The Strategies Used by the Spanish to Convert the Native Americans
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The strategies that were used by the Spanish to convert the Aztec populace are varied. Yet the two most commonly agreed on strategies by historians include adaption, where the Aztecs peacefully converted and blended their old customs with Christianity. Secondly, is that of forceful conversion which lead to Aztec slavery.[1] These two strategies were unsuccessful simply because of a lack of willingness to convert peacefully or forcibly by the Aztecs. In fact Queen Isabella I of Castile gave the edict to Governor Ovando (Governor of the Indies) to place the conquered Aztec populace into neighboring dwellings with the Spanish. Isabella demanded that Ovando, “bring the natives out of their mountain and forest retreats, where they lived isolated from the Spaniards, and congregate in towns.”[2] The towns in which the Queen called for would be provided with a church and a priest who would baptize the Aztec converts both peacefully and forcefully.
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The forced conversion which led to Aztec slavery was vicious, as Aztecs were used as slave labor on their own lands. As a result of the brutality, harsh conditions, and the illnesses brought by the Spaniards the Aztec population quickly diminished. [3] The mistreatment of Aztec slaves got to the point where Spanish troops in their vessels would capture the Natives and transport them without them even resisting to being converted. As a way for the Spanish to justify Native slavery with Christian principles, the doctrine of the encomienda (a legal system employed by the Spanish Crown in an attempt to define the status of the Native American population) emerged. The encomienda land grant ultimately gave a grant by the Spanish Crown to a conquistador, as this grant would indicate a number of Native Americans living in a certain area. The receiver of the encomienda grant could gain tribute from the Natives which resulted in gold or in labor and was required to protect them and most importantly instruct them in the Christian faith. The encomienda system essentially declared that it was suitable for the Spanish Crown to capture and enslave natives who forcefully resisted and refused to accept the Christian faith. In many accounts the Spanish didn’t concern themselves with communicating The Requirement to the Natives, and instead captured and enslaved them. This view is the best illustration of the hypocritical use of religion as a way to justify reprehensible deeds. It wasn’t until 1530 that measures were adopted to abolish the slavery of Native Americans.[4] These measures were adopted by Father Bartoleme de las Casas who argued that slavery was reducing the Native population. Nevertheless this forceful and confrontational strategy was used by the Spanish ministry as they had no prior experience with large scale forceful conversions, which allowed for this tactic to be the easiest to apply, as there was a heavy presence of Spanish troops that could enforce this confrontational strategy. The main goal of Spain’s evangelization process was to destroy the indigenous religion and replace it with Catholicism.
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The adaption strategy, where Native Americans were able to blend their old religious customs with Christianity, came to fruition when Aztecs decided that the only way to survive and keep their old culture prevalent was to conform to Catholicism. This strategy allowed for the Native to create a middle ground. They would feign to Catholicism only to return home to worship their own idols.[5] This was the best means for the Aztecs to not become slaves brutally mistreated by the Spanish. Aztecs during this time were still forced to convert but those who chose to conform ultimately did so under the notion that they could ensure the survival of their old customs. In doing so the Aztec converts were able to take their beliefs and customs and blend them into Catholicism. In fact many Aztec converts would hide their idols inside statues of Catholic saints.[6] The similarities between the two religions helped with the blending process as well as the Aztecs ability to comprehend Catholicism. Without the Aztecs conforming to Catholicism their ancient beliefs and customs would have been demolished by the Spanish. The Aztec people would have perhaps been turned into slave laborers at which point many would have lost their lives including the loss of their culture and beliefs.
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[1] Kicza, John. Resilient Cultures: America's Native Peoples Confront European Colonization. London: Pearson Education, 2003.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Polanco, Hector. Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: The Quest for Self-Determination. Boulder: Westview Press, 1997.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Gruzinski, Serge. The Conquest of Mexico: The Incorporation of Indian Societies into the Western World,16th-18th Centuries. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1993.
[6] Ibid