Colonial America 1608-1783 |
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All American
Important People
Important Events1622: Year of the Congregation for the
Propagation of the Faith. ResourcesThe Roman Catholics in America This novel by Patrick W. Carey was a very informative book. Within the first chapter it gave me every thing I needed for my definition. It listed many dates and events as to what went on during colonial period. It also gave me a lot of information about the missions and the missionaries. American Catholicism This was also a wonderful novel about the catholic religion. It gave many important dates and events that have gone on throughout catholic history. This book also gives you a great sense of what the catholic religion is like today. Updated Month date, year
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Catholic Missions in Colonial AmericaBy Nicole Enos (http://www.geocities.com/nicoleenos_uncp/index.html) Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, 2002
During the Colonial Era a mission was considered to be a way of
schooling natives. Within the
missions, religion, civilization, and political government were
involved. In effect, the task
was to change the cultural lifestyle of a nomadic Indian into an everyday
Spaniard or Frenchman. The first ever to make such an attempt
on a mission was George Calvert.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia has an article called the Missions
of Colonial America that states: “It was Calvert’s Maryland colony
(1634), however, that soon after became the center of mission growth”
(972). In order to instruct
Indians in the catholic religion, a missionary used the method of the Doctrine. In brief terms, the Doctrine explains
that sins bring punishment inflicted by God. By using the Doctrine it was hoped to strike fear
into the hearts of natives. A
missionary’s job was to announce the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to teach the
Catholic faith, and to warn people that judgment will be faced upon all
mankind. Indians were taught to
read, practice, and even preach the Bible. Two families that helped in this process were the Brents
and the Fenwicks. The New Catholic Encyclopedia again in the article
called Missions in Colonial America states: “Outstanding Catholic
Maryland families, such as the Brents and Fenwicks, grew strong in
faith. They were well educated
in secular and religious matters, and they fostered their spiritual life with
retreats. They helped educate
the Indians, protected the church property as trustees, and had a paternal
Christian care for the uneducated Catholic servants and slaves” (972). A great man during the Colonial Era
of Catholic missions was John Eliot.
John Eliot was the first missionary to ever translate the Bible into
an Indian language. He is also
known for the first Indian church located in Natwick, Massachusetts in
1651. Another important
missionary was David Brainerd who was the most successful preacher to convert
Indians to the Catholic religion.
Once a native was converted to Catholicism he would then be separated
from the heathen community in fear that he would return to old ways such as
polygamy. As a center of civilization, the
mission was normally an industrial school. Life on a mission was hard work for the natives. Due to the extensive labor, many
missions were well supported and came to represent an economic investment. John Tracy Ellis states in his
written works called American Catholicism that: “It was the
missionaries who taught the Indians the rudiments of learning within the
mission compound, instructed the women how to cook, sew, spin, and weave, and
the men how to plant the crops, to fell the forest and to build, to tan
leather, run the forge, dig ditches, shear the sheep, and to tend the cattle”
(7-8). Patrick W. Carey explains
the same activities in the book The Roman Catholics Of America. He states: “Regular hours for
work in the fields, tending cattle, preparing food, and building homes,
churches, and other institutions for the mission a significant part of
mission life for the Indians and their clergy” (6). There was even such thing as a mission bell that would
ring when it was time to go to school or work, to finish work, to eat, and to
go to church. To handle these
responsibilities missionaries would sometimes have to bribe the natives with
gifts such as beads or even sincere acts of kindness. Once a native was enrolled in a
mission, the mission used all of its power to keep them there. In some cases, force was used. The novel The Roman Catholics in
America states: “Although some missionaries were rigorous disciplinarians
within the Indian missions, they rarely exercised the kind of force that
issued from the quarters of Spanish society” (Carey 6). The Complete Idiot’s Guide
to Understanding Catholicism says: “The relationship of the missionaries
to the people tended to be different from that of the conquistadors”
(Faulkner & Gorman 332). The
Spanish were known to be abusive towards the Indians and would be punished by
lashings. Finally, the mission was also a
school of government and citizenship.
The mission was organized into a town with the same civil officials and
sometimes also the same military leaders as the corresponding towns. Usually these officials would be
appointed the first time.
Thereafter, Indians who were head of the household would elect
officials every January 1.
Special accommodations in the church were given to winning
officials. The Indian town
council had the right to administer minor punishment and they even had their
own jail. It could pass laws
that were required by local circumstances, and it could appoint an Indian
overseer to supervise community projects such as road maintenance. Much of the time, Indians controlled
one another, but shuttered at the thought when a soldier or a missionary
stood by. Indian council’s
purpose was a means of control and a step toward self-government. Thomas Bokenkotter speaks through his
novel called A Concise History of the Catholic Church by
stating: “A most important act for the future of the catholic missionary
effort was the establishment in 1622 of the papal Congregatio de Propaganda
Fide(Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith) whereby the Pope
centralized all mission activity under his authority” (226). Sebastian Rale, S.J. was the greatest
Maine missionary. He converted
the whole Abenaki tribe to Catholicism.
American Catholics tells readers that: “The 1607 Treaty of
Ryswick brought temporary peace, but France and England were at war again
from 1702 to 1713(Queen Anne’s War), and in 1704 the Abenaki sacked
Deerfield, Massachusetts and massacred its population” (Hennesey 24). The Abenaki tribe did not want their
territory taken by the French or the British. Eventually in 1724, the Mohawk Indians and the English
Militia murdered his tribe as well as himself. Rale’s scalps as well as the Indian’s scalps were paraded
around on the streets of Boston. Overall, Catholic missions during the
Colonial Era were quite astonishing.
It was so important for the missionaries to convert the Indians to
Catholicism, but yet the Indians seemed to have done all the work. The natives had to do many jobs such
as cooking, cleaning, sewing, tending to cattle, and even building
institutions. Once converted to
Catholicism a native would have to leave his community of other heathen
Indians. This means they would
be taken even from their friends and family because they were considered
evil. The natives had no freedom
whatsoever except the small portion of the Indian council where they can make
little decisions for local problems.
If an Indian refused to be a part of a mission after already being
joined he would be punished severely.
The missions seemed to be too cruel to be an act for God. Works Cited
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