Over the years, the doctrine of discovery has been used to confiscate the lands of indigenous people and transfer them to dominating or colonizing nations. The internationally recognized principle of “terra nullius” provides that land belongs to no one and could be acquired through occupation. It also incorporates the Regalian Doctrine, which provides that private land title originates from the Spanish Crown. These are racist, unscientific ideas used by dominating nations to enslave Africans and steal lands belonging to indigenous people, their territories, and resources. These principles also originate from the papal decree in 1452 that gave dominating nations the authority and right to conquer, colonize, and exploit non-Christian territories and people based on the notion that Christians had the right, moral and legal, to raid and seize such lands and dominate them.
The principle was used to justify the enslavement of millions of Africans, who were captured, subdued, vanquished, and perpetually enslaved through the papal decree. The papal decree, which is embedded in the doctrine of discovery, gave colonizing and dominating nations to enslave Africans they regarded as heathens. On the whole, the doctrine of discovery and other related concepts formed a pattern and paradigm of appropriation and domination of indigenous people (Goldenberg, 1978). These patterns formed the basis in which Africans were enslaved.
The doctrine was also used to justify the removal of indigenous people from the land by proving that occupation was morally and legally suitable in acquiring private land. The argument is that such land had no owners and emanated from the Spanish Crown. It was a principle that gave dominating nations the authority to raid, conquer, and seize lands and territories belonging to indigenous people (Takaki, 2008). It was used as an excuse by racists and malicious regimes to dispose of lands from indigenous people.
References
Goldenberg I. (1978). Oppression and Social Intervention: Chap. 3 Understanding the American experience. Nelson Hall Chicago.
Takaki, R. (2008). A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. New York, NY. Back Bay Books/Little, Brown, and Company.