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Bartolome De Las Casas Destruction Of The Indies Summary

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This piece is written by Bartolomé de las Casas, a Spanish Dominican friar who witnessed atrocities by the Spanish colonists on the Native Americans, mainly in Cuba and Santo Domingo. It is an extract from his work ‘A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies’ – written in 1542 and published in 1552. The extract details how, in las Casas’ opinion, the way the Spanish colonists treated the native Indians, particularly in Cuba, was not acceptable and he was using his first-hand experience of these atrocities to appeal to King Charles V to stop the atrocities towards the natives of the recently discovered New World. When las Casas first moved to the New World as a young adult, he was actually a slave owner but quickly changed to his later …show more content…

He then made it his ambition to end these so called atrocities. Considering that merely months after las Casas had completed this work, King Charles V introduced the ‘New Laws’ which aimed at improving the treatment of the Indians of the New World by trying to prevent their exploitation by the colonists. If not for the work of las Cases, I would argue that not only would the New Laws not be introduced but in fact Charles V and the people of Spain and the rest of Europe may have not even known of the treatment of the indigenous population of the New World. It had not been all that long ago that the ‘brave,’ ‘chivalrous’ and ‘heroic’ Christians had defeated the ‘oppressive’ and ‘sinful’ Muslims on the Iberian Peninsula. Las Casas, despite being a Christian friar himself seems to be emphasising the fact that the atrocities in the New World are being performed by the Christian Spaniards. Whether he is doing this to openly criticise Christianity or simply just to appeal to Charles V, the divinely appointed ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, to show him what atrocities his subjects are carrying out in the name of his religion. In my opinion, despite the fact he was obviously appealing to his Liege regarding the safeguarding of the rights of the natives, I feel that las Casas was not so subtly criticising the morals of Christianity as a whole. The reason for this is that las Casas keeps alternating in the use of ‘Spanish’ and

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At first, Bartolomé de Las Casas participated in the persecution of the native people of the New World. But, something made him raise his voice against the terrors the Spanish colonizers did to the Native Americans. Exactly in the year of 1515 he changed his mind about the colonization subject and persecutions of the Native Americans. He changed

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Bartolome de Las Casas, an ordained priest belonging to the Dominican Order, actively fought for justice for the indigenous peoples of the New World on the premise that all men are created equal. In response to the atrocities committed by the Spanish during the sixteenth century European colonization of the New World, Bartolome de Las Casas published A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies to expose the ignorant general Spanish population to the horrors that were being inflicted on thousands of human beings. From the Caribbean, to Mexico, to Central America and then to Peru, Las Casas recounts the countless number of grotesque, horrifying abuses against the indigenous people by “Christian” Spaniards. Blind to the differences between appearance, culture, sex, religion, and driven by a strong sense of morality, Las Casas, driven by a sense of morality, fought to end the massacre and restore the dignity all human beings deserve. Driven to “line their pockets

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1. In my personal opinion, I think that Bartolome de las Casas wrote to try and free the Indian slaves owned by Spain. Equality never comes easy but it is certainly rewarding in the end. With that said, Las Casas decided to fight for many years trying to generate equality for the Indians.

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After years of little progress, in 1520 Charles V granted a hearing for Las Casas’s crusade. During this hearing, Las Casas argued that the time for military conquest had passed and now was the time for peace. Despite Charles V ruling in favor of Las Casas, very little could be done for the natives due to distance. Although, Bartolome de Las Casas did not set out to become an activist, intending only to settle land and preach the gospel, his faith lead him to see that true Christians did not act the way the Spanish Conquistadors did and that something must be done to right the wronged.

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However, the criticism in his words are obvious as Las Casas utilizes satire to attack the decisions of the Spanish to first inforce Spanish rule or "Tyranny" onto the natives only to massacre a critical percentage of the 'Ten Kingdoms'. Las Casas goes further to describe what he believed to have been the two types of people who caused the downfall of the people of the Indies. The first division, Las Casas determines as killers, exterminating for the sake of their own consumption and benefit. Meanwhile, the other half Las Casas explains are those who oppressed the inhabitants to the point that they thirst for their freedom, which the Spanish would have said is in the form of embracing "Catholicism." However, Las Casas finally reveals the ultimate lure that incited the Spanish to turn the Indies into desolate lands as 'Gold'.

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He saw the torture the Natives received by the Spaniards. Las Casas tried to convince people to change their ways with the natives. He fought slavery and violence that was brought among harmless people. When the Spanish arrived, they encountered the Natives. The Spanish, however, seemed to ignore the fact that the Natives were gentle people.

