[darkwater]

Err, because the American continent IS NOT Spain, nor part of it? Because the current Spain state should not celebrate what a previous empire conquered? Still celebrating the national day on Oct 12th is a complete shame, and let one wonder how is still imperialism inside the Spain way of thinking. Spain national day should be Dec 6th, when the current Constitution was approved.

[spanxx]

Another victim of Black Legend...

[darkwater]

Please enlighten me

[thoughtleader31]

The Spanish try to whitewash their atrocities by speaking of a purposeful campaign of defamation from rival powers.

So successful it was, apparently, that it made disctinct stories of Spanish brutality materialize in every country in the Americas.

The legend of the Black Legend also emphasizes the enlightenment of the Crown's laws regarding the legal status and treatment of indigenous peoples.

Unfortunately the rumors spread by the English about the treatment of natives were so convincing, that the Spanish conquistadors and encomenderos also came to believe that they had the right to enslave the indians and create a racial caste system where mestizos would live as serfs for centuries.

Or maybe it just was that the laws were never effectively enforced.

[spanxx]

Not true at all. English made propaganda about supposed atrocities and that propaganda is alive today: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_legend

[thoughtleader31]

Yes, it is alive because the Spanish did do things like cutting the hands and feet of entire indigenous settlements, as they did with the village from which the mapuche general who resisted the initial Spanish drive into Chile suffered.

The somewhat reasonable laws regarding the encomienda system were pervasively circumvented by the encomenderos by always demanding tribute in labor, and having it paid for generations.

The mestizaje and conversion to Christianity was used, in the end, to also circumvent laws regarding the treatment of natives by creating an entirely new underclass of people lacking in rights.

The Black Legend is what's known in Latin America as "history".

[ankalagon]

Spain recognized independence of Mapuche Nation after more than one hundred years of war [1][2].

Chile and Argentina started a war campaign against them [2][3][4]. The Mapuches call it the Last Massacre (La última masacre in Spanish)[1].

[1] https://www.mapuche-nation.org/english/html/m_nation/main/m_...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arauco_War

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Araucan%C3%ADa

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conquest_of_the_Desert

[spanxx]

Spanish Crown edicted some laws to protect the natives https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_of_Burgos

What legal protection had the native population in the American colonies or British Empire?

[spanxx]

Pretty interesting how independent latin-american governments succeeded in conquering native lands and subjugating native population: See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Araucan%C3%ADa

Please note I'm giving sources.

[spanxx]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_legend

[darkwater]

Ok, my point stands exactly the same. Spain DOES NOT OWN any land in the American continent, the spanish empire is long gone, October 12th should NOT be the spanish national celebration. Focus on the present, not on the past.