Why was the Black Legend important?

Answer 1

The term Black Legend was first termed in 1914 by a Spanish writer wishing to correct the over zealous criticism of Spanish Empire's excesses in the New World. Protestant countries such as England and the Netherlands took Spain to book, notthat their later involvement in colonialism was any better. What motivated the outburst was two fold: religious conflict and the fact that Spain controlled a monopoly of trade leaving the New World.

Now we can get to the relevance of the demonising of the Spanish Empire. Some Spanish defendants have gone in the opposite direction creating a White Legend, which has lead many Spaniards to believe that their country didn't even have an Empire.

The situation remains that the Spanish Conquistadors were guilty of genocide and the wholescale destruction of civilisations and I don't believe any Spaniard wishes to glorify that. It wasn't just a case of diseases doing their worst, the indigenous populations had been debilitated through warfare and forced labour. Every year in Spain and Latin America the nations celebrate El Día de la Hispanidad. The only ones that protest this are those still suffering the Spanish domination of the sub continent but theirs is a voice that is easily shouted down as it was crushed 500 years before. It is because of this that the teaching of Empire in Europe's old colonial powers is far from satisfactory. We only have to ask the descendants of these once occupied territories to test this.

Human pride is a delicate thing and herein lies the problem. The Spanish do not wish to ackowledge any past wrong doing and neither do the British, French, Dutch or even the US today with its occupying land forces and economic dominance, among other areas, of Central and South America. The legend of all European empires is black but we are shamelessly unable to accept this. The sooner we do, the quicker we will achieve a more just and human vision for all peoples.