TOPIC ONE:

GENESIS: THE DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY

We begin the study of the “mind of the Kennebec” more than six hundred years ago on the southwest coast of

Africa, where Spain and Portugal were struggling for commercial supremacy.

What transpired there played a major role in creating a mindset that drove European colonialism,

It resonates now in the treatment of indigenous peoples around the world, it set the stage for much of what

happened along the Kennebec and it powers much of the way we think today, whether we like it or not.

The background to this attitude, know today as “the Doctrine of Discovery”, is described briefly in the

following excerpt from the book 1494: How a Family Feud in Medieval Spain Divided the World in Half, by

Stephen Brown (2011).

In the following pages are collected the texts of 15th century Papal pronouncements that formalized the attitude

and a few follow-on documents that extended it. Also included are 20th

and 21st century reactions to its impact.

I suggest you read the next three pages that give a rough historical background that may be helpful. Use

hyperlinks on the pages that follow to read other indicated documents.

Reading it all may be a chore, except for those particularly interested – I suggest you use your skim-reading

skills or focus on sections that may particularly interest you. Your reactions and our class discussion will help

us all focus.

1494: How a Family Feud in Medieval Spain Divided the World in Half, by Stephen Brown (2011).

DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY – SOURCES

This bibliography offers access to the text of original documents relating to the Doctrine of Discovery, a set of

15th

century declarations that laid groundwork for the relationship between Europeans and those residing in

lands they discovered. Section 1 includes papal “bulls” that initiated the process. A papal bull is a particular

type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope, so named after the lead seal (bulla) that was appended to the

end in order to authenticate it. Section 2 includes documents that expanded the doctrine to the New World. The

US position on the issue is shown and discussed in Section 3. Current focus on indigenous people and

repudiation of the concept are presented in Section 4; much more is available online. Have fun!

This list can be used simply as an outline of the history of the concept. You may wish to open and explore one

or more of the documents by using the indicated hyperlinks. A word of warning – though interesting in their

detail, some of the bulls and charters are extremely wordy; a full printout will consume 54 pages!

1. Papal Bulls

Papal Bull Dum Diversas 18 June, 1452 - https://jimmorgan.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/the-text-of-dum-

diversas/ Papal Bulls of the 15th century gave Christian explorers the right to claim lands they "discovered" and

lay claim to those lands for their Christian Monarchs. Any land that was not inhabited by Christians was

available to be "discovered", claimed, and exploited. If the "pagan" inhabitants could be converted, they might

be spared. If not, they could be enslaved or killed.

The Bull Romanus Pontifex (Nicholas V)

January 8, 1454

The Lgael Battle and Spiritual War against the Native People

The Bull Inter Caetera (Alexander VI)

May 4, 1493

2. Expansion of Papal Bulls to the New World

Privileges and Prerogatives Granted by Their Catholic Majesties to Christopher Columbus : 1492 - http://avalon.law.yale.edu/15th_century/colum.asp

Treaty of Tordesillas June 7, 1494 - http://www.doctrineofdiscovery.org/tordesillas.htm Patent Granted by King Henry VII to John Cabot and his Sons March 5, 1496 http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/16th.asp The Requerimiento 1512 - http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/16th.asp

Charter to Sir Walter Raleigh: 1584 http://avalon.law.yale.edu/16th_century/raleigh.asp

Letters Patent to Sir Humfrey Gylberte June 11, 1578

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/16th_century/humfrey.asp

Charter of Acadia Granted by Henry IV of France to Pierre du Gast, Sieur de Monts; December 18,

1603 - http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/charter_001.asp

3. The United States Position

Johnson v. M'Intosh – John Marshall’s Supreme Court Decision 1823

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/21/543/case.html

*THE DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY AND THE ELUSIVE DEFINITION OF INDIAN TITLE, Lewis

& Clark Law Review, Vol. 15:4 (2011), 996-1024 .

https://law.lclark.edu/live/files/10656-lcb154art5watsonpdf

4. Indigenous People

*UNITED NATIONS WEB PAGE – INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/about-us.html

*Conference Room Paper on the Doctrine of Discovery 11th Session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Presented by the Haudenosaunee the American Indian Law Alliance and the Indigenous Law Institute North America.

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/2012/session-11-CRP2.pdf

*Doctrine of Discovery Study Group: http://www.doctrineofdiscovery.org/