Christian evangelism was the ostensible motive for much of the early European interaction with the indigenous population of America. The religious orders of the Catholic Church were the front-line representatives of Western culture and the ones who met indigenous America face-to-face. They were also the primary agents of religious change. In this book, Nicholas Cushner provides the first comprehensive overview and analysis of the American missionary activities of the Jesuits. From the North American encounter with the Indians of Florida in 1565, through Mexico, New France, the Paraguay Reductions, Andean Perus, to contact with Native Americans in Maryland on the eve of the American Revolution, members of the order interacted with both native elites and colonizers. Drawing on the abundant documentation of and scholarship about these encounters, Cushner examines how the Jesuits behaved toward the indigenous population and analyzes the way in which native belief systems were replaced by Christianity. He seeks to understand how and why the initial European-Indian encounter changed not only the religion of the natives, but also their material culture, economic activity, social organization, and even their sexual behavior. Always sensitive to the influence of European "cultural filters" on Jesuit accounts, Cushner attempts as far as possible to discover the authentic voices of the Native Americans with whom they interacted. The result is a fascinating and highly accessible introduction to the earliest colonial encounters in the Americas.

Why Have You Come Here?: The Jesuits and the First Evangelization of Native America

History

Cushner, Nicholas P.

Americas

Oxford University Press

Christian evangelism was the ostensible motive for much of the early European interaction with the indigenous population of America. The religious orders of the Catholic Church were the front-line representatives of Western culture and the ones who met indigenous America face-to-face. They were also the primary agents of religious change. In this book, Nicholas Cushner provides the first comprehensive overview and analysis of the American missionary activities of the Jesuits. From the North American encounter with the Indians of Florida in 1565, through Mexico, New France, the Paraguay Reductions, Andean Perus, to contact with Native Americans in Maryland on the eve of the American Revolution, members of the order interacted with both native elites and colonizers. Drawing on the abundant documentation of and scholarship about these encounters, Cushner examines how the Jesuits behaved toward the indigenous population and analyzes the way in which native belief systems were replaced by Christianity. He seeks to understand how and why the initial European-Indian encounter changed not only the religion of the natives, but also their material culture, economic activity, social organization, and even their sexual behavior. Always sensitive to the influence of European "cultural filters" on Jesuit accounts, Cushner attempts as far as possible to discover the authentic voices of the Native Americans with whom they interacted. The result is a fascinating and highly accessible introduction to the earliest colonial encounters in the Americas.

Lords of the Land

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Beverages & Wine

State Univ of New York Pr

Lords of the Land presents the only study in English of the large, landed estates in colonial Peru. It focuses on the function of the estates and their linkages with the rest of Spanish America. Based almost exclusively on documents from archives in Rome, Madrid, and Lima (most hitherto unused), the book guides the reader through the agricultural cycles of Peru’s great ecclesiastical estates and explains how they first developed, functioned, and distributed their products. Colonial labor forms, finance, and early trade networks are carefully detailed. Painstakingly researched and gracefully articulated, this book fills a major gap in the economic and agricultural history of colonial Latin America.

Farm and Factory: The Jesuits and the Development of Agrarian Capitalism in Colonial Quito 1600-1767

This second volume of Nicholas P. Cushner's economic study of colonial Latin America describes and analyzes the unique relationship between the textile mill and farm in Interandine Quito. Cushner shows how human and natural resources blended to produce a vibrant institution in the rural world of colonial Quito.

Business & Money

Industries

Landed Estates in the Colonial Philippines (Monograph Series No. 20)

Yale Univ Southeast Asia Studies

Escape: The Honeymoon Travel Book

Travel

Specialty Travel

Travel Lite Assoc

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Books by Cushner, Nicholas P.