Slavery And Racism: The Role Of Religion And Civilization

Name: Course: Professor: Date: Slavery and racism To the Editor, The New York Times, Dear Sir /Madam, I would like to bring to your attention one of the recent debates I read in one of your articles about the role of religion and civilization. I want to share with you some insights on the reasons why religion was quickly replaced by the state. Historically, religion was the driving force of many nations; this is evident from historical events like the European expansion in America and Africa, whereby the role of religion slowly diminished as nations became more civilized. The increased power of the state promoted secularism, several accounts written by different people during the European expansion in the fifteenth century, reveals the reasons why the state replaced religion. Bernal Diaz presents the true account of his experience of the conquest of Mexico, exposing how Spanish soldiers were greedy. Cortes was among the many Spanish soldiers who established a sizable estate on the island of Hispaniola. Diaz was involved in the conquest of Mexico; he presents the detailed description of his experience in Mexico in 1520. According to Diaz, Cortes meeting, Montezuma was majorly driven by greed for Montezuma's gold; he was determined to find the legendary capital of the Aztec empire. Montezuma welcomed Cortes but treated them with caution, for example, he refused to extend his hand when Cortes greeted him. Montezuma was hospitable towards them but doubted the main purpose of their visit. In his narration, Diaz was impressed by the riches of the palace when he described the richly furnished apartments of Montezuma. Diaz was amazed by the respect accorded to Montezuma, he noted that only a few people could speak to him, and anyone who wanted to speak to him was compelled to take off their rich cloak. What caught their attention during their expedition were some marks on the walls, they suspected that Montezuma kept his father's treasures in the room. Cortes convinced the king to permit them to build a church for worship as part of their Christian practice. However, they took advantage to explore the city and later discovered where Montezuma kept his father's treasure, Cortes, and his soldiers set a trap by holding Montezuma hostage in his palace to take all his treasures. According to Spanish, the Aztec were uncivilized, they worshipped and made human sacrifices to their gods, while the Spanish worshipped on one God. The description by Diaz about the nature of sacrifice included tearing Indian chests and eating their arms and thighs at a ceremonial banquet, proved that the Aztecs were backward. The narrative presented by Diaz makes him more of a sympathizer than an advocate because he did participate in all the events but did not explain his role and what he did to change the situation. Therefore, he was merely presenting his own perspective. Bartolommeo De Las Casa presented his case against Indian slavery at the Spanish court termed his experience as one of the worst exploitation he had witnessed. Similar to what Diaz narrated, the Spanish people were never contented with what they had gotten from the locals. Bartolommeo reveals how the Spaniards used force and violence oppressing the locals, he even recalls how the native Indians wondered if the Spaniards were truly sent by God. They attacked Indians with buffets; even powerful Indian rulers were not spared. Their wives were raped by Christian officers. The Spaniard brutality is evidence as children and pregnant women were not spared. According to Bartolommeo, infants were taken away from their breastfeeding mothers and thrown into the river as the soldiers roared with laughter. Other Indians were wrapped in s...