Tree of Hate: Propaganda and Prejudices Affecting United States Relations With the Hispanic World

by Fred Wilbur Powell

First published in the early 1970s, Tree of Hate is Philip Powell's exploration of "the Black Legend"--the popular myth that colonial Spain and her military and religious agents were brutal and unrelenting in their conquest of the Americas.


"Powell seeks not merely to trace the origins of what he calls Hispanophobia but to analyze its impact on American education, textbooks, religion, and especially foreign policy. . . . The evidence easily demonstrates that English-speaking scholars and diplomats speak with a biased tongue. . . . Too many critics of Spain, to use Powell's central theme, have merely erected a 'Tree of Hate' out of ignorance or to justify their own prejudices and activities. . . . Powell's book deserves careful reading."--Journal of American History

Genres: History, Spain, Politics, Nonfiction

210 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1971

Reviews

[Sheziss · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What do we owe to Spain? In two centuries, in four, or even in six, what has she done for Europe? Nothing.”

Masson de Morvilliers

This essay is worth to be read. It's like the American version of La leyenda negra, which was first published in 1914. Tree of Hate was written in 1971 and includes that piece of History that Juderías's version lacked. A History the USA shares with Hispanic America.

The basic premise of the Black Legend is that Spaniards have shown themselves, historically, to be uniquely cruel, bigoted, tyrannical, obscurantists, lazy, fanatical, greedy, and treacherous; that is, that they differ so much from other peoples in these traits that Spaniards and Spanish history must be viewed and understood in terms not ordinarily used in describing and interpreting other people.

Philip W. Powell

I'm very worried about the image people have of Spain and its Empire. It was the first global Empire and as such, it awoke envies and hate in the other great nations in Europe, who secretly longed for the same power Spain had. As they couldn't fight Spain in wars or strength, they used propaganda and twisted methods. The process was slow but effective: Italy, Germany and France were the beginners, but it had an extraordinary importance in Holland and England. Jews and some spiteful Spanish themselves contributed to it. The French Illustration misused the Reason they boasted about and intensified the wrong beliefs.

"The careful distortion of the history of a nation, perpetrated by its enemies, in order to better fight it. And a distortion as monstrous as possible, with the goal of achieving a specific aim: the moral disqualification of the nation, whose supremacy must be fought in every way possible."

Fernández Álvarez

I'd like to say this Black Legend is something of the past but when I watch movies or read books I still feel that anti-Spanish sentiment. It's not said in so many words but if Spaniards don't remain forgotten, they are the bad ones, and usually in such an unfavorable light it's difficult to fight against. When the Spanish Inquisition is famous for its cruelty and Lutero's pursues in Germany are forgotten. When the miscegenation in the Americas is hidden under all that presumed slavery all the other nations conveniently lacked. When the Spanish Golden Age surprisingly didn't exist due to all the repression Art and Science suffered. When Spain is symbol of underdevelopment and intolerance at the same time many enlightened ones from other countries had to publish their books in Spanish lands. No, I can't say they apply the same standards when judging.

This is the Black Legend. Do you want to know the real story?

**********

If you speak Spanish these links might be interesting for you:

Asociación Cultural Felipe II
Somos hijos de España - Hispanofilia

Ganaron Ellos

And a text I found and loved:

ESPAÑA ¡¡ME TENÉS PODRIDO!!
por Patricio Lons

¿Cómo se te ocurre traer veinticinco universidades y luego irte si en las colonias inglesas se fueron sin dejar nada? ¡Y te atreviste a hacerlas con cátedras en lenguas nativas amerindias!! Encima construiste catedrales, museos, hospitales, escuelas, puertos y ciudades.

¡Y se te ocurrió construir escuelas para los hijos de los caciques y les diste la misma educación que recibían los nobles españoles. A tal punto llegaste con tu atrevimiento civilizatorio, que el primer informe que le presentaba a Carlos V una queja sobre las conductas de algunos encomenderos, lo escribió un indio alfabetizado y con estudios superiores en un perfecto castellano del siglo XVI.

¡¡¿¿Porque les diste títulos de nobleza a los caciques??!! ¿No ves que luego terminaron agradecidos y peleando por el rey Fernando VII con grados militares, incluso de generales en el ejército realista? A diferencia del ejército de Bolivar que contaba con 7.500 soldados ingleses y la flota inglesa llegando hasta El Callao.

Y luego nos trajiste a nosotros, a nuestros ancestros europeos, muchos que gracias a Hispanoamérica tuvieron un lugar donde refugiarse y así huyeron de miserias y horrores de muchas guerras. Y a muchos españoles se les ocurrió casarse con nativas ¡¡¡NNOOOOOOO!!! ¡¡Así no se hace!! ¡¿¿Debiste aprender de Inglaterra y Holanda que no dejaban vivo a nativo alguno??!

Te llevaste la plata que en América no tenía valor comercial y le dejaste el 90 % de la dieta cárnica y cerealera, redujiste la siembra de cuarenta a un solo día por hectárea, unificaste un continente, rescataste buena parte de las lenguas nativas que antes de ti, eran ágrafas y que luego con la independencia se volvieron a perder.

LLevaste a los pueblos de América de la Edad de Bronce y del Neolítico a la Era Moderna. Y trajiste al Nuevo Mundo el pensamiento griego, el orden romano, un idioma que les permitió unirse a todos los pueblos de un continente en un solo y gran imperio y una religión que acabó con el canibalismo y los sacrificios humanos que tan felices hacían a los aborígenes; bueno, a algunos, porque a las víctimas no tanto.

¡Encima te pagaron con infamias!! Por eso, ¡me tenés podrido!!

¿O me pudrieron el cerebro que no puedo ver que la leyenda negra...es negra, es mentirosa?

¿A quien le conviene que yo viva engañado? Me parece que me debo hacer muchas preguntas.

Sobre todo ¿porqué vamos de mal en peor desde hace doscientos años?

[Christopher Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finding the book “Tree of Hate” by Philip Wayne Powell was a blessing. You see, ever since I married my beautiful wife, María Eugenia, I have been studying the history of Spain and Mexico. We have amassed an impressive collection of primary source material for the history of Mexico/New Spain over the last few years.

My issue is with the lies that abound even in traditional Catholic circles and books concerning the history of Catholic Spain. This false narrative has come to be called “La Leyenda Negra” or “The Black Legend.”

When you hear mention of the Spanish Inquisition and you squirm from thoughts of unjust torture and execution, the name “Hernán Cortés” crosses your ears and you imagine a genocidal slaughtering of Indians, it is because you have been infected with the vile lies of la Leyenda Negra!

The expulsion of the Jews from Spain was the most merciful thing Queen Isabel la Catolica could have done. Her people had been on edge, killing Jews in pogroms due to a number of social realities. There was no real way to control the situation, so she finally ordered their expulsion from Spain so that they would not succumb to brutal mob violence.

Hernán Cortés was loved by the Aztecs, and he fought for their rights as Spanish citizens. There are currently European monarchs that have the Moctezuma name in their full title. He made ready the hearts of the natives to experience the visiting of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He was a warrior and a diplomat. He was a passionate Catholic, with other wayward passions he should have controlled. He was a man that loved his fellow men, including the native Americans. Many of his conquistadors married native women.

This is not the official history, but it is the true history. Following is a little article I wrote covering some subjects that should help dispel la Leyenda Negra from your mind which is not necessarily contained in this book:

The first European monarch to fight against slavery with legal means was Queen Isabel la Católica (1451-1504) 520 years ago, June 20, 1500 A.D. (the namesake of our youngest daughter). The Laws of Burgos (1512-1513 A.D.) and later the Laws of the Indies (1542 A.D.), condemning slavery and passed by her husband, King Fernando el Católico (1452-1516), and her grandson Emperor Charles V (1500-1558), is her legacy. Charles V had Bishop Bartolome de las Casas (1484-1566) go to Rome and convince Pope Paul III to write the papal bull, Sublimus Dei, as the first Christian denunciation of slavery June 2, 1537 A.D.

The first philosophers really delving into human rights as we know them today, were those of the School of Salamanca in the 16th century during what is considered the Spanish Renaissance.

So, the idea that slavery was wrong was truly foreign to the world until around 500 years ago. It took 350 years for it to start sinking in to the mind of the West. The entire history of mankind, even until today, has had slavery. At present, there are slave auctions in northern Africa. Most of our clothes and electronics have been made by slaves.

We are in a position where these issues and ideas were hashed out by philosophers like Francisco de Vitoria (1483-1546) and monarchs like Isabel la Católica, and neatly handed down to us. We are blessed to have been given this.

Human rights as you and I know them are thanks to Queen Isabel. When the Church was debating if the Indians had souls, she rightly proclaimed they were humans fully and Spanish subjects to be treated with human dignity.

In a recent conversation someone was connecting Fray Junipero Serra (1713-1784) with encomienda and the monarchy of Isabel la Católica. Encomienda was akin to the peasant system. Encomienda was not slavery. In fact, many indigenous were land owners and still have the deeds to their lands signed by the king. And, over and above that, encomienda had been finished for about 200 years by the time Fray Junipero came on the scene.

The Laws of Burgos (1512 A.D.-1513 A.D.) are very clear on how encomienda was to work. It is nothing as ugly as many seem to think, except for it’s implementation in places like the Caribbean islands and under Nuño de Guzmán (1490-1558) in Pánuco and Nueva Galicia, both parts of modern Mexico. Encomienda was most abused in the Caribbean, by such people as the famed Bartolome de las Casas, the so called “Protector of the Indians” and his friends, which included such people as the aforementioned Nuño de Guzmán.

Due to the horrible reality of what the encomienda became in the Caribbean, Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) was adamant that it was not to be brought to New Spain aka Mexico. He was forced to allow it. It was outlawed not long after, in the year 1542.

Almost all of the surviving conquistadores of New Spain married indigenous girls. The Spaniards immediately intermarried with the indigenous. They had a love for the people of the lands the discovered. This is the reason you will not find Aztecs or Spaniards in Mexico, the two peoples completely interbred.

The conquistadores and those that arrived later that were doing evil, if found out were usually recalled to Spain and punished. This is the time that the real idea of human rights was born. Hispanoamerica was not a land of colonies, but an extension of Spain. It was not, like the English and French colonies, autonomous business ventures.

Hernán Cortés was a true protector of the Indians, and when the Caribbean villains had killed off 90% of the indigenous and tried kidnapping Indians from Mexico, Cortés was known to capture the ships and free the Indians who were Spanish subjects. This is recorded in the relaciones to Emperor Charles V.

Whenever people were accused of heinous crimes against the indigenous they were recalled to Spain for trial, and if found guilty harshly punished. When the enemies (Guzmán and company) of Cortés leveled charges at him, he was recalled to Spain, and found innocent. His accusers were cruel, bad men, and they were illegally slaving the indigenous and robbing Hernán Cortés blind.

Fray Juan de Zumarraga (1468-1548), the bishop of happy memory, had written a letter to Emperor Charles V on all the happenings of the time leading up to Cortés’ recall to Spain. At that time it was believed that Cortés was dead, as his enemies proclaimed him so in order to pilfer his property. Cortés was exploring Honduras at the time. Fray Zumarraga’s letter explains in a dispassionate way, rule under Cortés, as well as the evils that began to occur when Cortés left to explore Honduras.

After being found innocent of the superfluous charges, Cortés returned to New Spain as a still high ranking government official, but no longer had the power he once had. His accusers had been found out, and the chief among them, Nuño de Guzmán, spent his final years imprisoned. With a desire to explain the character of Cortés, I must mention that he financially supported Guzmán, and his family after he was imprisoned as an act of charity. He did this for the man that robbed and tried to ruin him, and had him sent to Spain as a criminal for trial.

Also of note, the Moctezuma line is part of European nobility to this day. There are many nobles throughout Europe with the Moctezuma royal heritage, including Juan José Marcilla de Teruel-Moctezuma y Jiménez, 5th Duke of Moctezuma de Tultengo, 15th Marquis of Tenebrón and Viscount of Ilucán, the noble house of Grau-Moctezuma de Toleriu, the Dukes of Ahumada, the Dukes of Abrantes, the Counts de la Enjarada, and the Counts of Miravalle.

Returning to the Apostle of California, Queen Isabel la Católica died in the year 1504 A.D., wheras Saint Junipero Serra (a true protector of the Indians, unlike the despicable Las Casas, who was a key player in the African slave trade) was born in 1713 A.D. So there was no direct connection between the two.

It was 15th and 16th century Spain to which we owe the accolades of human rights, not the so called Enlightenment.

Pope Francis, in his encyclical Amoris Laetitia (March 19, 2016) stated, “The lack of historic memory is a serious shortcoming in our society.” And I believe the current iconoclasm is a case of that. A lack of historic memory.

