The Importance Of Religion In Columbus And Civilization

Compare the ways in which religion shaped the development of colonial society (to 1740) in TWO of the following regions: New England

Samuel Eliot Morison- A Harvard historian, most distinguished writer on Columbus, the author of a multivolume biography Christopher Columbus, Mariner, and was himself a sailor, retraced Columbus 's route across the Atlantic and tells about the enslavement and the mass genocide of the natives

Numerical and statistical evidence is the first type that De Las Casas uses to illustrate Spanish brutality. In his “fifty years’ of experience of seeing at first hand the evil [of the colonist]” he writes that he has witnessed ‘infinite numbers of human souls dispatched to Hell’’ and “countless numbers of incidents”. While such numbers do explain the grand scale of Spanish brutality, they pale in comparison to the sickening descriptions of the raping, roasting, and slaughtering of Native Americans. De Las Casas paints dramatic images of the cruelties that the Indians encountered at the hands of the Spanish. Sentences such as “They hacked them to pieces, slicing open their bellies with their swords as though they were so many sheep herded into a pen. They even laid wagers on whether they could manage to slice a man in two with a stroke, or cut an individual’s head from his body, or disembowel him with a single blow of their axes. They grabbed suckling infants by the feet and ripped them from their mothers’ breasts, dashed them head-long against rocks” are examples of his use of grotesque language that he uses to elicit a reaction from his audience. De Las Casas contrasts the horrors of what is being done to the natives with the peacefulness and hospitality that the natives offered to the

Zinn argues that the perspective of indigenous people should not be omitted and argues that their perspectives are as significant as any other. He provides insight and perspectives of the Indians to describe how the heinous acts of the Europeans were unjustified. He also discusses that the Europeans had a continual motive of exploring during that time which was to increase the power/authority of the Spanish Crown by whatever means necessary, usually leading to violent wars.

Religion was not a major reason for European exploration because many of the European traders and travelers wanted to get rich by finding gold or some other valuable object, people wanted to travel to another place because of their country’s poverty, disease, or and economic backwardness, and also that the Europeans started traveling more ever since their technology and navigation was more developed.

Many Europeans did not find it fair that the Spanish were taking control over land that was not theirs. Bartolomeo de la Casa states in Document 8 that what is being done to the Indigenous people is “truly unjust and tyrannical.” In an attempt to rule the Native Americans, Europeans began burning their historicals and sent in missionaries to convert them in both peaceful and forceful ways. The Native Americans never harmed the Spanish, Bartolomeo implies, so they have the right to their own culture. Another negative effect of globalization was that main focus was economic profit rather than helping natives. The main goal of most Europeans was to make profit off of the cash crops, and in order to cease the questioning of their king, made excuses that events such as the Mita system were mainly benefiting the Native Americans. In actuality, however, only the Europeans were profiting as the INdigenous population and African slaves were being killed and forced to work a hard amount of labor. This is all a very negative side effect of globalization between the New

The Post-Classical Period encompassed both a return to the legacies of classical civilizations as well the beginning of new empires. However, what was most significant about this period was the increase in trade and the spread of religion between civilizations. Two continuities in the development of religion in the Americas during the Post-Classical period were religion’s political impact and cultural influence. One change in the development of trade in the Americas during the Post-Classical period was the increased economic interaction due to the emergence of empires.

The main argument of Columbus in his diary from October 11-15, 1492, is that the natives that populated America before he “discovered” it are ignorant brutes who should be enslaved into servants and taught to be Christian. Columbus clearly supports his thesis as shown by three pieces of evidence. The first piece of evidence he gives is that the natives are ignorant: “They do not carry arms nor are they acquainted with them, because I showed them swords and they took them by the edge and through ignorance cut themselves.” He writes about how they do not even know what a sword is and how they use primitive weapons without iron. Another piece of evidence is that they are poor in everything: “All of them go around as naked as their mother bore them; and the women also . . . Our Lord pleasing, at the time of my departure I will take six of them from here to Your Highness in order that they may learn to speak.” The natives don’t understand about covering their bodies to preserve modesty, and they still need to be taught to speak properly. The final piece of evidence Columbus gives is that the natives are savages. He alludes to the fact that the natives do not understand how the world works and that they are cannibals who are a threat to society. The source did add to my own understanding of the topic. Before I read Columbus’s account of meeting the natives, I did not know that he thought the native inhabitants of the West Indies were deserving of torture, murder, and enslavement;

