Juan Gines De Sepúlveda Essay

813 Words 4 Pages

In response to exposure to Native peoples and their customs, many Europeans expressed confusion and fear of new and unfamiliar New World practices. Certain aspects of indigenous culture, such as nudity, bathing, polytheism, and cannibalism cast negative impressions upon the Europeans and the settlers began to doubt the humanity of the Amerindians. Spaniards questioned the state of the Natives ' souls and if they were capable of accepting Christianity and assimilating to Western civilization. In 1537, Pope Paul III issued a statement, explaining the Vatican 's stance on the humanity of Natives and the European approach to proselytization of the indigenous population. The papal bull Sublimis Deus "declared the Indians "truly men" and thus capable …show more content…
Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda was a humanist and translator of Aristotle, and relied upon Aristotle 's theory of natural slavery to inform his argument. Sepúlveda believed that the native Amerindians were inherently inferior to their Spanish conquistadors and concluded their impious lifestyle was a justifiable provocation toward the Spaniards. Sepúlveda believed that the natives ' barbarous activities "vindicated their conquest and…enslavement." Sepúlveda argues that the purpose of European presence in the New World is to enlighten the Natives to the errors of their sinful ways. Imposing Christianity upon the Natives would effectively convince them to evolve from a past of idolatry and …show more content…
The Dominican bishop attributed European domination not to their inherent superiority over Natives, but to their excessive cruelty. Las Casas viewed the ulterior motives of European conquest--exploitation of a population incapable of resisting their advances. Bartolomé denounced the Spaniard 's treatment of the natives and urged the papacy to pass the New Laws of 1542; the New Laws prohibited Indian slavery and punished individuals responsible for the Peruvian Civil War by stripping away their encomiendas. Las Casas ' objective was to humanize the Native Amerindians, elevating them to the same social status of Europeans, and peacefully guide them to

Native Americans Barbarians

One of the prime factors that drove the Europeans to convert the natives was their displeasing view of the people. Most Europeans considered the natives to be inferior to themselves, and often referred to the natives as “barbarians”. In specific, the Spanish thought that the natives were “barbarians… who in prudence, skill, virtues, and humanity are as inferior to the Spanish as children to adults…” (Sepúlveda). This superiority that the Europeans claimed to have felt over the natives motivated them to reform the native people. In order to ameliorate the natives upon European standards, the settlers decided to convert the natives to Christianity, which simultaneously destroyed native traditions.…

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Analysis Of The Lieutenant Nun By Catalina De Erauso

In other words, does the blindness of Spanish culture while regarding the Natives justify the physical, social and religious destruction they caused to the Natives? Considering the educational resources, sense of morality, and religious values the Spanish lived by, the answer is no. It makes sense to start this conversation by identifying what the Spanish conquerors did and if the culture they lived in was enough to justify it. Venturing into the book, The Lieutenant Nun, by Catalina de Erauso, we find evidence of not just the slaughter that took place at Paicabí in 1619 (Lieutenant Nun, Chapter 6), but also the moral dissociation that came with it. In her autobiography, Catalina was a soldier of…

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The Columbian Exchange Essay

Christopher Columbus described in his diary the indians ignorance and lack of religion as a motive for them to willingly convert to Christianity and learn the spanish language (doc 1). Columbus’s diary represents the ethnocentrism european explorers felt towards the indigenous people. This shows that one of the many goals of European explorers was to evangelize the Indians in order to stake their control over the area. Eventually, those indians that opposed the conversion would be threatened with their lives. Since Columbus is a white european voyager sent by Spain during the 15th century, he displays his superiority over the indians due to their lack of knowledge in weaponry and distinct physical features.…

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Essay On Colonism

When the first colonist arrived in the Americas, they were astonished by many aspects of this new world. The encounter’s they had with the natives of the area was met with great deal of brutality due to conflicting ideologies. The vast differences between the natives and the Europeans was not well accepted by the first explorers. Many of the first explorers were missionaries who wanted to convert the indigenous to Catholicism, but once they started to observe the culture and beliefs system they readily condemned them as evil, backwards even. The colonist used theological ideologies to defend the brutality that they used against the Indigenous people.…

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Effects Of Imperialism In Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart, highlights the effects of European imperialism in African society. White missionaries, Europeans, exposed the Ibo people to new ways of life. However, Okonkwo, the African leader, mourned the aggressive, yet subtle change. The imperialists infringed on the Ibo identity and way of life. Achebe characterizes European imperialism and its effects on African society through the lens of religion.…

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Friar Barolome De Las Casas Analysis

His goal was to attest that the natives were only barbaric, because they had not been taught Christianity. His argument was in contrast to Sepulveda, who wanted to enslave the people based on Aristotelian philosophy. This contrast of the dying and begging native figures and Las Casas displays the church as a privileged entity for defending the indigenous peoples ' rights and as a savior to the people. While not a classical subject matter, this painting reflects a historical subject for the Mexican populace. It also depicts the atrocities of the Conquest with key stylistic forms that Parra learned in the academy.…

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What Is The Effects Of Colonialism In Oil 4 Blood By Deborah Miranda

The American flag blinds Waln by disguising its wrongs as nationalism. In the name of “profit” for U.S., the pipeline extracts further resources and at the same time damages and poisons the environment. Miranda also addressed the European colonizers’ attempt to erase “tribal terms, tribal group names, and personal tribal names.” Erasing all this ties back into the monetary agenda, which strips the Native community of their culture/sovereignty, and leads to assimilation. After removal, the government can take the resources without worry for their opponents are assimilated or insignificant. Furthermore, the colonizers attempt to erase a part of Native American culture by killing the Joya population completely off.…

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Pros And Cons Of The Aztecs

When the Spaniards saw the barbaric and sinful practices, they believed that Christianity was superior. The Natives were even forced to change their ways (Doc 2). The Spaniards used the notion that it was god 's will to convert the Natives since they did not follow the same religion, and they used this power to coerce the Natives to…

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The Wretched Indians Summary

As noted by Restall, the conquistador-chronicler Oviedo sums this point up with his question of, “Who can deny that the use of gunpowder against pagans is the burning incense to Our Lord?” (105). This refusal to “lament the extinction of the natives” is just one of many stubborn stances that perpetuate such degrading terms. Indeed, other attributes such as ‘cannibals’ have very subjective foundations. Overall, it is clear how the institution of inferior status on the Indigenous peoples came to expand onto the perpetuation of the ‘greatness’ of European…

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Imperialism In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Aiming to strengthen their own economy, they abolished the deep connection the Igbo people had with their ancestors. Okonkwo and other tribe members saw this, and did not stand for the terrorization of their community. Through examples such as altering the core religion of their nation, and provoking fear through stories of their powerful weaponry and participation in slave trade, the white missionaries were tearing the tribe up from it’s roots, leaving nothing but an artificial society tailored to the liking of the European colonizers. The Europeans were able to morally justify their harsh actions by using Christianity. This can be seen through the quote “ ‘We have now built a church… and we want you all to come in every seventh day to worship the true God.’ ” Following this, the white missionaries refer to their God as the only one, once again diminishing the tribe member’s religion, when there is actually nothing that proves Christianity is a greater religion than their…

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Juan Gines De Sepúlveda Essay

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