending the reign of the Aztecs in what is now modern day Mexico. However, does the riches, land, and power gained by the Spanish justify the killing and looting? This vanquishment, as well as the ethical predicament it creates, considerably affected Latin America and Europe. Before we get into the ethical portion of Cortes' conquest, we must first explore the conquest itself.
Intros During the period of 1450 to 1800, empires began to form across the globe, most notably the Spanish and the Ottoman empire. After the Battle of Tours, in which the French won, Christianity began to spread across all of Europe, competing against Islam from the Arab nations. As Christianity continued to spread, Christopher Columbus set sail, hoping to find spices in India, but arrived on the shores of the New World, the beginning of Age of Exploration. During this age, Spanish conquistadors colonized the indigenous populations, forcing them into a rigid labor system and hierarchy.
The Aztecs' morals and the devoted Spaniards would be the downfall of the Aztec Empire in 1521. Tenochtitlan was a marvelous Aztec capital with beautiful architecture and impressive markets. With outstanding temples made of stone, the city surrounded by rivers, and advance trading routes. This great city that took years to build in addition maintained over # civilians would have declined in a questionably short amount of time.
In The Requerimiento by Juan López de Palacios Rubios, natives in the new world were told, “We ask that … you acknowledge the Christian church as the ruler and superior of the whole world, and as superiors that you agree to let the Christian priests preach to you … (The Priests) shall not compel you to become Christians unless you yourself wish to be converted. But if you do not do this … we shall forcefully enter into your country and make war against you.” The Spanish conquistadors allowed natives to choose whether or not they wanted to convert to Christianity, However if they did not, then the Spanish turned them into slaves. The True History of the Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz del Castillo openly stated that a reason for Spanish exploration was, “To serve God and his majesty, to give light to those who were in darkness.” The Spanish viewed non-Christians as unintelligent people because they believed in a different God.
In 1550, Emporer Charles V summoned a debate to determine how Spain would deal with the Native Americans. Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda and Bartolomé de Las Casas engaged in discourse about this topic: Sepúlveda denigrated the Natives while de Las Casas defended them. Sepúlveda felt that the Native Americans were basically barbaric sub-humans, and that the Europeans were greatly superior to them. He felt that Christianity was far more altruistic than the Natives’ religions. However, Las Casas felt that the Natives should be treated equally, since he believed Jesus died for the Natives just like he died for the Europeans.
When thinking of the Spanish Conquest, two groups often come to mind: the Spaniards and the Native Americans. The roles of each of these groups and their encounters have been so heavily studied that often the role of Africans is undermined. As Matthew Restall states in his article Black Conquistadors, the justifications for African contribution are often “inadequately substantiated if not marginalized [as the] Africans were a ubiquitous and pivotal part of the Spanish conquest campaigns in the Americas […]” (Restall 172). Early on in his article, Restall characterizes three categories of Africans present during the Conquest – mass slaves, unarmed servants of the Spanish, and armed auxillaries (Restall 175).
When the Spanish found America, the found the riches. They were seen as “Gods” to the native American Indians. The Spanish were Catholics. They tried to spread their religion to the natives of the land because they believed Catholicism was the only religion to practice; all other religions had
European explorers and conquistadors during the age of exploration were motivated by three things: God, gold and glory. The two most prominent of the three between 1492 and 1607 were gold and glory. Beginning in 1492 gold motivated many explorers, from Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the New World to the Virginia Company’s colonization of America. Gold is a symbol for wealth, and many explorers soon realized the New World’s potential for wealth. The Spanish’s interest in wealth inspired Columbus’s expedition in the first place, as he was sent to India to trade for spices.
The Catholic Church and Latin America The Catholic Church was a great power ruling many civilizations in Europe during the period between 1492 and 1830. Therefore, the role of the Catholic Church was of utmost importance to the colonization and development of Latin America as it was a great force in Spain and Portugal. Despite the peaceful teachings of the Church, greed and a hunger for power led them to make decisions harming Latin America and Christianity, rather than thriving it. In this paper, I will show that the Catholic Church is significantly responsible for the colonization and development of Latin America through, the Christianizing mission, the Treaty of Tordesillas, and the Spanish Inquisition.
