The Missionaries Real Mission; a Look at the Motivation for Early British Missionaries in the America



Abstract

In this paper, we will be discussing about the two original British missionary societies, which are the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and the Presbyterian Society for the Propaganda of Christian Knowledge. In addition, we will also be discussing about the founder of the two societies, who is Dr. Thomas Bray. Further, the paper will be analyzing the connection between the Royal Society, the New England Co. and Robert Boyle. The aim of the paper is to show that the primary goal of these early organizations was motivated by fundraising, gaining political clout, and personal notoriety more so than converting the heathen/savage Indians.

Table of Contents

Abstractii

Introduction4

Thesis Statement4

Discussion4

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts6

The Presbyterian Society for the Propaganda of Christian Knowledge8

Thomas Bray11

Connection between the Royal Society, the New England Co. and Robert Boyle12

Conclusion17

Bibliography19

The Missionaries Real Mission; a Look at the Motivation for Early British Missionaries in the America

Introduction

In Britain missionaries had played a crucial role in the dissemination of information about the colonies and their inhabitants. Much of the information that missionaries had about other peoples and cultures, and images of them that they constructed for the British public were based on their experience of living and working in Britain's overseas colonies. The racial aspects of this knowledge varied and were often at odds with the pseudo-scientific theories permeating public discourses in the nineteenth century.

Thesis Statement

The study is aimed at showing that the primary goal of these early organizations was motivated by fundraising, gaining political clout, and personal notoriety more so than converting the heathen/savage Indians.

Discussion

The formation of the British Empire is very early and arguably around the year 1885 in which it was completed. It is part of the territories directly controlled by Calcutta extending inland to the northwest and east. Beginning in 1857, after the revolt of the sepoys (Indian soldiers to the service of Great Britain), the crown directly assume the government of the colony until then was the East India Company who directed his administration. In the early '50s, virtually all Indian lands were under British control, initiating tensions with the Russians in Afghanistan.

The possessions of France spread mainly by Indochina (having sent missionaries to that region by the late eighteenth century) now in the nineteenth century the situation is quite precarious. This and the value of Indochina led to the strategic intervention of Napoleon III in the region, getting Cochin in 1862, would fall on other territories. To round its borders France claimed the area of Laos, sparking a crisis, since the French territories to the north limit to the British Burma. Siam maintained its independence as a buffer state between the territories of the European empires.

The European powers were interested in China. The beginnings of European intervention are related to commercial interests for sale of Indian goods, among which opium. China's policy against imports of this ...