Violence In Aguirre

Convinced of the superiority of Catholicism to all other religions, Spain insisted that the primary goal of colonization was to save the Indians from heathenism and prevent them from falling under the sway of Protestantism. The aim was neither to exterminate nor to remove the Indians, but to transform them into obedient Christian subjects of the crown. To the Spanish colonizers, the large native populations of the Americas were not only souls to be saved but also a labor force to be organized to extract gold and silver that would enrich their mother country. Las Casas’ writings and the abuses they exposed contributed to the spread of the Black Legend-the image of Spain as a uniquely brutal and exploitative colonizer. This would provide of a potent justification for other European powers to challenge Spain’s predominance in the New World.

Before the English ventured to Roanoke Europeans explored and settled the New World. The Spanish were the most successful in settling the New World. They conquered most of Central and South America. Their main objective was to convert all of the Indians to Christianity. “Spain’s claim to posses the Americas was based on discovery, conquest, and settlement, but even more important, it was founded on the sacred enterprise of extending the Catholic faith to (in Spanish eyes) “barbarous” native peoples” (Horn 12).

Spain’s goal of spreading Catholicism was undoubtable strengthened when the Pope sanctioned all Spanish efforts. Thus, slavery of Native Americans was justified, and would liberate them in the eyes of God. In effort to prevent British protestant influence, Spain declared that Non-Spanish citizens and Non-Spanish Christians were not permitted to settle in their borders.

Throughout the Spanish conquest and exploration of Mesoamerica, religion became a focal point in Spanish observations of indigenous cultures. Influenced by European biases and colonial mindset, the Spanish criticized indigenous religion by condemning their

Slavery, like Portugal, was crucial for Spain. Unlike Portugal Spain used Native Americans as their slaves. (Mainly because of geography) Spain also believed in Encomienda. Which is basically there way of “giving back” to Native Americans, they would teach Native Americans their religious views and in return Native Americans would be forced to work to death. So it would appear that converting people (slaves) to Catholicism was an important reason why they went to the “new world”. Needless to say relations between Spain and the Native Americans spoiled just like the relationship between Portugal and Africans did. A lot of Native Americans believed that Spain gave them nothing. Most if not all of Spain’s economy was based on mining silver and gold and sugar plantations. At the time of this colonization and for the next 200 years Spain is extremely rich.

The book Ambivalent Conquests, by Inga Clendinnen, is very illuminating read for anyone wanting to know more about the events between the Spaniards and the Maya peoples of the Yucatan Peninsula. The book is separated into two separate parts: the Spaniard and the Indians. In the Spaniards section, Clendinnen wrote of the arrival of the Spanish in search of gold, and the attempts of the Christianization by missionaries. The second part, Indians, covered the way the Maya viewed the Spaniards arrival and following attempts of Christianization. The overall theme of the book was the continuing idolatry by the Mayans in the eyes of the Franciscans who tried to Christianize them and the actions taken by the Franciscans as a response.

Spanish exploration and settlement of the western hemisphere lasted from 1492 until 1898, from Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to the loss of its last colonies in the Spanish-American war. As with all major seafaring European nations, they were in pursuit of the fabled Northwest Passage, a direct route to Asia. This was how Christopher Columbus stumbled upon the Americas, on his quest for this route. The Spanish were after more though, specifically gold and spread of the Christian faith. With this page we will discuss multiple historical figures, places, and ideas that emphasized what the Spanish found most important at the time, God and gold.

