Ceremonies of Possession: Comparing Spanish, French, and English Imperialism

(1973) From 1600 – 1763, several European nations vied for control of the North American continent. Why did England win the struggle? (2000) Analyze the cultural and economic responses of TWO of the following groups to the Indians of North America before 1750. British French Spanish

Counter-factual: What if Columbus had sailed for Henry VII rather than Spain? England Silver development imperial bureaucracy + financial independence from Parliament absolutist rule + culture Wealth + subjugated Indians no need dissolve monasteries + missionary zeal/cover England staunchly Catholic Spain Poverty Spanish centralism collapses after F+I religious and cultural pluralism + possible incursions of Protestantism Spanish colonies based on trade w/ little royal control reinforce individualism and capitalism Irony: Spain’s early imperial success led to their long-term collapse; England’s early imperial failure led to their long-term dominance

I. The Requirement: Spanish Justification Upon arrival in a new land, Spanish explorers and conquistadores read a legal document to the natives called the Requirement.

Spanish Goals The Spanish sought: 1. Conversion of the Indians to Christianity 2. Resources (especially precious metals) 3. Labor for the Spanish encomienda system Spanish imperialism might be called extractive

Spanish Goals The Spanish were not particularly concerned with Land for settlement Trade (although became more important when silver/gold begin to run low and in the Southwest)

II. Theatrical Rituals: French Political Possession The French staged elaborate ceremonies upon their encounter with new Indian groups, rituals in which the Indians played a central role.

A. Consent: “Conquest by Love” It was important to the French that the Indians themselves perform the rituals: “After they themselves had placed the cross as a sign that they desired to be children of God, they likewise planted with the French the arms and standards of France in the middle of their land so that it be recognized among all other nations, that our most Christian king is the sovereign master and peaceable possessor.”

B. Alliance Consent paved the way for the specific political relationship that Frenchmen envisioned themselves creating with natives, namely, an “alliance.” Alliance did not mean parity (the French were clearly the ones with power) But it did ensure mutual obligation, particularly protection in exchange for trade and allegiance.

French Goals The French desired: 1. Trade 2. Indian conversion to Christianity 3. Limited amounts of land upon which to farm The French were primarily a trading empire. Dutch: different ceremonies, same basic pattern

French Goals The French did not particularly desire: Slave labor Large tracts of land Gold or silver (since it was nonexistent)

III. Houses, Gardens, and Fences: Signs of English Possession “On the 15. of December, they [the Pilgrims] wayed [weighed] anchor to goe to the place they had discovered…And afterwards tooke better view of the place, and resolved where to pitch their dwelling; and on the 25 day begane to erect the first house for common use to receive them and their goods.”

The English literally staked their claim to the land by building fences, planting gardens, and erecting buildings that showed their exclusive ownership. No ceremony was necessary: construction created the right of possession

The English claimed that the Indians had no right to land because they had not obeyed Scripture: Genesis 1:28: “God and his Reason commanded him to subdue the Earth…He that in Obedience to this Command of God, subdued, tilled and sowed any part of it, thereby annexed to it something that was his Property.”

English Goals The English primarily came to the New World for 1. Land 2. Work 3. Agricultural products (sugar, tobacco, wheat, timber) Of the three empires, the English can best be called a settlement empire: they desired to live in the New World.

English Goals The English were not particularly interested in 1. Conversion of the Indians (some believed it impossible; nature of Calvinism) 2. Precious metals (Jamestown conquistadores) 3. Indian slaves

Consequences Spanish, French, and Dutch have more pluralistic societies with Indians more fully incorporated into colonial society English almost entirely exclude Indians from society except for those who entirely convert (“praying Indians”)