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Overview
In this thought-provoking book, Rivera argues that evangelical reasoning and symbolism were appropriated to justify the armed seizure of people and land in the New World and to validate the conversion, peaceful or forced, of the natives. He recaptures the 16-century political debates, contrasts "discovery" and conquest, and examines the tragic outcome: demographic collapse from the islands Columbus first sighted to the Inca empire in Peru.In this thought-provoking book, Rivera argues that evangelical reasoning and symbolism were appropriated to justify the armed seizure of people and land in the New World and to validate the conversion, peaceful or forced, of the natives. He recaptures the 16-century political debates, contrasts "discovery" and conquest, and examines the tragic outcome: demographic collapse from the islands Columbus first sighted to the Inca empire in Peru.
Synopsis
In this thought-provoking book, Rivera argues that evangelical reasoning and symbolism were appropriated to justify the armed seizure of people and land in the New World and to validate the conversion, peaceful or forced, of the natives. He recaptures the 16-century political debates, contrasts "discovery" and conquest, and examines the tragic outcome: demographic collapse from the islands Columbus first sighted to the Inca empire in Peru.
Library Journal
Rivera (humanities, Univ. of Puerto Rico) recontructs the 16th-century debate about the European appropriation of the New World. He chronicles the development of the questionable theology used to justify the overthrow of indigenous American peoples. As a counterweight to the rationalizations of conquest--the bestiality of the natives, the universal authority of the Church--Rivera repeatedly invokes Bartolome de Las Casas's passionate defense of the ``Indians,'' which anticipates some of the major arguments and concerns of contemporary liberation theology. Rivera's powerful critique of the Whig interpretation of Columbus's voyage is enhanced by his careful marshaling of documentary evidence and by his restrained tone. The book deserves a prominent place in the crowded field of works addressing the Columbus quincentenary. For academic and larger public libraries.-- Steve Gowler, Wofford Coll. Lib., Spartanburg, S.C.