En Europe Du Dix Huitieme Siecle

Matthew Restall, a Professor of Latin American History, Women’s Studies, and Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University. He also serves the Director of the university’s Latin Studies. Throughout “Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest,” he discusses many false truths that have been passed down through history. For instance, he discusses, “The Myth of Exceptional Men.” “The Myth of Spanish Army,” and “The Myth of Completion.” For the sake of time, I will discuss three myths that correlate with class lectures and serve as the topic of this paper, “The Myth of Exceptional Men,” “The Myth of the King’s Army,” and the “Myth of the White Conquistador.” It should be noted that Restall speaks to his audience assuring us that his “...his purpose is not to degenerate this technique of historical writing completely...Nor do I mean to create a narrative in which individual action is utterly subordinated to the larger structural forces and causes of social change.” (4). He states that his intentions are to react to more than just the works of Columbus, Pizzaro, and Cortez.

Hernan Cortes’ conquest of the Aztec Empire gave birth to three hundred years of Spanish rule in Mexico. Miguel Hidalgo, a Catholic priest, and leader of the independence movement united: indigenous peasants, poor creoles, nobility in Spanish America and the Catholic church within the colony to depose Spaniard royalist power which Cortes had given birth to (Mckay 684). This unlikely alliance stemmed from the widespread discontent of Spaniard viceroy assumption of control of the government of New Spain from its capital in Mexico City after Napoleon’s coup in 1808 (Mckay 684). The signing of Iturbide’s Plan of Iguala ended eleven years of struggle for independence, and the end of Spaniard control. This plan not only established Mexico as a constitutional monarchy but as well solidified the cultural transition from the polytheism of the Aztec Empire to the strong monotheism of the newly emerging Catholic Church. Because “the colonial system depended on the loyalty of the clergy: the priests controlled the people,” this allowed the Catholic Church’s influence to grow within the colony (Lynch 109). The separation of the Catholic Church from the Spanish crown played a vital role in the attainment of independence. Considering the separation of the Catholic Church from the Spanish crown and how the Plan de Iguala concluded the Mexican War of independence, I intend to explore: How the Catholic Church changed the Mexican War of Independence?

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.

For decades, the history of Latin America has been shrouded in a cover of Spanish glory and myth that misleads and complicates the views of historians everywhere. Myths such as the relationship between natives and conquistadors, and the individuality of the conquistadors themselves stand as only a few examples of how this history may have become broken and distorted. However, in Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest Matthew Restall goes to great lengths to dispel these myths and provide a more accurate history of Latin American, in a readable and enjoyable book.

For this essay I will be talking about the book “A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies” by Bartolomé de Las Casas. Whom wrote this to the King of Spain, Prince Philip II, in 1542 to protest what was happening in the New World to the native people. I will be explaining many things during this essay. The first thing I will go over is what the books tells us about the relationship between Christianity and the colonialism. The second thing I will talk about is if it was enough to denounce the atrocities against indigenous people. Next, if it is possible to

We often villainize the countries of Latin America, making them out as lands filled with violent, less civilized, poor people. Those who are uneducated about Latin America and the culture may apply the things they know about one culture in Latin America or the Caribbean to other countries in the area. We don’t realize that some of the stereotypes are directly influenced by the legacies left by European colonialism. Scholars studying colonialism have determined five colonial legacies that are seen in many post-colonial countries. These colonial legacies are authoritarian government, power of the Roman Catholic Church, a social hierarchy, economic dependency, and the large landed estate. In the film Pelo Malo, Junior, a young boy from a

The role of the Roman Catholic Church in Spain’s conquest and colonization of continental America was a two-fold process whereby under the façade of conversion and control lay the primary goal of gaining wealth, enforcing laws and the inevitable extension of control while condoning the beginnings of European slavery in the Caribbean.[i]

An important aspect of Todorov's thesis is his well-supported claim that it was precisely the claim to European racial superiority that Christianity strongly reinforced and provided justification for the actions of the Spanish, even in its most severe manifestation. In fact, Todorov invokes the unimaginably horrible image of Catholic priests bashing Indian baby's heads against rocks, allegedly to save them from damnation to hell, which their "savage" culture would have otherwise consigned them to. The logic of this deed and others like them illustrates the destructive influence of Christianity in the Colonial project, which lies at the root of the hegemonic self-image of Western experience--first defined from the perspective of Columbus and Cortes.

Republican and racial ideals from around the world influenced the rebellion of the pardos community in colonial Colombia (10). The revolution in Haiti was one that gave the pardos a new-found confidence to rebel against their slave leaders in Colombia. After a threat of race-war, laws were enacted to encourage European immigrants to relocate to Colombia (62). It was hoped that these laws would combat the ever-present threat of racial strife.

The purpose of this book is to offer his perspective on how Africans were treated in the Americas from 1550 to 1812.

Models for post-revolutionary Latin American government are born of the complex economic and social realities of 17th and 18th century Europe. From the momentum of the Enlightenment came major political rebellions of the elite class against entrenched national monarchies and systems of power. Within this time period of elitist revolt and intensive political restructuring, the fundamental basis for both liberal and conservative ideology was driven deep into Latin American soil. However, as neither ideology sought to fulfill or even recognize the needs or rights of mestizo people under government rule, the initial liberal doctrine pervading Latin American nations perpetuated

Another of Jordan’s sub topics in this book deals with the Savage behavior exhibited by Africans and viewed among the English explorers. The English were at sometimes appalled with the differences in morals, table manners, and most visible

It is quite understandable that contemporaries, whatever their sympathies, should have viewed the Spanish Civil War in such cosmic terms. I will now examine in some detail, first the European, and then, the Spanish context, into which the civil war was born to see why such a conclusion might be drawn.

The movie, The Mission, gives a good detail onto the historical context on the imposition of other societies' colonial and political objectives towards the native peoples of Paraguay. The similar scenario throughout the history of humanity of imperialist civilizations and forces invading other native lands and impose their beliefs, political systems, and society attitudes towards native peoples unfamiliar in their way of life and understanding of humanity is presented in the movie with great detail, this time with Spain and Portugal imposing their political and religious systems onto the Guarani people. The move culminates with the Guarani War of 1754 - 1756, in which the Guarani tribe defend their territory from the Spanish and Portuguese

Their personal opinions and attitudes towards the natives are probably why the Jesuits were also so successful and influential in their conversion. While British Protestants had a negative assumption that the natives were” physically uncontrollable” and had a “scattered course of life”, the Jesuits positively believed that they