No I haven't heard of the "Black Legend" but I'd like to know about it.

I don't know for certain but I think the religous aspect that went with Spain and Portugal probably did do a lot of harm, though I have no doubt that the English were bastards also. The difference probably is the Catholic church.

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The Black Legend goes all the way back to the first encounters of Europeans and Americans (natives that is).

It consisted primarily of English propaganda aimed at denigrating the Spanish and all the things they did in the New World.

There's an excellent book on the subject "Tree of Hate" by Philip Powell. But it's probably out of print or otherwise hard to find.

from the introduction:

"Beginning in the 16th century when Spain was the summit of power in Europe and master of the first global empire, there developed anti-Spanish propaganda and prejudices that became entrenched in history, establishing a Western tradition of denigration and belittlement of Spain, Spaniards, and most of their works. This tradition is known as the Black Legend."

another easy source of information is:

Wikimedia Error

this is not to say that Spain (and Portugal) were entirely benevolent in their dealings with their colonies, however, it's generally not as bad as many have made it out to be.

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That was interesting, thanks. I obviously don't have the knowledge to disagree with anything there and in any case I'll keep an open mind on it. But it's something I didn't know about and it's always good to learn.

No worries.

It certainly opened my eyes a bit when I started learning about it all.

I'm happy to pass it along, and glad you found it interesting.

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"Yes. That's correct. Making a statement that's 100% true can't be bigoted."