The Doctrine of Discovery, 1493 The Papal Bull “Inter Caetera,” issued by Pope Alexander VI on May 4, 1493, played a central role in the Spanish conquest of the New World. The Doctrine of Discovery is the name for a body of Catholic law that granted land rights to whichever European Christian nation settled territory in the New World. The Discovery Doctrine is a concept of public international law expounded by the United States Supreme Court in a series of decisions, intially in Johnson v. M’Intosh in 1823. The Discovery Doctrine was a recognized principle of international law, which of course arose out of the relationships between European countries. The Doctrine of Discovery was used when France first claimed the land of the Mi'kmaq, which they christened Acadia. The Doctrine of Discovery refers to a set of Papal Bulls that justified the invasion and confiscation of lands, and the genocide of the original inhabitants of those lands who did not declare themselves to be Christians. This presentation was given as the third of six offerings in a lament over the Doctrine of Discovery held on Tuesday, July 10, at the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, in Indianapolis. Any land not Christianized, i.e. The Doctrine of Discovery also legalized piracy, and European ships hunted each other on the open sea and seized ships and cargo. The Discovery Doctrine is a perception of the law that has been demonstrated by the United States Supreme Court in more than one decision, starting with Johnson v. McIntosh in 1823. Religion was a significant aspect of the Doctrine of Discovery. Dutch and Portuguese traders made their way around the tip of India to Sri Lanka, Indonesia, China, and Japan. It is most closely linked to the 1823 US case of Johnson v McIntosh. The Doctrine of Discovery is the root of the problem, and the reason that it is discussed at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The Doctrine of Discovery is the modern name for the international law principle that European nations developed and then used to claim most of the non-European world. Under this doctrine, the native populations had the right of occupancy, not ownership. (Robert J. Miller and Sandra Day O'Connor, May 17, 2005 - Idaho Law Review). And two of the most important sources of this principle of international law were the Papal Bulls of Romanus Pontifex (1455) and Inter Caetera (1493). Marc Lescarbot, a French lawyer, articulated this warped Christian law in 1618 in his explanation of France's right to Acadia (now the Canadian Provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island): Over the next several centuries, these beliefs gave rise to the Doctrine of Discovery used by Spain, Portugal, England, France, and Holland - all Christian nations. The Doctrine of Discovery and its Enduring Impact on Indigenous Peoples WHAT IS THE DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY? The Doctrine of Discovery is similar to Terra Nullius, with its basis in US law. The Discovery Doctrine is a construct of public international law expounded by the United States Supreme Court in a series of decisions, initially in Johnson v. M’Intosh in 1823. The Doctrine of Discovery is the root of the problem, and the reason that it is discussed at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples, which meets annually for two weeks, devoted its entire 2012 session to the doctrine. The Doctrine of Discovery. This book shines new light on the mostly ignored historical and legal evidence of the use of the Doctrine of Discovery in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. The European ideals of civilization were important parts of Discovery and of ideas of superiority. The Doctrine of Discovery was used by European monarchies, beginning in the mid-fifteenth century, as a means of legitimizing the colonization of lands outside of Europe. In 1823, the Christian Doctrine of Discovery was quietly adopted into U.S. law by the Supreme Court in the celebrated case, Johnson v. It was issued in 1493, the year after Christopher Columbus arrived on the shores of what is now known as North America. It means that if a country was not under the control of a king who was from Europe and Christian, then any European Christian country could take control of the land.The discovery doctrine ignores any claim to … The discovery doctrine or doctrine of discovery is a legal term. The Doctrine was applied in North America by England, France, Spain, Holland, and Russia. The Doctrine of Discovery emanates from a series of Papal Bulls (formal statements from the Pope) and extensions, originating in the 1400s. An important Supreme Court Decision stated that "the "Doctrine of Discovery" was an established legal principle of English and American colonial law that had also become the law of the American state and federal governments." The Doctrine of Discovery, formalized in the Papal Bulls of the 13th and 14th centuries, specified that the entire world was under the jurisdiction of the Pope, as God’s representative on earth. Discovery was used as legal and moral justification for colonial dispossession of sovereign Indigenous Nations, including First Nations in what is now Canada. The Doctrine of Discovery has been cited by the courts numerous times between 1823 and 2005. This current pandemic and the escalating climate chaos clarify to everyone that there are consequences to the devastation humans have … civilization. This “Doctrine of Discovery” became the basis of all European claims in the Americas as well as the foundation for the United States’ western expansion. The Doctrine of Discovery in U.S. Law. The Doctrine of Discovery The “doctrine” of discovery is a legal convention or principle that was not codified until 1823 by a decision of the US Supreme Court,1 thereby making its way into American common law. The Doctrine of Discovery is so taken for granted that it is rarely mentioned in historical or legal texts published in the Americas. the “Doctrine of Discovery” is a philosophical and legal framework dating to the 15th century that gave Christian governments moral and legal rights to invade and seize indigenous lands and dominate Indigenous Peoples. not under the sovereignty of a Christian ruler, could be possessed on behalf of God. The document supported Spain’s strategy to ensure its exclusive right to the lands discovered by Columbus the previous year. In these countries, Christian Europeans assumed that they held sovereign, property, and commercial rights over the indigenous peoples under the ‘legal authority’ of the Doctrine. WHEREAS the UUA Board of Trustees has submitted to the member congregations a report explaining the Doctrine of Discovery and why the Board believes it to be contrary to Unitarian Universalist Principles. Under Discovery, non-Christian peoples were not deemed to have the same rights to land, sovereignty, and self-determination as Christians. The doctrine was Chief Justice John Marshall’s explanation of the way in which colonial powers laid claim to newly discovered lands during the Age of Discovery. The Doctrine of Discovery includes all doctrines, policies and practices based on advocating superiority of peoples or individuals on the basis of national origin or racial, religious, ethnic or cultural differences. 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