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The effect of colonization in Latin America
Religion throughout the years in Latin America
The effect of colonization in Latin America
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In Latin America, one of the factors that connect the country is there shared religions. In most countries the religions most practiced or recognized by the state is Catholicism. there is a range of how much this religion still influences the everyday life of the people in Latin America. For example, Chile was one of the last countries to legalize gay marriage and Guatemala recognizes many Mayan religions. Moreover, there has been a growth of protestants, but Catholicism is still a part of the culture. This is one of the many remains of the colonization of Latin America by the Spanish and Portuguese.
When Latin America was colonized the church was one of the main institutions brought from Europe. Due to the Reconquista, after many years of having a Muslim enclave in Spain, the Spanish finally defected this and reclaimed their own land. This motivated them to keep spreading the religion and convert as many as possible. The priest came to Latin America and converted many people (souls) but also adopted some of the regional traditions. This syncretism created new traditions like the day of the dead. Additionally, the Virgin of Guadalupe, who is indigenous.
This syncretism can also create a specific type of art for
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For example, the Jesuits in Brazil helped establish universities through the region. They also brought other cultural aspects such as music. Moreover, Bartolomeo de las Casas was a priest that advocated for the integration of indigenous people. He was from the Dominican Republic and he criticized the abuses which the meridian people faced and wanted their integration into society. He was a priest that pushed for the equal treatment of indigenous people in the Dominican Republic. However, his work in his homeland extended to other Latin American countries and led to the new laws which were created to annul the abuse and limited landholdings from the encomienda
Throughout the Iberian Peninsula and Colonial Europe, the sweeping philosophical shift from religious and spiritual pursuits to a greater emphasis on logic and reason foreshadowed remarkable social reformation. In Latin America, the Ibero...
The religious views of the Indians and the Europeans were different. The Natives were very willing to take up Catholicism as an addition to their religious practice. Although, the Spanish misinterpreted the situation and thought that the Indians were accepting Catholicism as their only religion. If all Natives would have truly converted to Catholicism, then it would have resulted with their own religious practices dying out and Catholicism becoming the only religion. The Native’s refusal to give up their own religious practice, I would say, played a key role in setting a precedent for other believers to continue having the same perspective or form a new one. Similarly, Anne Hutchinson and George Whitfield changed their perspective on how much
Native American civilization was not always a pit of terror and agonizing torture for every single being. The Spanish arrived in Hispaniola, during the early 1500, with the seemingly good intention of introducing to the indigenous the Christian faith. Unfortunately, their mission turned into an almost complete annihilation of a culture unlike their own. Bartolome de la Casas, depicts a graphic and ultimately disturbing castings of the happenings during their expedition. The Spanish Christians involved in these happenings can be seen as hypocritical, heartless, and close minded. Although, in the minds of these men, they were completing their God assigned duties, such as
Cuba has long since been considered as an island-nation without any necessary affiliation with the Catholic Church. In fact, prior to the 1960s, Cuba was considered the most "secularized" country within Latin America, with only a mere six percent of the population attending church on a regular basis. Instead, the practice of the African based voodoo religion of Santería has prevailed. Experts estimate that 70 percent of the Cuban population practices Santería. This religion was brought to Cuba by African slaves and combined the virtues of Christianity and with their native African beliefs. It is associated with Catholicism because Afro-Cuban deities have been associated with Catholic saints since colonial Cuba. The Afro-Cubans did this in order to evade religious persecution by the Spaniards who considered a...
Finally, when it came down to the types of ceremonies and views both civilizations had, they were on two different pages. The Natives believed happiness was the key to good fortune. So, in order to get that fortune, they’d do sacrifices, and rituals to please the “mighty ones”. Then, as stated in the book “A History of Latin America”, it says, “Jews publicly converted to Christianity to avoid the torture…”, In which, this showed how religion and the spiritual views were forced upon people in the Spanish civilization.
Bartolomé de Las Casas was born in 1484 AD in Seville and died in 1566 in Madrid. In the ending of the 15th century and the beginning of 16th, he came to America and become a “protector of Indian”. In 1542, most based on his effort, Spain has passed the New Law, which prohibit slaving Indians (Foner, p. 7). In 1552, he published the book A Short Account of the Destruction of The Indies.
