The American Indian in Western Legal Thought: The Discourses of ConquestExploring the history of contemporary legal thought on the rights and status of the West's colonized indigenous tribal peoples, Williams here traces the development of the themes that justified and impelled Spanish, English, and American conquests of the New World. |
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This was a very helpful overview of the whole sweep of Christian / European thinking about the rights or lack thereof of Indians. Very useful to understand the roots of the European views and the debates that unfolded on whether Indians should be natural slaves or were rational enough to be converted. One great quote from the book: "Law, which Europeans have long revered as their instrument of civilization, became the West’s perfect instrument of empire in the heart of darkness that was America."
Contents
| 3 | |
The Medieval and Renaissance Origins of the Status of the American Indian in Western Legal Thought | 11 |
Protestant Discourses | 119 |
The Norman Yoke The American Indian and the Settling of United States Colonizing Legal Theory | 227 |
Conclusion | 325 |
| 335 | |
| 343 | |
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Common terms and phrases
according acquired America argued argument asserted attack authority British called century charter Christian Church civilization claims colonial colonists Company Congress conquest Constitution Court Crown Crusade discourse discovered Discovery divine doctrine early Elizabethan empire encomienda England English established Europe European fact feudal force frontier grant held Henry hierocratic holy human imperial important Indian Indies indigenous infidel Innocent interests Irish islands issue Italy Johnson jurisdiction king king's lands Law of Nations legal discourse letter London Lord medieval natives natural law Norman norms North opinion original papacy papal political pope possessed practice principles proclamation protection purchase radical reason recognized Reformation regarded respecting royal rule savages secular sought Spain Spaniards Spanish speculators status subjects supra note territory text accompanying notes theory tion trade tribes United universal Virginia vision West western World
Popular passages
Page 2 - The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.
Bibliographic information
| Title | The American Indian in Western Legal Thought: The Discourses of Conquest |
| Author | Robert A. Williams Jr. |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press, 1992 |
| ISBN | 0198021739, 9780198021735 |
| Length | 368 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |