The Spanish Royal Crown officially declared that the only salvation possible for the native populations was to accept their opportunity to adopt Christianity. In fact under a concept known as Requerimiento, the Spaniards were required to give the native people a "fair" opportunity to do just that before they disposed of them as savages instead of respecting them as human beings created in God's image. As Eurocentric a concept as Requerimiento was, even that edict was routinely ignored by Columbus's men (Schwartz, 2000; Stannard, 1993). They enslaved men, rapes women, and murdered children virtually at will. They imposed "quotas" of minimum amounts of gold ore to be collected daily and imposed penalties of mutilation and death, often depending on whether or not their victims survived after having limbs hacked off as a message to their companions and their communities that the Spaniards were deadly serious about expecting them to find their gold (Stannard, 1993; Zinn, 2008). Furthermore, even their enslavement for this purpose was officially sanctioned by the Spanish authorities under the doctrine of Encomienda, according to which the native peoples of foreign lands had a duty to accept the teachings of Christ when they were presented to them by their conquerors (Stannard, 1993; Zinn, 2008). If they resisted this obligation, their enslavement under the Encomienda system was considered part of the persuasion necessary to break them of their "uncivilized" habits and to teach them discipline (Stannard, 1993; Zinn, 2008). Within two decades of Columbus's first arrival on the shores of the Americas, only approximately...
Those numbers pale in comparison to at least 8 million natives of Hispaniola and virtually all of the original 25 million people killed in Central Mexico in less than a century of European "exploration" (Stannard, 1993).
Spanish Civil War The famous Spanish Civil War fought from the year 1936 to 1939. This war was fought between two groups; the Republicans and the Nationalists. The Republicans were the supporters of the established Spanish republic; meanwhile the latter were a group of rebels who were led by General Francisco Franco. Franco emerged victorious in this war and ruled Spain for the next 36 years as a dictator. After a group
S. government chose not only to ignore the great humanitarian tragedy but even refused to condemn the killing. The American inaction on the Rwandan genocide places a big question mark on any subsequent action of its government overseas for humanitarian reasons. Besides being accused of using "humanitarianism" as a smokescreen for pursuing its own narrow national interests, the United States is also accused of undermining the United Nations and International Law
This was the first time America had entered into colonialism, and they still have power over Guam and Puerto Rico today. It gave the country new respect in the world, and it created the need to create guidelines for governing and watching out for these colonies. This also shapes our policy today because we still have influence over these areas, and that indicates our power to other nations of
Apocalypto" (2006), Produced and Directed by Mel Gibson In this motion picture, Mel Gibson provides a reasonably historically accurate representation of the Mayan civilization, including their manner of dress, customs, rituals and values. From the outset, it is clear that Gibson was committed to recreating what life must have been like for these early Mesoamericans who were confronted with danger at every turn and who remained firmly in the food
Goya, The Forge Francisco Goya's "The Forge" is a realist painting that relies upon the earlier mythological genre to accomplish its meaning, a meaning which it can be argued is implicitly political. In reality, Goya appears to be painting a scene of village life: three men (a youth, an adult, and an old man) are working in a village smithy, hammering a piece of glowing metal on an anvil. Goya is
According to a report in the New York Times, the level of piracy in Somalia's treacherous waters has fallen sharply in the year 2012. This is according to statistics that were released by the U.S. Navy. This fall is credited by the U.S. Navy to the aggressive patrolling by various international forces as well as increased vigilance by the commercial maritime operators (Shanker). In my opinion, I do believe that ransom
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now