Colonial Latin America Essay

The Church in Colonial Latin America The presence of the religion was minuscule during the nascent stages of the Latin America. The ships from the Spanish and Portuguese kingdoms often only two to three friars or priests. With the discovery of the indigenous populations in Latin America, that need for conversion rose since the souls of the indigenous needed saving. The Spanish kingdoms recognized the indigenous people as tabula rasas, blank slates. This perception of the indigenous was held to justify spreading Christianity. In Latin America, the colonizers and priests held on to their own agenda for the colonies. These agendas were not similar, and it contributes to understanding the motives and roles of the priests in the Latin American colonies. This is supported through multiple primary sources, as they help historians understand the role of religion in Brazil. In the 17th century, Brazil was one of the largest slave economies in

When the Portuguese arrived in Brazil, the population of Indigenous people decreased. This lead the Portuguese with the need to supply labor with slaves from the African slave trade. Due to the malnutrition and the detrimental conditions of cane production, the slave population in Brazil was not self-reproducing. Although slaves had a short-life span in the colonies, the Portuguese had an abundance of slaves. The Portuguese slave owners did not seem to care for the salvation of the slaves of their conversion to Christianity. The treatment of the slaves would not sit well with the Portuguese priests. Portuguese priest, Padre Antônio Vieira, held the objective to implement “universal church and an apostolic mission to convert non-Christians to the faith.” The life-span of the slaves were not long enough for Padre Antônio Vieira to embark on his mission. The sermon titled “Twenty-Seventh Sermon, with the Most Holy Sacrament Present,” highlights