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    They Stole our World: How Native Americans were Treated from Early Colonial Times Onward
    They Stole our World: How Native Americans were Treated from Early Colonial Times Onward
    They Stole our World: How Native Americans were Treated from Early Colonial Times Onward
    Ebook130 pages2 hours

    They Stole our World: How Native Americans were Treated from Early Colonial Times Onward

    By Jason Wallace

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    About this ebook

    From the earliest moments of contact until after World War I, find out what debates raged on behalf of and against Native Americans, how their culture was stripped from them, citizenship denied them, and the schemes against them, to not only steal their land but to make them white. Their contributions to society have been monumental and immeasurable, but their rewards have been few and almost unseen.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJason Wallace
    Release dateApr 7, 2015
    ISBN9781311710949
    They Stole our World: How Native Americans were Treated from Early Colonial Times Onward
    Author

    Jason Wallace

    Make sure to check out my other poetry at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jasonwallacepoetry. There are books on Amazon that are not shown here because they are offered through Kindle Unlimited. There are also books shown here that are not available on Amazon because they are free at all times. http://www.amazon.com/Jason-Wallace/e/B00JG37PVO/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1399103321&sr=8-1 Jason Wallace is an Indie author from the Midwest, aspiring to bring his works to the masses and through this, bring joy into their lives. He has been writing for more than 20 years, mostly poetry, but since 2011, he has been writing novels and short stories, in various genres. Come check out my new page and see what's going on. https://www.facebook.com/thepageofauthorjasonwallace

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      Book preview

      They Stole our World - Jason Wallace

      They Stole our World: How Native Americans were Treated from Early Colonial Times Onward

      By Jason Wallace

      Smashwords Edition

      ******

      Published by:

      Jason Wallace on Smashwords

      They Stole our World: How Native Americans were Treated from Early Colonial Times Onward

      Copyright © 2015 by Jason Wallace

      *Forgive me if some of these works have not been fully edited or if any of them seem amateurish. Some of them were written very early in college, yet others were written much later, during graduate school.

      The Red Man’s Burden

      We lost our lands

      To unseen hands

      To never know again

      The life, the love

      Of one another

      The Earth, the hunt,

      Our soul, our Mother

      Only now empty man

      We wash our selves

      In ancestor's blood

      No way back

      But now to die

      In the white man's flood

      And to be buried

      In snow and mud

      We have no home

      But what the white man made

      To live alone

      And die in a place

      Where there is no shade

      Our Mother is dying

      Our children are crying

      And it would not be this way

      If not for the lying

      We accepted

      Though trying, we were not protected

      And many are denying

      That they are infected

      With the disease of

      Heritage neglected

      That has nearly gone away

      Examining the Issue of Enslaving Native Americans

      This paper was written when I was a sophomore in college, long before I did my graduate work. If the paper seems amateurish at all, keep that in mind.

      With the discovery of the Americas, enslavement of the native peoples of those lands was debated heavily by scholars. This was due to labor being necessary for Spain to profit from its new colonies and that indigenous peoples would supply the labor force needed, if a slave labor system were accepted. Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, wanting to end the chaos and have the issue settled, ordered the issue to be formally argued at the University of Valladolid by two religious scholars, Juan Gines de Sepulveda and Bartolome de Las Casas. The structures of Sepulveda’s and Las Casas’ arguments were greatly different. Sepulveda drew on his studies of revered scholars, such as Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, as well as Pope Innocent I and Aristotle. Las Casas refuted Sepulveda’s arguments largely because Sepulveda lacked first-hand experience with the Amerindians or with teachings of those who had had such experiences. Las Casas had years of such experiences and drew on these, to compliment his studies of the same scholars Sepulveda used, to make his counter-arguments in favor of not enslaving the Amerindians.

      Sepulveda and Las Casas elaborated articulate arguments. Sepulveda’s major premise for his argument was that just or good peoples must, by divine right and obligation, rule unjust or bad peoples. His minor premise was that since the Amerindians were unjust or bad and the Spanish just or good, the Spanish must rule the Amerindians. Sepulveda called on the example of the Romans conquering and ruling over barbarian peoples in order to correct the vices of those peoples as justification for his argument.¹

      According to Sepulveda, the Amerindians were bad because of their primitive society, primitive warfare, lack of government or economy in the European sense, and especially because of their practices of idol worship and human sacrifice.² Sepulveda believed that the Native Americans lacked any real culture and that what few customs they practiced were extremely primitive, some of them, Satanic, their religion being an absolute atrocity. With such practices in place, the Amerindians could not be good and fit to rule themselves.³

      To Sepulveda, Amerindians were, little men in whom one can scarcely find any remnants of humanity. He rationalized that because they lacked a written history, other than a history of few paintings, their consuming of human flesh, and their lewdness, they were not capable of virtue.⁴ Sepulveda’s argument was furthered that some men are born to be slaves, and some are born to be masters.⁵

      Las Casas attacked Sepulveda’s premises, stating that Sepulveda got his information entirely from scholars, such as Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, as well as Aristotle, and not complimented by personal experience, as he, Las Casas had gotten. Las Casas argued that Sepulveda could not have enough knowledge to make his statements, making his arguments implausible.⁶ Sepulveda believed that his views were just because they were based on Cannon Law and the teachings of these Saints and scholars.⁷

      Las Casas used the same scholarly sources as Sepulveda used but interpreted these sources differently than Sepulveda. Las Casas’ major premise was that, from Aristotle’s teachings, there is a distinction between two types of barbarians. There are those that are dull witted and lacking in the reasoning powers necessary for self-government. Such barbarians have no laws or kings. There are also those that are fit to rule themselves because of having formal governments. His minor premise was that the Amerindians were the latter and thusly, could not be ruled by foreign powers.⁸ Although Amerindians lacked a formal writing system, they had well organized governments with not only kings, but judges, laws, and heavy commerce, making them a nation by all definition.⁹

      Las Casas had spent much time in the Americas, particularly as Bishop in Chiapa, and had many interactions with Amerindians. Las Casas believed strongly in not allowing the Amerindians to blindly accept Christianity but to get a full understanding of it before they agreed to baptism. Many Spanish missionaries baptized hundreds of Amerindians per day without emphasizing true understanding of doctrine.¹⁰ He called for the ending of mass baptism of the Amerindians, suggesting they be fully instructed in their new religion before being baptized. Las Casas was so convincing in his protests to this, that the Spanish government requested the opinions of some of the top theologians of the time on the matter, resulting in their agreement with Las Casas and the adoption of this new practice in the Church.¹¹ These experiences, he felt, gave him authority in the subject of subjugation of the Amerindians.¹² Las Casas stated that the Amerindians had taken to Catholic rituals with much ease and showed the utmost devotion, attempting to encourage his peaceful methods further.¹³

      Sepulveda supported fully conquering and converting the peoples of the Americas while Las Casas believed that Papal control over new lands should be limited. Las Casas did believe; however, that the Pope should have authority to intervene in extreme cases and assert his authority over those new lands in order to protect Christian converts from those exerting power over them, as Sepulveda was arguing for the Spanish to do.¹⁴

      Sepulveda considered the Amerindians cowardly and bloodthirsty, never ceasing from war.¹⁵ One of the strongest beliefs of Sepulveda was that since Montezuma and his people had accepted Spanish authority right away, they must have wanted to be Spanish subjects.¹⁶ Sepulveda stated that the Amerindians were children in comparison to the Spanish because of their primitive nature and lacked any true religion or knowledge of a Christian god.¹⁷

      Sepulveda believed that the Amerindians must be forced into submission and then forced into further submission under the Catholic faith.¹⁸ Las Casas believed that the Amerindians could not be subject to Spanish rule or forced into conversion to Christianity because the Amerindians lived in kingdoms not rightfully under Spanish law or Papal law. Therefore, they could not be punished but must be offered penance for their sins.¹⁹

      Waging war on and overtaking the Amerindian societies, in Las Casas’ view, would cause more harm than good. Las Casas believed conversion cannot be coerced and that many would not gain salvation. Las Casas believed war was always the last resort for any nation, and, in this case, unnecessary.²⁰ In the case of Sepulveda arguing in favor of teachings by Pope Innocent, Aristotle, and Saint Thomas Aquinas, Las Casas counter-argued that these teachings did not apply to America.²¹

      Las Casas argued that Sepulveda had twisted the teachings of those he quoted in his statements, yet Las Casas himself is believed to have used the teachings of Pope Innocent I in that violators of natural law must be dealt with accordingly. Some scholars believe that Las Casas manipulated the text to fit his arguments, as well as manipulating the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Gregory. Las Casas stated that Sepulveda had misrepresented sacred texts but was presumably guilty of the same, though not to the same degree.²²

      Las Casas taught that since Christ urged peace, no one should be converted by force. Las Casas is thought to have taken on his urge for peaceful conversions based on the teachings of his contemporary, Pedro de Cordoba, who preached, the only true method, peaceful conversion.²³ Las Casas believed it was embarrassing to use war for means of converting others.²⁴ His study of the laws of the Church, church doctrine, and the teachings of the church fathers convinced him of the truthfulness of these things.²⁵

      Sepulveda believed that the natives lived as beasts, that their practices were the highest crimes. According to Sepulveda, Spanish rule over the natives was completely just and virtuous, allowing the natives the best law benefits possible. His final argument was that the indigenous peoples had shown submission to the missionaries they were sent and begun to be civilized, changing their existence from that of beasts to that of men.²⁶

      Las Casas countered all of this by saying that all humans are created equal, all requiring education and mercy, some obtaining these sooner than others and being responsible to teach those that have not yet acquired such learning. If the Amerindians were given the chance to be educated, with compassion, not force, they would flourish as a people, as a culture.²⁷

      The Spanish debated the issue of Amerindian enslavement because of the need to decide if Amerindians were deserving of the same treatments as other peoples. This was in order to determine if they could serve as a labor pool for Spanish endeavors in the new colonies. When the issue was formally debated by Juan Gines de Sepulveda and Bartolome de Las Casas, both called on the works of respected scholars, particularly revered Saints, but Las Casas also called on his experiences as a former citizen and Bishop in the Americas

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