Posted by:
Tevai
(
)
Date: October 02, 2021 06:42PM
One of the things you need to keep in mind is that at least many of those whose trace their ancestry to medieval Spain and Portugal are descendants of Spaniards and Portuguese (from the 1400s to the 1800s) who were Jews, who were subsequently forced, by the government of Spain, to convert to Catholicism.
These people are today known by several different group names: Conversos, Anusim, and Marranos (marrano means "pig" in Spanish) are the most well known.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Kfp2-Lqh4In recent decades, it has become more or less taken for granted that Columbus was likely himself Jewish (he was extremely protective of his crew, likely all of whom were legally subject to torture by the Inquisition and subsequent death by burning, if their religiously-oriented situation was ever made "public").
Whether or not Columbus himself was of Jewish ancestry (this is a matter of academic dispute), his crew certainly was--as were probably most of the Spanish and Portuguese colonists who later came to settle in the New World.
Once in the New World, many of these colonists migrated throughout the continent, and most especially to the area of what is now the U.S. state of New Mexico.
Today, new and unexpected medical knowledge has become incredibly important because we are now aware of an inherited disposition to a particularly serious and lethal kind of breast cancer among present-day descendants of Spanish colonial settlers (many of whom have died of this particular breast cancer, one of whom I once knew well).
With contemporary DNA tests, it is now fairly easy to identify not only those Americans who are of Spanish/Portuguese Jewish descent, but also those who carry that specific breast cancer marker.
Among Jews worldwide, it is estimated that descendants of Spanish and Portuguese medieval colonists ("anusim," "conversos," "marranos") now number in the millions, and because of the inherited breast cancer vulnerability, it is important for everyone with this ancestry to learn whether they carry this vulnerability or not.
The entire American Southwest (including the states of California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona) is heavily Hispanic in ancestry, and--through the media: films, TV shows; books; music, food, etc.--has significantly influenced life and culture throughout much of the USA portion of North America.
My conclusion is: one of the reasons why the USA and the UK are so different is that the UK does not have the USA's huge Hispanic culture as a part of its own, British, culture.
In the USA today, you can buy a taco most anywhere you happen to find yourself, and there is very likely a Spanish language station on your local car radio and in your local TV line-up.
Five centuries on, this Hispanic heritage really does make a huge difference between the USA and the UK.
[EDITED TO ADD: There are nine U.S. states which contain community property law as part of their state legal codes.
Community property law comes from Spanish law, and says that property of any kind acquired during a marriage is 50%-50% the legal property of each spouse (colloquially: "The hand that stirs the soup pot is equal to the hand that creates the crops."). There are some exceptions as to what is considered community property--for instance: inherited property. Spouses can each, individually, inherit property 100%.).
The nine community property states in the United States are: Arizona; California; Idaho; Louisiana; Nevada; New Mexico; Texas; Washington (state); Wisconsin.]
Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/2021 02:14PM by Tevai.