Sept 11 Lecture 2 Notes: Colonialism in America PDF

Sept 11 Lecture 2 Notes: Colonialism in America Why Did the Colonizers Leave? In North America, the main colonizers were the British and French. The Dutch also played a part. South America was mainly colonized by the Spanish and Portuguese. The main reasons colonizers left were trade, r...

Sept 11 Lecture 2 Notes: Colonialism in America Why Did the Colonizers Leave? In North America, the main colonizers were the British and French. The Dutch also played a part. South America was mainly colonized by the Spanish and Portuguese. The main reasons colonizers left were trade, religious expansion (largely Catholicism), resources (gold, furs, food, etc), strategic interest of who controls the seas, military power, entitled imperialism. The Spaniards & Portuguese: Before Spain and Portugal were divided, they were a united territory under Caliphate rule referred to as Al-Andalus, a Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian peninsula. As such, they were referred to as Iberico by the Romans. Caliphate Rule: Arab (Muslim) rule over Spain and Portugal that lasted for centuries, with a primary focus on expanding. Many Spaniards in the south converted to Islam as a result of Caliphate conquest. There was a war due to Caliphate rule, between the Spanish monarchy and the Caliphates. The Spanish monarchy was concerned with the expansion of Caliphate rule across the country, so they waged a civil war. The Monarchy enlisted help from mercenaries and the French, among others. After this war, the Spanish Monarchy had to rebuild. The war with Caliphate galvanized the monarchy to send the conquistadors to conquer and obtain power, resources, and industry.  The Spanish Inquisition: at the same time the Spaniards were destroying the Caliphate rule, they were destroying Muslims and Jewish people that were left over from the war. Side Note for Context: Christopher Columbus had a Jewish parent, his conquest was, in some part, an attempt to curry favour with the monarchy. The Ottoman Empire (the Turkish): ruled large parts of Europe for hundreds of years. Conquistadores: one of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16th Century. The British: Industrialization left many British citizens in abject poverty, working to death, dying of disease, and imprisoned. There was a holy war that had been taking place between the Catholics and Protestants for centuries. The British Monarchy was also systematically killing Scottish and Irish citizens, manufacturing a famine in Ireland. The English had a vested interest in obtaining more resources to maintain their position at the head of Industrialization. The Main Groups in Europe: Anglo-Saxon (i.e. British, Irish, Scottish) ◦ ◦ Latins (i.e. French, Italians, Spanish, Portuguese) ◦ Slavic (Ukrainians, Russians) ◦ Greeks ◦ Hungarians ◦ Albanians. European borders have, historically, been constantly shifting as they fight amongst themselves and attempt to colonize each other. The Doctrine of Discovery: Manifest Destiny: If Colonizers are able to go into another country and colonize it, it is because God wills it to be so. ◦ Somehow predetermined by God.  ◦ Very tied to Christianity. ◦ Ex. The Crusades (Christians vs. Arabs). Right of Discovery: if a group in power is able to colonize and subjugate the Indigenous people, it is now theirs'. ◦ More material than spiritual. ◦ i.e. "Finder's Keepers" level logic. The American Holocausts - Ethnocide & Genocide: The legality and the term Holocaust was coined after World War 2. Ethnocide: the eradication of a culture. You can destroy a culture without killing the people through criminalizing native language, cultural observance and practices, etc. Genocide: the biological destruction of a people. In the case of the American holocaust, in Canada and the US, there were various channels of violence toward Indigenous Nations and people: ◦ Disease - smallpox, influenza, polio, typhoid ◦ Terror ◦ Displacement - forceful removal of Indigenous people from their native land ◦ Cultural Eradication ◦ Habitat Destruction - near extinction of water buffalo, habitat degradation and deforestation These elements compound to empirically prove that a genocide has occurred. How does colonization and genocide occur: A pleasure over morality mindset ◦ ◦ The dehumanization of people who are considered as "other" than the perpetrator ◦ A perceived "divine" religious right (i.e. "I need to spread my religion to this group because my religion is the right one.") Dehumanization: the process of depriving a person or group of positive human qualities; believing someone has no inherent value.  In Canada, The Indian Act was the backbone of Canadian colonialism. The Rule of Law was used to commission the Genocide and Ethnocide of the Indigenous people and nations. Why the Incan & Aztec Empires Fell With Ease: In the Americas (the US and parts South America like Mexico, Peru, and Chile), there was much more direct violence. The Spanish and Portuguese may have come in much smaller numbers, but they we're heavily armed, and more than prepared to enact violence. The Aztec (modern day Mexico) and Inca (modern day Peru and Chile) were empires, with vast territories. Remember, empires are made through conquest. ◦ Ex. the giant buildings were built through slave labour. Both the Inca and Aztec empires were Feudal Systems. They had the powerful people, held up by tons of slave labour. Feudal System: a system of devolved political and economic control in which landowning elites govern ordinary people. ◦ Think of a pyramid shape, with the elites at the top exploiting the lower class' labour to create their empires. The Conquistadores brought in horses, and sophisticated military forces to support their pursuit of conquest. The Conquistadors didn't have much difficulty dividing the empires, as the enslaved peoples were easy to mobilize. Because the Inca and Aztecs operated as a feudal system, they ensured their own destruction. A Holocaust also occurred in South America, with many South American countries now being largely populated with non-indigenous citizens. Colonial Empiricism vs. Aboriginal Spirituality:  Religion places people into a hierarchical structure. In the case of Christianity and Colonialism, the extant knowledge provided by Indigenous peoples was thrown away because it didn't have written records (i.e. empirical information) and passed their knowledge down through oral storytelling. Empiricism: the idea that things must be provable with tangible evidence and fact. Deductive, inductive, and reductive reasoning. Indigenous peoples used oral storytelling, with laws, cultural practices. Because they didn't subscribe to a monotheistic religion, their spiritual beliefs were also disqualified. The Enlightenment: included the shift from church power to state power, the development of the rule of law. The countries that went through this enlightenment included France, Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal. As such, they considered themselves as the epitome of "high culture." The colonizing countries that went through the enlightenment had a system for measuring other cultures. The information they were based upon was empirical. They utilized their own cultures as a point of reference to evaluate others. The Settlers demonstrated structural violence, using the rule of law. They saw forcing conversion and subjugation of aboriginal people as their divine duty as Christians. The Conquistadors demonstrated naked violence, using violence and military power. They saw destroying aboriginal people as their destiny, should they not submit and convert. Race Drove Colonialism The concept of Manifest Destiny is still utilized to this day, and religious "right" is still used to justify genocidal atrocities. ◦ Ex. The way Israel justifies the Palestinian genocide. How Indigenous Internalization of the Colonial Mindset Can Occur:  On a psychological level, Colonialism brought with it the subordination and inferiority of people. Some Indigenous people internalized this idea of inferiority. A sense of hopelessness and an"I deserve it" mentality can be present in Indigenous individuals who have internalized this colonial mindset. The internalization of these colonial ideals, when people are broken mentally, culturally, create people vulnerable to all the horrors inflicted upon them. Conforming to colonial ideals is lauded as the "right" choice. When a person is broken down, they will often seek "deliverance" and "salvation." It can be seen as a "Colonization of the Mind."