Essay on Living in Latin America

Latin America was developed due to the migration of people from nations like Africa, Spain, Italy, and France to America. The migration of these people from their native countries to America was due to the reasons like; slavery and spreading of Christianity. In this paper, we will focus on three personalities who went to Latin America due to different reasons and their impact on the Latin Americans religion and economy. These characters include;

A European Missionary

A European missionary was considered to be a member of a European religious group that was sent to enhance the following ministerial roles; justice, medical services, economic development and even education. Spreading of Christianity in Latin America was the key reason for the development of a European missionary position. In Latin America, any male was required to act as a bread winner since it is the role of the men to lead, protect and provide for their families (Martin & Berger, 2013). Since the European missionary could not comply with these masculine duties due to his responsibility in the Christian religion, he would not be honored since he has no family. A European missionary was hence considered to be an outcast hence earned low social standard in the Latin America society. Enhancing economic development during the conquest of Latin America was one of the roles of missionaries hence they; introduced new farming methods and abolished slavery. It hence resulted in the decrease in agricultural and mining activities due to a reduction in slaves who provided cheap labor.

A Member of the Native Group who is Evangelizing

A native Latin American who belongs to the indigenous group called Maya and evangelizing in Franciscan and Jesuits was considered to be an outcast since he or she has perverted Maya culture. The need to spread Christianity was the main reason for the development of an evangelist position. If the native evangelist is of the masculine gender, he was considered to have failed in upholding the Maya culture which obliges a man as to set an example to the society by worshiping in accordance to Maya culture. As a female, the native would be seen as a failure in performing her wifely duties which only include performing household duties. Also, women joined evangelism in order to seek power in this male dominated society. The native would have a low social status position since he or she had gone against the Maya culture. Evangelism has resulted in the increasing spread of Christianity and also led to the reduction of slavery hence reducing income for merchants selling slaves and also abolished slavery which reduced the workforce in the agricultural and mining sector (Bailey, 2011). It further led to decrease in production in the mining and agricultural sector.

An African Slave

An African slave was considered to be a source of cheap labor in Latin America, especially in the agricultural and mining sector. The need of increasing production via the utilization cheap labor in farms and mines was the key reason for capturing and selling of slaves by merchants. Despite a slave being male or female, a slave was considered to have the least social standards, and he or she would have no right of being a member of any family hence ones role was executing duties as ordered by his or her master (Klein & Vinson, 2007). An African slave had worse living conditions since one would be discriminated based on; color and language. Female slaves were obliged to performing roles like curandera, marianismo, and other household activities for their masters while the male slaves were to work on the farms and mines which increased production rates. Slaves were demoralized since their families were also considered to be slaves who made then not exercise the African religion. However, some of the slaves upheld the African religion which resulted in the development of the African culture in Latin America. Introduction of Christianity led to the end of slavery hence they had a right to earn a social position where most decided to be Christians and freely worked missionaries while others upheld the African culture. Some of the female slave considered to achieve power by being convents hence thrived in the male dominated society. End of slavery implied that economic activities like mining and farming would cease due to a decrease in workforce.

Conclusion

The African slaves, the Native evangelists, and the European missionaries played a vital role in changing the Latin Americans culture to blend in with Christianity, hence resulting in social, religious and economic changes in Latin America.

References

Bailey, G. A. (2011). Art on the Jesuit missions in Asia and Latin America, 1542-1773. University of Toronto Press.

Klein, H. S., & Vinson III, B. (2007). African slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean. Oxford University Press.

Martin, D., Berger, P., & Berger, P. L. (2013). Tongues of fire: The explosion of Protestantism in Latin America (p. 51). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.