The Impact of Christianity on Native People in North America
With the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas, the Native or Indigenous people of the country have been under threat from both attacks by Christopher Columbus and the diseases he brought with him. The Natives were the true owners of the land of the Americas but it was sadly taken from them by invasion of the European. This was not the only thing taken, as this also led to the destruction of their religion. As Christianity saw itself as the one true religion, any other religion would not do. Their target were the Natives who they first killed without mercy to eradicate their religion, then decided to change them by teaching them Christianity. This would lead to the death …show more content…
The justification for this – it was the will of god. This European lack of cultural understanding created tensions, between Native Americans and Europeans, and later between Native Americans and Euro-Americans, that eventually erupted into …show more content…
As the “Age of Discovery” unfolded, Spanish and French Catholics were the first to arrive, beginning in the sixteenth century. Profit-minded Spanish conquistadors and French fur traders competed for land and wealth, while Spanish and French missionaries competed for the “saving of souls.” By the mid-century, the Spanish had established Catholic missions in present-day Florida and New Mexico and the French were steadily occupying the Great Lakes region, Upstate New York, Eastern Canada and, later, Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta. Many of the European missionaries who energetically sought to spread Christianity to Native peoples were motivated by a sense of mission, seeking to bring the Gospel to those who had never had a chance to hear it, thereby offering an opportunity to be “saved.” In the context of the often brutal treatment of Native peoples by early Spanish conquistadors, many missionaries saw themselves as siding compassionately
With the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Americas, the Native or Indigenous people of the country have been under threat from both attacks by Christopher Columbus and the diseases he brought with him. The Natives were the true owners of the land of the Americas but it was sadly taken from them by invasion of the European. This was not the only thing taken, as this also led to the destruction of their religion. As Christianity saw itself as the one true religion, any other religion would not do. Their target were the Natives who they first killed without mercy to eradicate their religion, then decided to change them by teaching them Christianity. This would lead to the death …show more content…
The justification for this – it was the will of god. This European lack of cultural understanding created tensions, between Native Americans and Europeans, and later between Native Americans and Euro-Americans, that eventually erupted into …show more content…
As the “Age of Discovery” unfolded, Spanish and French Catholics were the first to arrive, beginning in the sixteenth century. Profit-minded Spanish conquistadors and French fur traders competed for land and wealth, while Spanish and French missionaries competed for the “saving of souls.” By the mid-century, the Spanish had established Catholic missions in present-day Florida and New Mexico and the French were steadily occupying the Great Lakes region, Upstate New York, Eastern Canada and, later, Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta. Many of the European missionaries who energetically sought to spread Christianity to Native peoples were motivated by a sense of mission, seeking to bring the Gospel to those who had never had a chance to hear it, thereby offering an opportunity to be “saved.” In the context of the often brutal treatment of Native peoples by early Spanish conquistadors, many missionaries saw themselves as siding compassionately