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Catholicism and the Catholic Church played a significant and major role in the colonization of the New World and subsequent colonization of South America. Although people imagine the Church and State to have worked hand-in-hand in order to meet the goals of colonization and resource collection, the Church and State often were at odds with the Church facing resistance in the Americas from the native populations as seen in 'Letter to Charles V'. Aside from the constant struggle, Catholicism and the Catholic Church helped fund the voyages to the Americas as well as inspire conversion efforts by the Europeans. Europeans that converted local native populations in the Americas would later help colonizers gain control of the native population and assert their own culture and traditions on the people.
Taking it back to the beginning, Christopher Columbus first set off on his voyage because he believed he had been ordained by God in his purpose to propagate His Gospel and holy name throughout the world. With material conquest fueling spiritual expansion, Columbus soon eventually discovered the Americas and met a new race of people that both intrigued him and motivated him. When Christopher Columbus discovered the Native Americans, he described...
He also noticed that they could easily be Christianized as they did not have an established religion similar to the Europeans. Without an established religion, they could easily be manipulated into converting to another faith. "They have no religion and I think that they would be very quickly Christianized, for they have a very ready understanding ... "[footnoteRef:1] [1: Garofalo, Leo J. and Erin E. O'Connor. 2011. Documenting Latin America. Boston: Prentice Hall. P. 13.]
The lack of armor, weapons, and religion, made the native peoples of the America easy targets for conquest and conversion. Because religion played such an important role in Europe and Catholicism played an important role in Spain, it was easy to see why religious figures and religion began to exert its influence even in a new land like the Americas. Religion in the mind of the Europeans was not just a way to keep the native populations under control, but as seen in South America, help 'civilize' the native populations and keep them from committing barbaric acts. A line from the Franciscan Reply shows how the people of the Americas were often perceived as savage and described as…
Essentially people from Europe and in particular Spain, saw the natives as gullible, easy to trick and people that could be taken advantage of. Religion then provided the motivation as seen through Christopher Columbus' journey, and the right as seen through the ideology surrounding Catholicism, to take what they wanted and commit any number of acts under the pretense of spiritual expansion and material conquest. Although Catholicism to some extent did help remove some of the heinous practices that native populations in South America practiced (sacrifice), it also had a negative effect. This is because religious conversion made it easier for native populations to assimilate to the European culture forced upon them.
After religion started to take hold in the Americas, Dominicans would come to later judge the way the native populations were treated. "They left the church in a state of rage and again salted their meal that day with bitterness ... that the Dominicans had scandalized the world by spreading a new doctrine that condemned them all to Hell because they used Indians in the mines ... "[footnoteRef:5] While religion was first used by explorers to seek resources in new lands and enslave native populations for their material gain, now it was being used to condemn such behavior. The Dominicans and their doctrine did provide some morality adjustment, but in the end failed to eradicate what the Spaniards and other European settlers eventually did to the Americas. [5: Lunenfeld, Marvin. 1991. 1492 -- Discovery, Invasion, Encounter. Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath. P. 204]
In conclusion, Catholicism and the Catholic Church was the motivation behind Christopher Columbus' exploration of the new world. It also provided the motivation from which to seek resources and convert the native populations. Because religion plays such an integral role in a person's life, conversion allowed Europeans to take control of the native populations. That control led to slavery and eventually backlash as seen in the doctrine written by the Dominicans.
As a result, these regions became populated with Protestants who rejected the Church of England and the majority religion in Georgia and North Carolina were Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians. In New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, there were many Congregationalist Church members but they lived side by side with Anglicans, Catholics, German Protestants, and, in Pennsylvania, with the Quakers (Furlong, Margaret, & Sharkey, 1988). Religious Conflict, Technology, and the Success
Religion is truly a lived experience. In today's volatile world, with world events hinging on various interpretations of religious texts perhaps more than in any other time in human history save, perhaps, during the Crusades, humanity is increasingly aware that religion is not a stoic object of study. Rather, it is a living breathing force in which we live and which inhabits us, whether we seek it or not. Robert Orsi's
And bee it also Enacted by the Authority and with the advise and assent aforesaid that whatsoever person or persons shall from henceforth use or utter any reproachfull words or Speeches concerning blessed Virgin Marv the Mother of Our Saviour or the holy Apostles or Evangelists or any of them shall in such case for the first offence forfeit to the said Lord Proprietary and his heirs Lords and
"Embryo cloning is the technology that would make the creation of eugenically engineered 'designer babies' commercially feasible." (Darnovsky M. 2002) This also relates to the growing concern in some quarters that technologies such as stem cell manipulation can be subject to abuse. "Many disability rights activists argue that it is being used in a misguided search for 'perfect' babies, and many feminists voice concern about its use to satisfy
Some of America's oldest cities had been newly infused with evangelical faith, and most primitive frontier areas were filled with tent revivals. From a more liberal perspective, Unitarianism had taken root in New England universities. ("Toqueville and Religion," (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/religion/intro.html) This strain of American religious thought stressed the connections between self and nature, even to the entire exclusion of a religious doctrine, dogma, and community, almost to the breaking point.
America God Bless America (or is it still all right to say that?) The Limitation of Judeo-Christian Beliefs by Liberal Interpretations of the Law In the interests of preserving the civil rights of all Americans, legislation over the past few decades has mandated a conspicuous absence of Christian or Jewish symbols, prayers or teachings from public places: the classroom, the sports arena, the courts, public buildings of all sorts. Yet followers of these faiths make