In the film created by Salvador Carrasco, he tells us the story of the oppressed Aztecs by the Spanish conquistadors. The film leads to a social and religious understanding by two of the main characters Topiltzin (a native Aztec) and Fray Diego, (a friar in Catholicism). Together, both characters form a bond and that lets for the two different cultures to get together for the viewers to understand that these cultures are more in tune than what they seem. Carrasco, divides his movie into two parts, setting the tone for the mirroring of scenes, duality, and parallelism that takes place during the course of the movie. The director intends for his viewers to draw important connections from these elements that bring them to a greater understanding of social culture, religion, and faith. In one of the final scenes leading up the end of the movie, Fray Diego confronts Topiltzin at the church. At this point that the viewer sees a behavior change in Fray Diego's eyes. Fray Diego knows Topiltzin's feelings toward religion, indicating the large strides that he has made over the years in

Getting their land taken away from them and getting killed, all while the natives were exceptionally nice and welcoming of the Spaniards. So, in the end what played a bigger role? Christianity or colonialism?

During the sixteenth century Spain had control over land in the Caribbeans and America that was ten times the size of Spain. One of the most famous conquerors was a man by the name of Cortes. His first target was the Aztec Empire one of the richest empires in America. After a very bloody battle Cortes successfully conquered the empire “converting” its people to Christianity and taking their gold. From this Cortes became on of the richest men in the world. This event inspired many others to do the same with many choosing the life of a conquistador to find their riches in the new world. The amount of conquistadors started to make Spain worry if they were to try and rule New Spain and that they were killing more Indians instead of converting

The greed for gold and the race for El Dorado were the main inducements of the Spaniards who, at the peril of their lives, crossed the ocean in unfit vessels in a mad pursuit after the gold and all other precious property of the Indians” (Peace 479). The royal rulers of Spain made it a rule that nothing would jeopardize their ability to rob the land from the native people of Latin America. The missionary process, “had to be encouraged, but the missionaries could not be permitted to dominate the colony at the cost of royal rule” (Gibson 76). The European governments established missionaries to cleanse their minds of any guilt aroused by the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children. When European “ships arrived in the 16th century to colonize the land and exploit its natural resources, they killed indigenous people and brought black slaves from Africa. Millions of indigenous people were slain and their cultures completely destroyed by the process of colonization” (Ribero). The overall devastations caused by the Christianization of the native inhabitants created a blend of cultures within the indigenous civilizations which gradually isolated old native ways into a small population of oppressed people. The Christianized people became a symbol of loyalty to the European powers and were left alone simply on their religious status. This long term mission of total religious replacement caused very strong and advanced

　　In society, many people have a diversity of opinions about the role of an individual. In the past, many argued that being dedicated to religion is the role of an individual. As time progresses, people started to claim that benefiting society is the individual’s role in society. In Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, author Johnathan Edwards explains that God hates people and will punish them unless they decide to follow God. Like Edwards’s sermon, in What Think Ye of Christ?, George Whitefield talks about how people are born as sinners and how they must atone their sins by prioritizing Jesus over their selfish desires. In “Child Abuse,” Author Richard Volpe talks about how child abuse can ruin a child’s development in order to show that people need to prevent child abuse. In “Unconscious Stereotypes and Black Males,” author Ware Leland talks about how children are defining people by racial appearances rather than their actions in order to show that people must stop racial prejudice. Talking about how people must follow god and prioritizing Jesus over an individual’s desires, both Edwards and Whitefield believe that a colonial individual must be dedicated to religion. Explaining about how people must act against child abuse and racial prejudice, both Volpe and Leland claim that a contemporary individual must be contributing to society. From colonial to contemporary time, the role of the individual in America has changed because colonial Americans believed

The bad communication between explorers in the west and their counterparts in the east were motivational factors to the Spanish conquests. King Ferdinand of Spain wanted to expand his Kingdom by spreading Christianity and seeking resources

A primary goal of the Reconquista was to repopulate the Iberian Peninsula with Christians. As areas that used to be occupied by Muslims became vacant, kings brought in their own people to secure the borders. In Spain, the main areas of repopulation were places like the central Catalonia. During the Reconquista, the Christians, mainly from the northern kingdoms, used their power to create legal and political institutions. Many of these institutions still survive in Spain today (“Reconquista,” 2016).

a powerful weapon, and that was the weapon of being inferior to a race that had