In this week’s reading, “Spanish Conquest” by Elizabeth Carmichael and Chloe Sayer discuss the subjugation, ethnocide, and struggle the indigenous population of Mexico endured during the Spanish conquest. The Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortez, enslave and forced the Aztecs to believe that Christianity was the one true religion. Therefore, the indigenous people were forced to convert their faith through the Spanish missionaries to lose their indigenous roots. Later, the authors explain the many difficulties and conflicts Spanish priest underwent to teach the Christian faith to the Aztecs. The Spanish friar first taught the indigenous people Christianity in Nahuatl.
of schedule Spanish conquistadors, numerous evangelists considered themselves to be siding empathetically and defensively with the indigenous people groups. In 1537, Pope Paul III pronounced that Indians were not mammoths to be slaughtered or oppressed, but rather people with souls fit for salvation. At the time, this was comprehended to be an edified perspective of indigenous individuals, and one that good natured teachers tried to empower. Letters from ministers who lived among the Indians give us a feeling of the worries numerous held for the welfare of tribal people groups. A letter by Franciscan monk Juan de Escalona reprimands the "shocks against the Indians" conferred by a Spanish legislative head of what is presently New Mexico.
In the 1500’s and 1600’s, Europe dived into an era of exploration of new trade routes. Exploration carried out by explorers like Cortes, Diaz and Da Gama led Europe into new lands. The main motivations of these explorers were to gather spices and gold. Their countries were infatuated with the spices of Asia and with precious metals. Religion was not the main motivation for European exploration during the 15th and 16th centuries; however, the search for wealth was.
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
I will also use the term “New World” to reference the places that the Spaniards travelled to. Though in a similar setting with the same religion, each text maintains a different view on the matters of Spanish conquests, which makes for an interesting discussion when comparing similarities all three. Despite a difference of opinion of how to convert, these three texts A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies, The Letter of Columbus to Luis de Sant Angel Announcing His Discovery, and Democrates Alter, Or, on the Just Causes for War Against the Indians similarly posit justification for violent acts and conversion of the indigenous peoples based on religious beliefs. To defend my argument, I will first explain the similar aspects between the three texts regarding the acknowledgement of the cruel actions against the natives to gain more knowledge of the land and its people. I will then discuss the similar opinion of each author that argues a Christian duty to convert the natives after having gained information about the New World.
Columbus was eventually able to achieve this. His discovery opened the door to new trade routes, food, and plants. It also marked the start of transatlantic colonization. Though, religion wasn’t just being spread to the West. It was also introduced to the East in Africa.
Columbus and his men were supposed to convert people to Chrisitanity peacefully, they said it was the only way to do so. Jesus Christ spread Christianity and gained new followers by being peaceful. The Indians had their own community, culture and beliefs before Columbus had arrived. They never agreed to be taken away from their land and robbed of their culture. Columbus threatened to harm the Indians if they did not agree to follow their rules.
The Age of Exploration occurred from 1400 to 1700 C.E. It is famously known as the Age of Exploration because it was a time when explorers from Europe travelled by sea to explore west of them, and make many geographical advances. Exploration was motivated by gold, glory, and God. Along with their motivation, the Europeans also wanted to find trading partners, new goods, new trade routes, and simply find new land. With exploration, there were many good effects and many bad ones.
The Aztecs were constantly launching raids to capture prisoners for the enormous number of human sacrifices they conducted. There is important archeological evidence showing that several Indian civilizations suffered violent ends at the hands of other Indian cultures long before the arrival of the Europeans in America. • In effect, the Spanish employed a colonization strategy of "gold and souls. " Converting the native population to Catholicism not only spread the doctrines of the Catholic Church, then under threat in Europe, but could, it was believed, further the control of Indian behavior in the mines and on the plantations.
French Exploration in the New World French Exploration began about forty years after Columbus sailed to the new world. They hoped to find a passageway that would get them to the east to trade, through America, Along with spreading Christianity with the natives and claiming land. The French found that Furs were a large thing on the trade market. So fur trading became a huge part in French History in America.
Throughout the colonization of the New World, Spanish conquistadors and priests were united in their belief that it was Spain's absolute right to establish Christianity in the Americas. However, there were differing opinions on the best methods for converting the indigenous peoples into Spanish subjects. Though Spanish conquistadors and priests never questioned Spain’s absolute right to establish Christianity in the New World, there were disagreements over the proper methods used to convert Indians into Spanish subjects. On one hand, some believed that violence and coercion were necessary to force the conversion of the native populations.
Christopher Columbus was an explorer and navigator born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. When Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Spain in 1492, he hoped to reach eastern Asia. He thought he had reached Asia when he landed on an island in the Caribbean Sea. In fact he had opened up to Europeans a new world with two continents—North America and South America—and many islands.
As more settlers came to the new world from Europe, they brought Christianity with them, and Christianity’s popularity from Europe continued on in the new world. European contact with Native Americans deteriorated the Natives’ religions while strengthening the Europeans’
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.
Age of Exploration was a period of time from thousands of years ago, during which European ships were traveled around the world searching for trading routes and partners to help Europe. Lands were used to maintain foods and keep them from spoiling. Lands, however, were expensive and dangerous to get. Traders had to travel from a land route from Europe to Asia to get them. Europeans were desperate to get lands from Asia.
