Colombia's Religion

Religion today tells us a lot about a person. It often speaks volumes for the person at hand. Religion gives us a glimpse about what makes someone unique and special. This was the same for the Colombians. Pre-Colombian exchange, the Colombian natives did not really have a universal religion, it was just a religion similar to every other New World Native American tribal religion, such as worshipping multiple gods and other idols other than worshipping one universal God. 

It wasn’t until the Colombian Exchange that we could start to see a major change in religion in Colombia and the Americas. During the Colombian Exchange, the Spanish were a powerhouse if you will of Christian ideologies and beliefs. They showed great enthuiaism and energy in their missionary activities. According to one article, “The Spanish set up their missions throughout the Americas, where priests and other church leaders attempted to evangelize the Native Americans and other groups.” The article states that “Christainity had first came to the Americas with the Europeans. It was very different from today, as there was no “official” separation between the church and the state, and politics and religion were very much mized together. So when Spanish explorers such as Colombus, Ponce de Leon, or John Cabot claimed land in the name of a king, they were also claiming that land in the name for God. Roman Catholicism was the official religion of Spain, so Spanish explorers and soldiers called conquistadors sought to spread Catholicism throughout their colonies (in addition to accumulating wealth and power). 

In the colonial period, the Catholic church was created and in charge of most of the public institutions, such as teaching facilities such as schools, colleges, universities, libraries, botanical gardens, astronomical observatories, health facilities, hospitals, and jails. The official religion today of Spain is Christian Catholocism, which is estimated around 70% of the nation practices today. It actually was not until 1991 that the Colombians were granted egalitarian treatment from the government to all the religions. Before this, the Colombians faced discrimination for practicing other religions and believing in anything other than the ordinary. 

The importance of the spiritual world to the Colombians is the backbone to life itself here. Think about this, today, religion determines the way we do almost everything in our lives. How we dress, what we eat, what we say, the languages we speak, ect. For instance, a U.S citizen compared to a Syrian citizen. The U.S citizen is more than likely not a Muslim, they do not speak Arabic, or eat the same diet that an average Syrian would, and this is vice-versa. Our religion determines and shapes more about us than we actually think. Just like all religions, the beliefs are debated among people, but this is what makes religion such a unique thing. Something can be read from one person and it can be totally comprehended another way by another person. Religion is an essential key to life, as it provides a foundation and stability to many people. 

Sources:

“Religion in Colombia.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Feb. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Colombia.

Sawe, Benjamin Elisha. “Religious Beliefs In Colombia.” WorldAtlas, WorldAtlas, 9 Nov. 2016, www.worldatlas.com/articles/religious-beliefs-in-colombia.html.

Culture Over Time

          When the early inhabitants of the country we now know of as Colombia were present, things looked a lot different than they do now. For thousands of years, early inhabitants of the land lived by hunting and fishing, plundering for their food on a daily basis. It wasn’t until Alonso de Ojeda, whom was actually the first Spaniard to have arrived in the area in the year 1500 that the natives who had lived there before started to see major changes. 

Upon the arrival of the Europeans in what is today known as South America, there was major change seen by the natives almost immediately. With the arrival of the Europeans came a new way of life for the indigenous peoples. Slaves were brought to the region in large numbers mainly in the city of Cartagena, Colombia. In this city, over 1.1 million Africans entered the docks at Cartagena de las Indias. The African slaves came in very large numbers due to the fact that the slave trade was a massive success for the country of Spain. The Spanish were experts in this field and had the system of capturing and selling African souls down to an art. As we know today, the main goal for Spain was to make the most profit as possible off of the African slaves. The African slave trade was the most profitable business that Spain and many other European powers had working for them at the time. As sick, demeaning, and inhumane as it was, it was a part of history and that cannot be erased from the past and shaping the world as we know it today. 

