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The Role of the Popes
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Eximiae Devotionis (May, 1493) – Papal sovereignty
over the Americas?
Dudum Siquidem (Sept., 1493) – The Division of the
New World
Treaty of Tordesillas (June 1494) – Political
settlement of spheres of influence
The Role of the Spanish Junta (1504) –
Consultation and confirmation
Requerimiento (1513) – Legal declaration of
Spanish rites read to an unknowing audience
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1: The Indians are to be removed from their land and placed
into encomiendas
3: The citizen to whom the Indians are given must erect a
structure to be used as a church.
4: To make sure the Indians are learning Christianity
properly, they shall be tested every two weeks and taught
what they do not know by the Encomendero.
14: The Indians must be allowed to perform their sacred
dances.
23: Official inspectors must keep records of the activities
and also the treatment of the Indians in the encomiendas.
24: The Indians are not to be physically or verbally abused
for any reason.
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200,000 Spaniards migrated to New World in
sixteenth century
Depopulation due to epidemic disease created
space for migrants
Problem: a shortage of women (only 10% of
Spanish) led to mixing of Spanish men and
native women: the creation of mestizo culture
Government: minimal. Only two viceroys for
all Spanish possessions in the New World –
church was a more effective actor
Despite such laws, the
lack of central oversight
led to the rampant abuse
of the encomienda system.
The failure of the state to
respond to abuse led
priests who had served in
the New World to voice
sharp critiques of
practices that had been
typical in the Americas.
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1537: In Sublimus Dei, Pope Paul III affirms the humanity
of Amerindians and condemns their enslavement
1542: The passage of the New Laws and the revolt of the
Peruvian encomenderos
In wake of revolt, encomenderos’ power became
hereditary(!)
The division of principle and practice
This episode coincided with the composition of
Bartolomeo de las Casas’ work: A Short Account of the
Destruction of the Indies
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A devastating critique of Spanish practice
An assertion of the natives’ natural innocence
The response: Juan de Sepulveda’s Second Democrates
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An assertion of the natives’ natural subservience
The concern for demonic influence on the “savages”
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Ignorance of higher culture: a nature vs.
nurture debate
Suitability for conversion: a more innocent
nature (Edenic?) vs. the impossibility of virtue
The imagery of beasts: the natives as lambs (or
monkeys) vs. the Spaniards as lions/wolves (or
men)
The result: The New Laws upheld by the
crown, but no real shift in lived experience of
the native Americans
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The catastrophic exchange of diseases: smallpox
and syphilis(?)
The remaking of European agriculture
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The reshaping of the European economy
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Corn, potatoes and pathological mono-cropping
Colonial empires and plantation economics
The rise of mercantilism and global piracy
Spanish silver: massive inflation and an imbalance of
trade
The remaking of the American landscape
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Via animals – pigs, cows, sheep, and horses
Via crops – the insatiable demand for sugar cane
Via the quest for precious metals