American History Essay

Submitted By zervyzerv
Words: 440
Pages: 2

While broadening their territory, the Europeans sought to maintain their way of life in the New World. In order to do so, they introduced their culture, beliefs and laws to the natives and took advantage of their lack of knowledge on religion and hierarchy. Both the Spanish and the Puritans placed God and Christianity above all.
The Requerimiento was a declaration by the Spanish to the indigenous people of America. In this document, we learn that God was the center of all followed by a stratification of those on earth beneath him. The natives were invited to either take on their role as Christians below the hierarchy or suffer the consequences to their families and their land. While many generations had come about since the creation of Adam and Eve, men were bound to divide. Therefore, God made the closest resembling human to Himself, the Pope, to rule and bring everyone back to Christianity. Below the Pope, came kings and queens, and so on. Everyone had their place in the social stratification, in which they were to abide the law and fulfill their duties. If the natives did not accept this declaration, the Spanish promised war, slavery, and even death. It was delivered in the Spanish language, which was not understood by the natives. The purpose of declaring this requirement was to relieve the Spanish of the moral responsibility of their conquest to ultimately eliminate ignorance.
The Puritans had a different take. To them, everyone below God was equal. Everyone had their place in society to ultimately glorify Him. In John Winthrop’s, Model of Christian Charity, we learn that God ordained the difference among people for three reasons. First, diversity allowed for numerous ways to