Date of Award

3-21-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Department of History

First Advisor

Stewart Winger

Abstract

This thesis explores the role of eschatology in shaping early Spanish and English colonial empire in the Americas. Historians of this period have been divided in acknowledging the role of religion, and by proxy eschatology, in the development of colonialism in the New World. By examining the way eschatology influenced colonial actors through tangible ways in how they conducted themselves or dictated policy, a narrative emerges that challenges the historiography that dismisses or downplays the spiritual in favor of solely the material. Individuals representing the Spanish and English empires were fervent believers that the end times were fast approaching, and in turn acted in ways that corresponded with their eschatological viewpoints. People waged war, imposed labor systems, established colonies, and more, all for the ultimate purpose of bringing about the second coming of Jesus Christ. Reframing the narrative of the earliest two centuries following Columbus’s discovery of the New World to incorporate eschatology has major ramifications, complicating the picture of colonialism in the Americas.

Comments

Imported from Dull_ilstu_0092N_12600.pdf

DOI

https://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2024.20240618063948722154.999976

Page Count

94

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