Stevens, Scott Manning. "The Doctrine of Discovery." Throughlines. www.throughlines.org/suite-content/the-doctrine-of-discovery. [Date accessed].

The Doctrine of Discovery

A brief history of how the Doctrine of Discovery became legal precedent for the seizure of Native lands across the world.

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Scott Manning Stevens
Syracuse University

The Doctrine of Discovery is one of the oldest and continuously cited legal precedents in the Western Hemisphere. First issued as a series of papal bulls to settle disputes between two Iberian Catholic colonial powers, Spain and Portugal, the doctrine rippled across colonial law for centuries. This doctrine offered the patina of legal legitimacy from the Catholic Church to all colonial projects across both Africa and the Americas. Colonial conquest became inextricably linked to the expansion of Christianity across the world. Equating Christianity with civilization meant that peoples indigenous to a place that did not practice Christianity were not recognized as civilized and had no right to title over their lands. 

Further learning

Essay

The legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery

How an obscure piece of Renaissance era religious doctrine—the Doctrine of Discovery—infiltrated the United States’ legal system and justifies the seizure of Native lands to this day.

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Reading the Doctrine of Discovery

Reading suggestions for a deeper dive into the centuries of jurisprudence for stealing Native lands set by an obscure early modern religious decree.

Scott Manning Stevens

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