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That without these selfish acts, he would no longer be able to be a dutiful servant to all nor a free lord to all in an appropriate manner because he wouldn’t have survived the struggles that the land presented. This is where faith plays a big role in Cabeza De Vaca’s actions and where it shows that he lacks in faith in God. Frankly enough, this is where Martin Luther argues greatly and tries hard to convey the message that faith in God is all a good Christian needs to live a good life. Since he Cabeza De Vaca decides to act in an inappropriate manner in Luther’s eyes, he is showing that he doesn’t believe that God will save him and his people from damnation. He believes that in order to survive, he needs to take matters into his own hands and take what he needs from the Indians and then repay them with deceiving good works so that they continue to follow him whereever it is he goes.

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Las Casas was a priest, was made Bishop of Chiapas in Guatemala, and was also a writer. (Document one, n.d.) Las Casas was also a Dominican missionary who was the first to expose the oppression of native peoples

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All the Spaniards had done was killing of innocent lives for personal greed and acquiring as much goods as they could for their Majesty, doing so for the money was their justifications for killing the natives. Then we have Cortes, who instead of killing off the Natives of Tenochtitlan, he opened their eyes to the horrors of their religious ways and gave them the revelation of Christianity. Cortes didn’t mention any genocide of the natives, he spoke about the geography and religious views of the natives. He stated, “I will simply say that the manner of living among the people is very similar to that of Spain, and considering that this is a barbarous nation shut off from a knowledge of true God or communication with enlightened nations, one may well marvel at the orderliness and good government which is everywhere mentioned” (SB, 8). Cortes is only praising the natives and their life style because he feels the people have everything figured out in terms of being dominant and true government but, lacked in religion which he left them

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“ It should be kept in mind that their insatiable greed and ambition, the greatest ever seen in the world, is the cause of their villainies.” (Las Casas) The people of Spain used murder and slavery as a means to depopulate the Islands due to their greed. According to Casas, the number of slain Indians is about 15 million in the fourty years that the Spaniards have intruded on the Natives land. Young men and rulers were killed, while women and young children were forced to be slaves to the Christians.

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It was also imposed on the native inhabitants from the outset, used upon arrival to the Indies, the requierimiento was a legal document drawn up in 1512 that stated that ‘Saint Peter and his successors possessed jurisdiction over the whole world’, to which the ‘local population must submit.’ The document was formally read on all expeditions of discovery and conquest, including those of Hernan Cortes. With regard to this, Pagden argues that the Spanish were ‘overwhelmingly concerned’ with ‘rights over people’. This is true to the extent that Spain did want to impose religion upon the indigenous inhabitants, yet this desire appears to only have stemmed from the Spanish crown’s ‘commitment’ with the papacy, religion itself seems to have been used more as a tool to legitimise Spanish expansion. Whether this is the case or not, Christianity according to Euan Cameron, was ‘imposed or adopted to a greater or lesser extent everywhere the Iberians went’.

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Las Casas was a historian who later became a Bishop. He believed that the Indians shouldn't just be conquered but should have a chance of fighting the Europeans first. He traveled to North America in 1550. When Las Casas first came to the New World, he noticed that even though the Indians lacked art and writing, they had the the capacity to rule(pg.9). The Indians had kingdoms, cities and communities that were governed well and wisely because they followed the laws and customs of the Indians(pg.9).

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While his early encounters were similar to almost anyone of the time period, in the fact he didn't consider much of subjugating the local populations while benefiting greatly from it. Having ample supplies and food while local populations barely survived and no consideration or equality had entered his mind until after becoming a priest, he began to see this as what it was; Heresy by disregard for the human spirit and well being. After returning to a seat of power, he argued vehemently against the use of the now perverse Encomiendas system (Baym 39). This resulted in heads of state and religious orders to abolish such practices, but proved to be but one step in this challenge. Casas (and his allies) now also had to deal with people who had directly benefited from this system in the New World, which proved rather

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He believed that the way the Indians were treated by Christians was wrong, unjust, and contrary to their beliefs. “This unjust thing, this cruelty without precedent, being seen by the Indians perpetrated upon so many guiltless innocents…” (p. 32). De Las Casas expressed his disapproval of the Spaniards treatment of the Indians. He believed it was wrong of them to act in such a way to the innocent and naïve

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This power imbalance and these payments are key in the subjugation of the natives. Furthermore, the paternalism of the Spanish toward the Indigenous peoples is obvious: “Captain [Cortes] stared at him [Cuauhtemoc]…then patted him on the head” (p.117). Post-conquest, and still today, “difficult relations” between the descendants of the Indigenous peoples and the “others” (p.117) still exist. The European view of the natives “as idolatrous savages” or, on the contrary, as “models of natural virtue” (p.175) demonstrate the versatile and often contradictory views held. Similarly, the Aztecs at times saw the Spaniards as gods, and other times as gold-hungry savages who “fingered it like monkeys” (p.51).

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