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The Legal Battle and Spiritual War against the Native People

Doctrine of Discovery

This section is devoted to the documents that began, promoted, and perpetuated the so-called "Doctrine of Christian Discovery" that were used by the Europeans to "discover" and "take possession of" the New World. This pattern of "discovery" has been one of the primary factors in perpetuating the genocide of the First Nations people, not only in North America, but in the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Many of these documents have never been revoked and could continue to hold spiritual precedent in the land and over the people. We have also included a number of religious messages that were shared during the same periods of time to showed the varied "Christian" thoughts of the day. And lastly, we have included a number of excellent articles that address this issue of "discovery."

 
   

Official Documents

The Bull Romanus Pontifex (Nicholas V)
January 8, 1454

The Bull Inter Caetera (Alexander VI)
May 4, 1493

Treaty of Tordesillas
June 7, 1494

Patent Granted by King Henry VII 
to John Cabot and his Sons
March 5, 1496

The Requerimiento
1512

Johnson vs. McIntosh
March 10, 1823

The Monroe Doctrine
December 2, 1823

The Roosevelt Corollary
to the Monroe Doctrine 
December 6, 1904

Religious Messages

Politics, Book 1: Aristotle on Slavery
Aristotle
350 BCE

The First Relectio
Franciscus de Victoria
15
38

Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indes
Bartoleme de Las Casas
1542

The Advantages of Colonization
Sir George Peckham
1582

The Divine Right to Occupy the Land
John Cotton
1630

 

Articles
(Note: Some of these are offsite)

Five Hundred Years of Injustice:
The Legacy of Fifteenth Century 
Religious Prejudice
Steve Newcomb

Doctrines of Discovery
Eric Cheyfitz