The American Indian in western legal thought : the discourses of conquest

Williams, Robert A. Jr 1955- (Author).

Summary: In The American Indian in Western Legal Thought Robert Williams, a legal scholar and Native American of the Lumbee tribe, traces the evolution of contemporary legal thought on the rights and status of American Indians and other indiginous tribal peoples. Beginning with an analysis of the medieval Christian crusading era and its substantive contributions to the West's legal discourse of h̀eathens' and ìnfidels', this study explores the development of the ideas that justified the New World conquests of Spain, England and the United States. Williams shows that long-held notions of the legality of European subjugation and colonization of s̀avage' and b̀arbarian' societies supported the conquests in America. Today, he demonstrates, echoes of racist and Eurocentric prejudices still reverberate in the doctrines and principles of legal discourse regarding native peoples' rights in the United States and in other nations as well.--

Record details

ISBN: 0195080025
ISBN: 9780195080025
ISBN: 9786610443284
ISBN: 6610443289
ISBN: 0195050223
ISBN: 9780195050226
Physical Description: print
xi, 352 pages ; 25 cm
Publisher: New York : Oxford University Press, 1990.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 335-341) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

The Medieval and Renaissance Origins of the Status of the American Indian in Western Legal Thought -- The Medieval Discourse of Crusade -- Truth: Papal Discourse -- The Church Universal -- Reform Discourse -- Civilian Discourse -- Power: Crusading Discourse -- Holy War -- Urban's Spanish Crusade -- The First Call to Crusade -- The Instruments of Crusade -- Knowledge: Humanist Discourse -- Secular Humanism -- Innocent's Synthesis -- The Perfect Instrument of Empire: The Colonizing Discourse of Renaissance Spain -- The Lithuanian Controversy -- The Intra-European Crusade of the Teutonic Knights -- The Constance Debates on the Rights of Infidels -- The Iberian Crusades in Africa -- The Portuguese Appeal to Conquer and Convert the Canary Islands -- The Papal Response: Romanus Pontifex -- The Spanish Bulls -- The New World's First Entrepreneurs -- The Discovery Era's First Contract for the Conquest of the New World -- Instruments of Empire -- Governor Columbus -- The Encomienda -- The Dominicans in the New World -- The Laws of Burgos -- The Requerimiento -- Victoria's "On the Indians Lately Discovered" -- The Inquisitions into Indian Capacity -- Franciscus de Victoria -- Victoria's Lecture -- A Guardianship over the Indians -- Protestant Discourses -- The Protestant Translation of Medieval and Renaissance Discourses on the Rights and Status of American Indians -- The English Reformation -- The Reformation's Transformation of English Society -- A Prefatory Colonizing Discourse -- The Elizabethan Restoration -- Laissez-Faire Discourse.