From a social standpoint, the people of Colombia have came a very long way. Colombia started out as a form of government like most countries, or territories, of the New World, as being ruled over by a “Mother” country, and in Colombia’s case, that mother country was Spain. Spain was the main power for most of the New World countries. With this brought the Spanish way of life and thus spread throughout the land. Today, Colombia is a unitary republic. Their current constitution was adopted in 1991. The current constitution is actually very similar to our of the United States, as one of the major differences being that prior to 2004, there was only a one-term limit for presidents. This was revised due to the large popularity of President Alvaro Uribe. This revision would last barely over a decade though, as the law was reversed back to a one-term limit again in 2015. Today, the Colombian people face the growing threat of national security breaches due to the rise in terrorist organizations. Like many other countries, one of the main goals in current President Marquez’s administration is to unite the country and to improve their economic growth. 

From the earliest inhabitants of the lands, to the country that Colombia is today, the people over generations have seen a great deal of change occur. As horrifying as some of the historical events may have been, they did take place and they did shape the way the country is today. I believe that without certain events, there could have been drastic change in the way that we know not only Colombia, but the world as we know it is today. 

Citations:

“Government of Colombia.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Feb. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Colombia.

“History of Colombia.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Apr. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Colombia.

Colombia and the Slave Trade

Colombia and the Slave Trade:

Slavery in the Atlantic World began when Europeans saw the endless opportunities of riches there could be obtained in the New World. Slave ships were bringing in thousands upon thousands of African slaves to the new land for free labor. Slave ports were set up all across South America, but Cartagena was designated as an official port of the Spanish fleet system in 1537, and it would become the largest single port of slave debarkation in the Spanish Americas. Over 1.1 million African slaves came through the port of Cartagena in total. From port records that we have, we know that 463 slave ships arriving in Cartagena between 1573 and 1640 that disgorged more than 73,000 enslaved Africans, according to the port records. Many more were smuggled in as well, so an exact number is difficult to say. What we do know is that Cartagena was the central location in South America for slaves to come in on ships, and that Cartagena received more than sixty percent of all the 400,000+ African slaves that were brought to Nueva Granada. 

Cartagena:

The Spanish were in control of the region of Colombia during the Atlantic Slave Trade. The Spanish differed from other countries in the way they operated the slave trade. The Spanish would send over considerably larger numbers of slaves than other European countries, such as the English, the Dutch, and the French. The Spanish had their version of the slave trade down to a science, which was exactly what they wanted. The goal of the Spanish was to make the most profit that they possibly could off of African slavery. It was the most profitable business they had at the time. Cartagena was the central point of the auctioning of African slaves. Buyers came from all over South America to buy slaves at Cartagena. The port served as a great quarantine site for arriving ships carrying sickly slaves with disease. These diseases were looked at very seriously by Europeans because the main disease that would be present is smallpox, and smallpox spreads very quickly and at this time there was really nothing that could be done for you besides to just have your immune system fight the disease off. So if a slave were to get sick, this could affect Spanish profit and they would do inhumane things to slaves to keep their business as profitable as possible. 

The Labor System:

When the Spanish first started colonizing the New World, they used a system of labor called the encomienda. In the encomienda, the Spanish would grant someone with a specific number of natives, and indigenous leaders were to be responsible for assessing for the tribute of labor. In return, the Spanish promised to give the natives protection from other tribes or people. However, when the slave trade came about, the labor system changed. Slaves were auctioned off and whomever purchased that slave is where that slave would go. Most slaves would be fed enough to survive and keep their stamina up so they could continue to work for their masters. Many African slaves ended up working on sugar cane plantations, farms, and in gold mines. 

Citations:

Landers, Jane, et al. “Researching the History of Slavery in Colombia and Brazil through Ecclesiastical and Notarial Archives.” From Dust to Digital: Ten Years of the Endangered Archives Programme, edited by Maja Kominko, 1st ed., Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK, 2015, pp. 259–292. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt15m7nhp.20. Accessed 1 Mar. 2020.

“The Slave Trade at Its Height.” The Atlantic Slave Trade in World History, Dec. 2015, pp. 67–104., doi:10.4324/9781315732299-4.