During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was the dominant force in Western civilization. As the Dark Ages came to a close, the monarchies of Europe began to consolidate power; providing an alternative power base. With the Protestant Reformation came another blow to the influence of the Church. Spain, the forerunner in the Age of Discovery, was a fervently Catholic country. During the 16th century, the monarchy combined the forces of "cross and crown" in its imperial policy; much to the dismay and ultimate destruction of the indigenous peoples of the New World. Through an examination of Aztec polytheism and the Catholicism of the conquistadors, comes the central role of religion in the successful conquest of New Spain.
The oppression from the Spanish born was so hated, that when the new country of Mexico created its Constitution, they decided to outlaw slavery completely in their new country. This was not a foreign idea. Some of the countries of Europe had already begun to do the same. Now along with the idea of no slavery, the Mexican people decided to adopt the Catholic Religion as their national faith. This is because their mother country, Spain, which had created them, was a Catholic Country and it was what they knew and practiced.
The caudillo system established in Latin America after the wars for independence consisted of unstable transitional governments that achieved few of the goals recognized in an effective democratic government. Despite these shortcomings, the caudillo system maintained a predictable social order and prevented chaos. This system was the best available until the formation of a middle class could be achieved, resulting in a more democratic political system.
Some people had home altars and images of the saints. They used their Catholic religion at the same time they used Indian herbs and prayer in medicine. Thoes who had chosen to attend church and fully live Catholic lives sought to make their religion more relevant to themselves by having music, prayers, and readings in Spanish. Throughout the United States, increasingly there are more Mexican American laypersons involved in the church. Mariachi masses are common. Also common and indicative of the religious commitments of some are the statues of the Virgin and Jesus exhibited in the yards and in the homes of many citizens. Many people have patron saints to whom they pray for assistance, good health, good jobs, racial justice and peace in the world. Home altars at which people light candles and pray to the saints for guidance, assistance, and deliverance are very much an Indian and a Spanish tradition. Religion enable individuals to make sense of their world. It guides them in times of
Documents A and B show the importance of religion to the Spanish. The Spanish were sent to St Augustine to put up an enormous wooden cross (Doc A). They put up this cross to spread the catholic faith. They traveled with a chaplain whom the conquistadors seem to answer (Doc A). Document B will show how strong Pedro Menendez's religious motivation by spreading his hatred of protestants. The Spanish beliefs were
Secondly, another area that is highly influenced by American society is the religion of the Mexican Americans. Ninety percent of Spanish speaking people are Roman Catholic (C...
The Yoruba people, who were brought over from Nigeria as slaves, came to the Caribbean in the 1500’s with their own religion, which was seen as unfit by the white slave owners. Most plantation owners in the Caribbean were members of the Roman Catholic Church, so they forced their slaves to disregard their native religions and become Catholic. Soon, the slaves realized that they could still practice their West African religion as long as it was disguised as Catholicism, and Santería was born. Now it’s practiced in the United States, Cuba, the Caribbean, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Great Britain, Canada, Venezuela, and Panama.
I think it’s important for the HIST 241 students to know that in the Spanish Americas there was a social pyramid in which peninsulares (Spanish from Spain) were at the top, and creoles (Spanish born in the Americas) were the ones to follow, and so on. This is structure was based on place of birth and how “pure” one’s blood. Those with “pure blood” didn’t have Muslim, Jewish, nor African or Indigenous ancestry. This is important to know to understand the tensions between peninsulares and creoles (299). In addition, around this time in the Spanish Americas, people were transitioning from Baroque Catholicism to Reform Catholicism in which people sought to have a more direct relationship with God and be more modest. Elites were mostly part of the
The first Catholic priests came to South America with the conquistadors and through social and political force superimposed 16th century Catholicism upon conquered peoples and in subsequent generations upon slaves arriving in the New World. Catholicism has, likewise, frequently absorbed, rather than confronted, popular folk religious beliefs. The resulting religion is often overtly Catholic but covertly pagan. Behind the Catholic facade, the foundations and building structure reflect varying folk religious traditions. (2)