This American Columbus and colonization mythistory influences the highest American statesman in Theodore Roosevelt to the lowest American marine to preface the Native American genocide as excusable for the sake of Western society. As Zin notes, an American officer in the Phillipines drew the aforementioned parallel between American Native and Filipino colonization: “There is no use in mincing words.. We exterminated the American Indians and I guess most of us are proud of it..and we must have no scruples about exterminating this other race standing in the way of progress and enlightenment, if it is necessary…” Indeed, as the American officer spoke of “progress and enlightenment” in exterminating the Natives and Filipinos, so Chauncey DePew spoke in reference to Columbus’ colonial triumph as marking American progress in terms of wealth and power. Suffice to say, the American officer’s account of the Native American colonization and genocide is replete with similar glowing and progress-driven terminology as present Chauncey DePew’s account.
During the time, protestantism was on the rise all over the world, leading the Catholic invaders to push extra hard for converts, in an effort to recover from the reformation, and continue expanding Catholicism. Because the natives had not been exposed to any other form of Christianity, the invaders saw them as a great opportunity to gain coverts. The negative effects of this push for catholicism can be seen in Documents 5 and 9. Doc 5, a formal demand from the Spanish invaders, states that if the natives choose to convert to Catholicism, and recognize the Pope as their ruler, they will be left at peace by the invaders. However, if they do not convert, they will be killed and have all of their possessions destroyed.
In order to prove that the Arawak people were being abused by the Spaniards, Zinn uses sources from both Christopher Columbus and Bartolome De Las Casas. Zinn talks about Las Casas because he had the only information on what happened after Columbus met the Arawak people. One example that Las Casas states that Zinn brings up to display the cruelty of the Spanish people was “Las Casas tells how ‘two of these so-called Christians net two Indian boys one day, each carrying a parrot; they took the parrots and for fun beheaded the boys.’ ” .4 This quote alone gives the reader the proof that the Indians were mistreated horribly and that this changes how we should view Columbus and the Europeans in the New World.
As a slave, “he befriended his captors and was therefore allowed to serve as a trader”(Document B). The Spanish conquistador met four Indian groups along his journey, which were the Charrucos, Mariames, Yguases, and Quevenes(Document A). Also, when the Spaniards, also known as the “Christians”, contacted “Cabeza, his fellow survivors, and the Indians following him”(Document D). When the Spaniards tried to convince the Indians that Cabeza was a person they should distrust, they were “not at all convinced, saying that the Spaniards were lying”(Document D). Because Cabeza respected the Indians, they grew trust in him so they helped the Spanish soldier to survive.
Conquerors also threatened the natives. It was required that the natives accept the Church as the “Ruler”, and if they didn’t, war would be made against them and their family would become enslaved (document 7). The natives in America suffered severely during this time. In Latin America, the Spanish conquerors overworked the Indian natives and treated them harshly. The Spaniards broke apart families and relationships so that they would have limited contact with each other and would be forced to give up their customs.
In Debater Francione’s argument considering the Andre Robinson Case, A man who callously kicked a cat for laughs, Francione says that intentionally harming an animal is no different from killing an animal for eating purposes. And those that eat meat are practically the same as people who abuse animals on purpose.
“The Devastation of the Indies” In the article, “The Devastation of the Indies” by Bartoleme de Las Casa, we read about the horrible things that were done to the Indians by the so-called Christians who were heaven sent who were known as the Spaniards. The Spaniards did not consider the Indians as human beings. The Spaniards came into the Indian land and tried to turn them into something they are not. They treated the Indians like dogs and did not pity them in any way.
Recently, a named Sgt. Jonathan Whaley preformed a heroic action to reunite a lost animal with its owner. The Alabama officer drove Kai, the lost animal, 770 miles to reunite the animal with its family. The dog’s owner, McKenzie Catron, was killed in a tragic accident, and St. Whaley was the first to arrive as the scene of the accident. The officer learned that a dog was involved, and rescued the animal before bringing him home.
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
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.
According to Las Casas, the Son of God “gave his life for every living soul (p. 32),” which includes the lives of the indigenous people (p. 72). Therefore, each man, woman, and child, no matter where they came from, their skin color, age, sex, religion, are equal and apart of the human race. In his short account, Las Casas is absolutely appalled that a human life could be belittled and devalued to the extent where a single mare can be bartered for eighty locals: “that is, eighty members of the human race (p. 65).” Therefore, he claimed that it would be “a criminal neglect of my duty to remain silent (p. 6)” and took a stand to defend the indigenous people against what Las Casas believed to be “mortal enemies of the human race (p.
The first Catholic missionaries, also know as Jesuits, came to New France in 1634 to spread Christianity and European values. The Jesuits established Sainte-Marie-aux-Hurons by the St. Lawrence River in 1639, creating a central base for all missionary work in New France. This paper will examine how the Jesuits ' feelings of superiority over the Huron people led to converting the native population to Christianity. Father Jean de Brébeuf saw both positive and negative aspects of the Huron confederacy. One aspect of the American Indians’ culture he approved of was their marriage customs.
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.
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.
With Columbus’ first description of the “Indians,” he makes it clear that they are a weird society in which they walked around naked and had the females do all the work instead of the males. “...not because they be not a well-formed people and of fair stature, but that they are most wondrously timorous” (Columbus 7). He sees the natives as primitive and could easily be persuaded into the form of Christianity. Ms. Rowlandson begins with this strong mentality as well, presenting claims such as “I should choose rather to be killed by them than taken alive, but when it came to the trial my mind changed” (Rowlandson 73). During King Philip’s war, the town where Rowlandson resided was attacked by the Wampanoag and as she was faced with death, she gave in.