The Exchange in the Americas

The Columbian Exchange was a major event that shaped the way the world is today. It was a cultural transfer among new regions that involved widespread transfer of people, plants, animals, technology, and disease. It was named after Christopher Columbus, who was credited with finding the Americas and creating the passage into this New World that was unknown to other continents. The introduction to high-calorie crops in the Americas were extremely crucial in the Columbian Exchange. New crops such as potatoes, maize, rice, and cassava allowed for an extreme rise in population growth. With these new crops they needed workers to work the crops, this would set up a social class system, exchanging and buying of slaves from mainly Africa. The Exchange intermingled many different peoples from all over the world, with many of these people came from Africa and Europe. With these people came disease and famine to the Americas, which killed or sickened many of the natives of the region. 

Some of the major crops still have a major impact on the way the world operates today agriculturally. The crops that the Europeans brought over in the Columbian Exchange shaped Colombia for centuries to come. Europeans brought over crops such as maize, potatoes, cassava, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and rice. These were all very high-calorie crops that as we know today, give plenty of energy and nutritional value to humans. This allowed for a major increase in the population in the Americas. Some of the crops that came from the South American region were bell peppers, chili peppers, vanilla, sugar, beans, pumpkin, avocados, pineapples, blueberries, etc. Many of these foods we know today came from regions that were all over the world, and the reason that they were so important in dealing with the Columbia Exchange is because the Exchange allowed us to intermingle and to spread different cultures around the globe. But with all the new people coming to the Americas, diseases such as smallpox and measles became a major factor as far as population is concerned. This ended up hurting the population for a while. However, since agriculture in Colombia was doing so great, this allowed for an increase in population rather than a diminishing one. 

The Columbian Exchange greatly affected the country of Colombia today because without the Colombian Exchange, the country would not have their staple crops to rely on, and agriculture is Colombia’s biggest commodity. Coffee is the biggest export in Colombia today, and this was brought over by the Europeans in the 16^th century by Jesuit priests who arrived with Spanish settlers. The United States is Colombia’s biggest trading partner, and this just goes to show how important this event was in history. Sadly, slavery was established in the region for work purposes and this set up a social system that would last for centuries to come. With these two factors alone, this was enough for Colombia to become an established society and a contributor on a global scale. Without the imports of these different plants and people to the Americas, the world today would be completely different culturally speaking. 

Citations:

“Columbian Exchange.” Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, doi:10.1163/2352-0272_emho_com_018110.

“Columbian Exchange.” Encyclopedia of Environmental Change, doi:10.4135/9781446247501.n757.

Martínez-Fernández, Luis. “First Encounters, Inventing America, and the Columbian Exchange.” Key to the New World, 2018, doi:10.5744/florida/9781683400325.003.0004.

God, Glory, and Gold

When the Spanish began to colonize the regions of South America, particularly Colombia, it began to become a part of the empire of Spain. In 1525, a Spanish conquistador by the name of Rodrigo de Bastidas founded the settlement of Santa Marta. This would become the first formal settlement in Colombia, and also the oldest city in Colombia. Santa Marta is located in the Northern coast of Colombia. From the beginning, this was set up to become a profitable city. It was a port city and there was plenty of land for farming and vegetation to grow. 

The relationship between the colonizers and the colonized is one that is not talked about in history as much as it needs to be brought to our attention. We are quick to celebrate the hateful and violent actions that the colonizers did to the indigenous peoples there and the pain that they suffered through Spanish profit. The most notable conquistador that is known for partaking in this is Christopher Columbus. But there was many, many more that partook in the slaughtering of these people. Bastidas and his men also set out to kill all of the indigenous peoples. The indigenous people were really no match for the Spanish, who were the most powerful country in the world at that time, both in riches and also militarily speaking. At first the Spanish brought goods and would trade with the locals, but that quickly turned because the Spanish were simply more dominant. Many men were killed, the women were raped, and children were enslaved. The Spanish mindset when coming to the “New World” is referred to now as “The Three G’s”, which are glory, gold, and God. 

