Pope Alexander VI issued papal bull Inter caetera, granting newly ‘discovered’ lands to Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Crown: “that in our times especially the Catholic faith and the Christian religion be exalted and be everywhere increased and spread. . . and that barbarous nations be overthrown and brought to the faith itself.” Alexander called for “the wrath of Almighty God and of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul” to fall on anyone who infringed upon his “grant.”

El Requerimiento [The Requirement] is drafted for Spanish exploiters explorers to announce to the Indigenous people they were about to invade. Ignorance [of Spanish] was not bliss for the Natives: “Acknowledge the Church as the Ruler and Superior of the whole world…and the high priest called Pope. . . But if you do not do this. . . I certify to you that, with the help of God, we shall powerfully… make war against you. . . we shall take you and your wives and children, and shall make slaves of them. . . and we protest that the deaths and losses which shall accrue from this are your fault.”

Plymouth Gov. William Bradford ordered colonists to grow corn to avoid starvation. Thankfully, Indigenous peoples taught these migrants to farm and prepare it. The English language also owes several vocabulary words to their agricultural and culinary tutors, such as: hominy, pone, supawn, samp, and succotash. Gratitude didn’t last long. In 1637, the precious pilgrims set fire to the neighboring Pequot village and shot all who tried to escape, killing about 700 children, women, and men. Gov. Bradford wrote, “It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire and the streams of blood quenching the same,” and called it a “sweet sacrifice,” for which the colonizers “gave the praise thereof to God.”

Seeking religious freedom, a sect of German Baptists (known as Dunkards or Dunkers) emigrated to Germantown, Pennsylvania, to form the first Dunkard Church in America and baptized [dunked] six new members the same day. These “Brethren” highly esteemed the brotherhood of man, leading them to refuse military service and oppose slavery.

Maryland passes law forbidding African Americans from owning livestock and attending “tumultuous” gatherings on the Sabbath [speaking of Sunday] and holidays. Constables were commissioned to form posses to enforce these laws: the genesis of Maryland’s slave patrols. Whites who didn’t cooperate with or participate in the posses were subject to heavy fines and blacks who refused were whipped up to 39 times, but who’s counting?

In a landmark ruling yet to be specifically overturned, the U.S. Supreme Court defined the rights of European settlers to the land, and the lack of rights of Native Americans to the land. Part of the rationale stemmed from a warped Christian worldview. Chief Justice John Marshall’s ruling on Johnson v. McIntosh : “On the discovery of this immense continent, the great nations of Europe were eager to appropriate to themselves… And the character and religion of its inhabitants afforded an apology for considering them as a people over whom the superior genius of Europe might claim an ascendancy. The potentates of the old world found no difficulty in convincing themselves that they made ample compensation to the inhabitants of the new, by bestowing on them civilization and Christianity.”

Demerara Rebellion against British authority in what is modern Guyana. Enslaved African and church deacon, Quamina Gladstone, planned a peaceful protest. He and his son, Jack, weren’t even revolting to end slavery, just to lessen its severity. Some collaborators remained peaceful, while others grabbed weapons, and still others assisted with suppressing the uprising. Few whites were harmed, but hundreds of blacks were slaughtered – including 200 publicly beheaded. Nothing like bestowal of European civilization and Christianity to compensate slaves for their labor, huh?

On February 1, the “Blackshirts” became officially recognized by Benito Mussolini as the “Voluntary Fascist Militia for National Security” after catapulting the Italian dictator into power with the infamous March on Rome in October 1922. We’re much too vigilant to let history repeat itself in the 21st century, aren’t we? Or will we passively observe history’s rhyme, as Mark Twain puts it?

In other clothing news, the U.S. Attorney General Harry Daugherty announced it was legal for women to wear trousers in public on May 28. The U.S. Senate said, “Not so fast!” by continuing to prohibit pant-wearing women on the floor of the upper chamber until the Year of our Lord, 1993!

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo Nation in a major water rights case. The 5 to 4 majority stated that an 1868 treaty did not require the federal government to ensure the tribe had access to water. Why is it so hard to understand that “Water is Life?”

The Vatican issued official statement on the Doctrine of Discovery, in which Pope Francis said, “Never again can the Christian community allow itself to be infected by the idea that one culture is superior to others, or that it is legitimate to employ ways of coercing others.” The action was commended by some but criticized by others. Mark Charles, a Navajo pastor, and co-author of Unsettling Truths, said, “In what could have been a groundbreaking and historic repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery, the Vatican instead released a series of political statements that sought to rewrite history, shield the Catholic Church from legal liability and shift the blame for the Doctrine of Discovery to governmental and colonial powers.”