The Doctrine of What?

As we pause to honor Indigenous People this week, let’s explore the Doctrine of Discovery. It began as a declaration from the Pope in 1493, after Columbus returned from the Americas, granting European monarchies the right to enslave or murder native peoples in newly discovered territories and to take their lands, because the indigenous people were heathens, not Christian. Portugal, Spain, England and France relied on the Doctrine to justify their claims in the “new” world. In 1792, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson declared that the Doctrine of Discovery was, in effect, international law and applied to the United States to guide settlers as they displaced more and more Indians from their native lands. I was never taught about the Doctrine of Discovery in my history classes – were you? Why does it matter now? Because to this day, the Doctrine of Discovery still stands as an order from the Pope, and has been codified into law still standing in a number of modern nations.

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