Why Did More Indians Choose to Become Catholics Rather Than Protstants

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“Why did more Indians choose to become Catholics rather than Protestants?”

During the 16th century, huge religious movements were happening as people began to travel to the new world. Many Indians became Catholic over being protestant, but wasn’t always because that’s what they wanted. Many Indians were ripped from their homes and forced by settlers into believing that they wanted them to believe. The reason Indians were mostly Catholic was not because of preference, it was because, at the time, there was a greater influx of people to the colonies with Catholic ideals as opposed to Protestant and the settlers forced them to convert. When the Spaniard’s came to the colonies, the Protestant Reformation was going on back at home. To get away from the movement many Catholics saw the opportunity to go over seas and practice their religion freely. When many of these Catholics got over to the colonies they were often in charge of the Indian settlers on their land. Often times they were segregated into groups and then converted based off of what the controlling party’s beliefs were. For many they were converted into Catholicism because so many of the people coming from over seas at that time were Catholic. The Indians never had a say in the religion they were able to practice. They were ripped from their homes and families, stripped of their language and way of life. Many of them had to convert right away to the English ideals by learning to read and write in English. They were even given English names, and forced to in the “Christian” religion. It all comes down to the bigger demographic of people, and the Catholic religion had a greater impact on the Indians because they had greater numbers.

Not only were the Indians forced into thinking a certain way, they were also manipulated. Often times, the Spanish took the Indian’s idols and substituted them for Christian figures. A great example of this would be the Virgin Mary. Because they looked up to her...
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