Christianity And Native Religions In The Americas

Question 1

explain how christianity began to take root in the Iberian colonies

Answer 1

• Franciscan, Dominican, Jesuit missionaries campaigned in Mexico
• 12 Franciscan missionaries arrived in 1524 (Mexico)
• –founded a school in Tlatelolco
• –missionaries learned native language and sought to explain Christianity

Question 2

Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún

Answer 2

-preserved volumes of information about the language, customs, beliefs, literature, and history of Mexico before the arrival of Spanish forces there

Question 3

How did they alter Christianity?

Answer 3

Americas resisted a lot
In Mexico and Peru, natives resisted until they concluded that their god abandoned them
-then they looked to missionaries for spiritual guidance

• they blended there own interests and traditions with the Spanish Christianity
  ex. the Roman Catholic saints were retired like inherited gods

Question 4

Why did many natives abandon their indigenous religion for Christianity

Answer 4

• they thought their gods had abandoned them
• (mid seventh century) Virgin of Guadalupe became the mestizo “national symbol”
• her shrine worked miracles on people
• her popularity made Roman Catholic Christianity dominate cultural and religious matters in Mexico

Question 5

Why were the Spanish successful in their missionary undertakings as opposed to the French or English?

Answer 5

• FE didn’t attract many converts
• b/c the natives frequently moved around
• English -displayed little interest in converting people
• —they didn’t welcome the natives
• French- worked among native communities in St. Lawrence, Mississippi, Ohio R. valleys
• —-had success, but the people didn’t embrace Christianity