From passages in Columbus’ journal, it’s obvious from the Admiral that he quoted from thought less of the Native Americans he encountered when he first arrived in America. He made quick assumptions about their culture and life, like they were a part of a patriarchy and that they were all in their thirties. The Admiral also believed the Natives were intelligent, but only because of how easily they took commands. Unfortunately, this speculation would also lead him to believe they would become good servant, most likely along with Columbus and the rest of the Europeans. Not only this, but they thought the Natives could be easily persuaded into Christianity through gifts and trade. They gave them trivial gifts such as glass beads and red caps to cajole the Natives to join together as friends. Because they Native’s didn't have access to iron, they were clueless to what iron made weapons like swords were. In the passage, it's written that the Europeans expected them have knowledge of their weaponry, and because they had “lesser” weapons like spears with a

in the heat. The climate of the area is 26 degrees, and even cold on the mountains. These people are very pleasant and agreeable to Columbus. They viewed Columbus as godly and a miracle. They practiced no idolatry. Columbus goal is to convert these people to the holy religion of Christ. They are prepared to become of Christ without hesitation. They were welcoming to Columbus and offered him access to various islands, and items that they possessed. These people were satisfied with the little things that Columbus had to offer. They also gave him gifts and in return, they wanted nothing at all. They offered Columbus two ounces of gold, forty pounds of cotton, bottles, jugs, and jars. Columbus gave them what he had brought to the islands, because

Across the history of genocide, conflicting ideologies was one of the top driving forces of why a certain group of people were targeted and wiped out. When Columbus and other conquistadors ventured into the New World in search of land to colonize and people to convert to Christianity, they saw the natives as barbaric and uncivilized, people who needed to be educated about the ways of God. In Columbus’s journal, he explicitly said that since the natives seem to have no religion, it would be easy to convert them to Christianity and to properly educate them of the “correctness” of European ways and the “wrongs” of native ways. The natives seem to believe in a God and know that there is a heaven, so Columbus was convinced that “if the work was

Christopher Columbus, an italian born navigator, commandeered a daring search for India in the name of Spain. His mission was to spread Catholicism and open a Western sea route to trade with India. Columbus accidentally sailed upon what is now Cuba and Hispaniola. Taking advantage of this unexpected occurrence, Columbus brought the Word of God to the heathens living on the islands. Of course, this account before is a grotesque misconception of what was to follow Columbus’s embarkation of the Caribbean and North America: the largest genocide in history. David Stannard’s book, The American Genocide, is an accurate depiction of the events.

The role of religion in Christopher Columbus played a very important role in his belief of a divine order and the discovery of the new worlds. This can be identified in his letter to Louis de Santangel regarding his first voyage. The very first line of his letter Columbus states, “As I know that you will be pleased at the great victory with which Our Lord and savior has crowned my voyage.” Then as his letter progresses it describes the many discovers including land, animals, plants and the natives who he says,” They do not hold any creed nor are they idolaters: but they all believe that power and good are in the heavens and they are firmly convinced that I, with these ships and men came from the heavens.” With his religious belief that a

Religion played a significant role in the motivation of European exploration; however, the major motivation for European exploration was due to their weak economic system that inspired them to commence exploring for riches and make Europe economically powerful. Religion was the secondary motivation to the European exploration as their main priority was to develop their weak economic system. The Europeans desires for exploration had formed due to the “image of Africa and Asia's riches that helped inspire the first european voyages of discovery”(p.11). The Europeans had always seen themselves as the poor neighbours of Africa and Asia. They had formed the impression of their neighbouring countries that encouraged

When Christopher Columbus first landed in the Americas and met the natives it was clear that they were much more naive than the Spaniards.“...They do not bear