[Rafa Sánchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro de historia sensacional. Estamos ante el testimonio sincero y apasionado de un historiador de EEUU apesadumbrado por la montaña de prejuicios y mentiras que sepultan el legado español en América, la suya es como una voz en el desierto lleno de lugares comunes teñidos de racismo, ignorancia, fanatismo religioso y llanas mentiras. Leyenda Negra que llega hasta nuestros días.

Leer esta magnífica obra, centrada en el caso de EEUU y comparando el Imperio Español con la presente hegemonía gringa (a fecha de 1971), te hace comprender que "Imperiofobia" de Elvira Roca se "aupó en hombros de gigantes" para llegar a tan altas cimas, uno de ellos es Powell como ella cita tantas veces. Desde su posición de académico estadounidense, repasa los tímidos intentos en la segunda mitad del siglo XX por revertir el cúmulo de barbaridades que sepulta la verdadera historia del Imperio en el sur de América dentro del plan de estudios, desde la enseñanza primaria hasta los estudios universitarios, pero no se muestra muy optimista. El libro fue escrito en 1971 y desconozco qué ha pasado después, pero viendo las noticias sobre el Columbus Day y cómo tratan Obama y Trump a sus vecinos del sur, me temo que Philip Powell acertó.

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for the PopSugar Challenge 2019

6.A book with a plant on the title or the cover

A very documented balance of the Black Legend as created by French, Dutch, German, Italian, English and some Jewish people in order to paint Spain as uniquely brute and cruel. It's also worth it for the final chapters on the incidence of interamerican relationships.

Brace yourself for anti-Catholicism, anti-Semitism, contempt of any nation with Muslims or Jewish people among them, racism, xenophobia and a massive load of envy converging into the well-spread lie that even permeates Mexican and other Latin American textbooks, in short: that protestant, classic liberal and Nordic races had and have it better than backwards racially mixed peoples of the South with no middle class and an Inquisitorial past that prevents us from looking forward.

While Powell admits the mistakes of the US, he also carefully points out that we have been taught to irrationally hate the US in Spanish speaking nations.

[Wilfredo R. Dotti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una buena obra que desenmascara el canon de la Leyenda Negra española sobre la conquista, y explica cómo las naciones hostiles, en su mayoría protestantes y liberales (Inglaterra, Holanda, Francia, etc...), han conspirado para difamar y debilitar a España, sabiendo aprovecharse de su excesiva autocrítica y autodepreciación. Fue una conspiración que a la larga ocasionó el declive de ese país y de su imperio. El autor es bastante objetivo, es un libro que vale la pena leer.

[Irene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was asked to read this book. I had not heard of “the black legend” prior to beginning this text, nor would this have been a book I would have picked up on my own. This was written nearly 50 years ago. The author argues that Spain has been the victim of malicious stereotyping, historical distortions and cultural denigration since the 15th century. The author claims that anti-Spanish prejudice continues into the 20th century. Spanish cultural contributions are not accorded the recognition they deserve. Spain is unfairly blamed for the Inquisition, for anti-Semitic pogroms and for the harsh treatment of native populations in the Americas. I find it impossible to evaluate this thesis. I have never encountered negativity toward Spain. I did not find his arguments sufficiently developed to persuade me that this prejudice exists. For example, the author gives a smattering of examples from western and northern European countries that depict Spain negatively. But, the author acknowledges that these sprang up at a time when that country was engaged in military or economic conflict with Spain. The propaganda was an attempt to rally citizens around their country’s cause. But, he does not prove that propaganda was avoided when similar conflicts arose with other European countries or that Spain refrained from acts of propaganda against their rivals. Nor was I provided convincing evidence that Spain treated native peoples of the Americas with the utmost of justice, the Jews with integrity and that the Inquisition was not the travesty it is portrayed to be. Further, the argument that other European countries burned witches or stole native lands and did not get in trouble struck a ridiculous note. I am not saying that this author’s thesis is incorrect; I am only saying that this text, filled with loaded language and sounding much like propaganda, did not convince me.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this was written in the 70s and needs to be updated, the research about the propaganda of the Inquisition and the Black Legend is very useful and explains Spain's derailment by other Europeans, as well as its identity crisis and inferiority complex from the mid seventeenth century to the death of Franco.

[Christian Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really helped me make sense out of why people hate Junipero Serra so much -- it seems that they bit the apple on the tree of hate offered on a platter by the intelligentsia.

[Imme · Rating 2 out of 5]

Het moest maar voor de uni. Wat betreft wetenschappelijk gezeik best priem