The International Law of Colonialism: The Doctrine of Discovery

“The International Law of Colonialism: The Doctrine of Discovery,” an Outcome archive entry by Robert J. Miller. The entry belongs to the jcrt collection and connects readers to scholarship, public history, and organizing around the Doctrine of Discovery, Christian domination, Indigenous sovereignty, law, religion, land, memory, and accountability.

In brief, it addresses Robert J. Miller traces how the Doctrine of Discovery became international law, enabling colonial claims over Indigenous land, rights and sovereignty.. For readers arriving from the main Doctrine of Discovery site, this post functions as a pointer rather than a replacement for the full Outcome record. The canonical page preserves the complete context, metadata, author information, citation links, media, and neighboring materials in the archive.

The source text highlights terms and contexts including Six hundred years ago, the Church and Spain and Portugal began developing the international law of Christian European colonization. That law is better known today as the Doctrine of Discovery. Joined by England, France, Russia, and Holland, European countries used this law to claim and acquire the lands, assets, sovereign rights, and even the existence of Indigenous nations and peoples. When the United States was formed, it also adopted this colonizing legal regime. This international law still applies today and is very relevant to Indigenous nations and peoples and seriously impacts their rights and existence even now. This chapter lays out the ten elements, or factors, that comprise the Doctrine. These elements. Read the canonical Outcome page for the complete entry.

Canonical link: https://outcome.doctrineofdiscovery.org/jcrt/issue2/miller/

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