The Spanish carried out their colonization of the Americas by thinking and justifying that it was for all the right reasons. These reasons were justified by the Spanish for God, glory, and gold. Spain was a country who was a country who heavily practiced Catholicism. Spain was extremely powerful at this point in history, so they believed that they were the model and that it was their duty to spread their beliefs and culture to this new land. In their minds, what they were doing in the Americas was for all the right reasons. They colonized lands in the name of their Mother country, Spain. Gold was the number one priority in settling in the Americas. It was believed to have been plentiful, with some even believing there were entire cities made of gold. If economic gains could be made in this new region, the Spanish were going to use any means necessary to gain that profit, whether that be by enslaving people, slaughtering them, etc. If a Spaniard could imprint his legacy in the New World and for the king and queen of Spain, he was going to do so. 

I believe that piety and profit do not go hand in hand, as piety means that good practices are being carried out for religious benefits. The Spanish colonization of Colombia was only carried out for profit to the empire. The Spanish actions contrasted with their religious aspect of settling and colonizing in the New World. 

Citations:

WILSON, D. de A. Killing for God and for Gold. Chronicle of Higher Education, [s. l.], v. 47, n. 34, p. B14, 2001.

Trask, Roger R. “Columbus: Admiral of the Ocean Sea Columbus: Man and Myth Columbus: The First Voyage Columbus: The Search for La Navidad Columbus: The New World Columbus: God and Gold Columbus: The Later Voyages Columbus: First Landfall Debate Omni graphics, Inc.” The Public Historian, vol. 14, no. 4, 1992, pp. 135–138., doi:10.2307/3377870.

The history of the Atlantic Age of Revolution cannot be talked about without taking into account the democratic and republican developments of European Spanish America. The country of Colombia is named after the infamous Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus, who was sent by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to reach the coast of Asia. But despite popular belief, the country was not actually founded by Christopher Columbus. The land of Colombia was actually discovered by Columbus’s companion, Alonso de Ojeda, who arrived at Cabo de la Vela. 

Colombia is a country with a strong history that reflects its mother country, which is Spain. Colombia is a colony of Spain and it is predominantly made up of Mestizo people, which are a mixture of European and Indian descent. With Spanish colonization came Spanish culture and religion, which is the Roman Catholic religion. One of the main central focuses that Columbus had on his journey to the Americas was in fact the idea of spreading the European ideology of religion to new lands for people to adapt to. We know from journals and scripts that this was not entirely true, due to the violent actions that Columbus and his fellow companions carried out once they reached the Americas. 

The economy is largely based around agriculture. as Colombia is very rich in coffee and fruit. The Spanish used the Indians to their advantage by basically making them work their own crops for European benefit. As we know by history, these crops that were native to Colombia were crucial in the economy of not only Colombia and Spain, but it also would become an important part of many African nations’ economies, as we know that slavery would play a major part in not only setting a foundation, but this inhumane practice would sadly spread and sustain many countries’ economies across the world. 

The country’s capital is Bogota, which was founded in 1538 by Gonzalo Jimenez, who had recently defeated the Chibcha’s. The territory of Santa Fe de Bogota was fought over for territorial reasons dealing with the constant struggle for the battle of supremacy between three different explorers. These advancements inland were from Nikolaus Federmann, Sebastian de Benalcazar, and Jimenez de Quesada. These men were fascinated with finding new riches from the Indians of the land. They finally would end up meeting on the Música territory, but none of the men had intended on meeting here. This struggle for power lasted until about 1550, when King Charles V of Spain established a court of justice at Bogota. This placed the colony under the established sister colony of Peru. 

Understanding the importance of Spanish colonization of the New World is extremely important because it lays the foundation that we will see for centuries to come. I feel that even today, we can still feel the effects that decisions made by the early inhabitants of this area, and how these decisions have a huge impact on the world today.  The Spanish set the foundation that will carry over and expand to newer lands over the course of history. 

U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, history.state.gov/countries/colombia.

Deas, Malcolm. “Colombia.” The Cambridge History of Latin America, 1995, pp. 470–474., doi:10.1017/chol9780521395250.078.