European Politics in the 16th and 17th Centuries Essay

European Politics in the 16th and 17th Centuries - Essay Example From the Spanish point of view, any resistance that the natives demonstrated to the conversion was a work of none other than the Satan. The Spanish presented the natives with an ultimatum to both adopt Christianity and then swear allegiance to the Spanish crown of Castile. Those who would refuse to do that would then face military action. This occurred as one of the immediate and unfortunate effect of the reformation. The intolerance that developed expressed itself in religious wars and persecution. Albeit the main motive should have been to generate the true spirit of Christ or the fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man, the reformation made millions of people to suffer on the account of religion. The main subjects of the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese monarchs were deliberately forced to remain catholic. Those who refused to convert to catholic suffered death or imprisonment. The main aim behind ‘a Short account of the Destruction of the Indies’ was to inform the King of Spain regarding the gold hoarding and the murders that were occurring in the New World. The reason of the expeditions was chiefly to convert the natives to Christianity and as a result protect them from the eternal damnation. In contrast to this, the Spaniards that were sent did not follow the rules that were given to them. Instead they targeted and killed millions of natives for their gold. A minor percentage of the gold that was hoarded was allocated for the Spanish purse. At this time, Christian missionaries such as Las Casas tried their best in order to bring justice to the land.

14th Amendment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

14th Amendment - Research Paper Example The 13th Amendment raises some critical questions for the lawmakers, and the 14th Amendment was drafted in order to answer these questions of law. The first question to be dealt was the citizenship of the freed slave; associated to this was whether they have the right to own property like the white. Second critical problem that needed an answer was the treatment of freed slaves by law courts of law. Other problems included treatment of rebels; the loans that were borrowed by the rebellions during the civil war, and the right of rebels to be elected for Congress. The 14th Amendment comprises of 5 sections, they deal with the citizenship, equal protection of law, due process, debt, and power of the Congress to enforce. A brief commentary of the clauses presented in the 14th Amendment along with original is provided as follows. Citizenship by place of birth was not a new law. It has bases in the centuries old English Common Law, and it followed the simple doctrine of jus soli. Until the infamous case of Dred Scott when the Supreme Court abrogated the doctrine, jus soli was a part of American Jurisprudence(Stein & Bauer, 1995). The question of jurisdiction has long been debated especially in the cases of illegal immigrants. The critics have vocalized their concern on the legitimacy of citizenship of the child born to illegal immigrants in America. Another case is of the aliens residing within America, who stay for longer period, and give birth to children in America.