ipl-logo

Bartolome De Las Casas Summary

604 Words3 Pages

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 …show more content…

According to Las Casas, the Son of God “gave his life for every living soul (p. 32),” which includes the lives of the indigenous people (p. 72). Therefore, each man, woman, and child, no matter where they came from, their skin color, age, sex, religion, are equal and apart of the human race. In his short account, Las Casas is absolutely appalled that a human life could be belittled and devalued to the extent where a single mare can be bartered for eighty locals: “that is, eighty members of the human race (p. 65).” Therefore, he claimed that it would be “a criminal neglect of my duty to remain silent (p. 6)” and took a stand to defend the indigenous people against what Las Casas believed to be “mortal enemies of the human race (p.

Show More
Related
296 Words | 2 Pages

Maria Brito and immigrant from Cuba, came to the United States in 1961. Maria saw the U.S. as a place of endless opportunities, as many Cubans who migrate to the U.S. due to lack of opportunities, poverty and oppression that exist within their own country. Her piece El Patio de Mi Casa, symbolizes the struggles she has experienced with identity and a symbol of transformation once she arrived to this country. The wall in her piece, represents the threshold between the past and the present. The crib symbolizes her childhood and her experiences living in poverty.

Read More
331 Words | 2 Pages

On his journey to the New World, Bartolome de Las Casas encounters the “Indians” of the New World, in which he describes as an innocent, undeveloped, people. As a first observation, Las Casas pays close attention to the Indians social appearance and clothing. He notices, “as to their dress, they are generally naked,” usually with minimal clothing worn and, instead of traditional European customs , “ they have no beds, but sleep on a kind of matting or else in a kind of suspended net called hamacas.” Specifically within this quote is the emphasis of the rhetorical device pathos. Las Casas’ diction is written in such a way that portrays the feeling of empathy toward the reader, and because an individual is more likely to help another individual

Read More
1559 Words | 7 Pages

The colonization of the New World took place for a multitude of reasons; one of the central causes was religion. There were many people who desired the conversion of the natives to Christianity from their indigenous beliefs. Two people who rallied for help in the efforts to convert the indigenous peoples were Fray Pedro de Gante and José de Acosta. De Gante’s accounts were written in Mexico in 1552. Acosta’s accounts were written in Peru and then published later on in 1588.

Read More
948 Words | 4 Pages

The period of missionization was known to the Spaniards as a time to mold the Indigenous people into the spitting image of what they wanted; cultivating the Indigenous people into civilized, Christian practicing beings. However, through the eyes of the Indigenous people this period was considered to be the end of the world – an end to the world they came to know so well. Settler colonialism introduced a cruel and brutal world upon the Indigenous people, especially for Indigenous women who were targeted by the priests to fulfill their needs of lust, during the period of missionization. In the book, Bad Indians, author Deborah Miranda finds a captivating way of presenting the brave story of Vicenta Gutierrez, who fell victim to the priest on the mission and spoke up about her traumatic event, through the literary genre of a letter. Using the letter as her literary device, Miranda vividly illustrates the sexual violence brought upon Indian women and how the priests used rape to establish power on the missions had a dehumanizing effect on these women.

Read More
818 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
626 Words | 3 Pages

The Spanish preach the word of God, yet they choose to not abide by his teachings with the thoughts of ousting the Indians from their content lives. The Dominican friar, Bartolomé de Las Casas, was a true equality crusader of his time, believing that the Indians deserved to live without interference from the Spaniards as long as they obeyed God’s will. He was a world traveler who had a vast amount of knowledge from his journeys, such as sailing with one of the first Spanish expeditions to the West Indies in 1502. Bartolomé gave his stance on endorsing Indians continuing their independence at the debate of Valladolid, in the presence of Emperor Charles V, and in opposition of Juan Ginés Sepúlveda who supported the Spaniards taking complete control

Read More
800 Words | 4 Pages

He supports his argument that Indians are humans by first explaining how they are willing and able to learn and understand the Christian faith and do not need to be subdued. Second he brings about the point that they can be called “barbarians”, meaning those who behave savagely and wild, and still be wise and live a settled life. Las Casas even takes it a step further by explaining that before the Spaniard came and took over the Indians land, the Indians had organization, friendships, religion, and customs. Even though the Indians had a different way of living, they were a stable society that understood one another and loved their way of

Read More
1249 Words | 5 Pages

Bartolomé de las Casas, a Spanish historian from the 15th-16th century, compared the Spanish actions to wild beasts who lacked food for many days. He described the Spanish soldiers as acting like “ravening beasts, killing, terrorizing, afflicting, torturing, and destroying the native peoples, doing all this with the strangest and most varied new methods of cruelty, never seen or heard before, and to such a degree that this island of Hispaniola once so populous, has a population down to 200 persons.” The Spanish clearly had almost no respect for the lives of the people they

Read More
610 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More
147 Words | 1 Pages

Opposed the enslavement and oppression of the Indians by Spanish colonists in the Americas Voyaged to Hispaniola (now the Dominican Republic) to manage a newly acquired estate. He began to teach the inhabitants Christianity, and in 1512 he became a priest. In 1515 he returned to Spain and presented to King Charles I a plan for the reformation of the Indies. Las Casas was appointed “protector of the Indians.” In his zeal to aid the Indians, however, he advocated the use of black slaves from Africa—a decision he later much regretted.

Read More
883 Words | 4 Pages

In 1550, Emporer Charles V summoned a debate to determine how Spain would deal with the Native Americans. Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda and Bartolomé de Las Casas engaged in discourse about this topic: Sepúlveda denigrated the Natives while de Las Casas defended them. Sepúlveda felt that the Native Americans were basically barbaric sub-humans, and that the Europeans were greatly superior to them. He felt that Christianity was far more altruistic than the Natives’ religions. However, Las Casas felt that the Natives should be treated equally, since he believed Jesus died for the Natives just like he died for the Europeans.

Read More
291 Words | 2 Pages

This source was written in 1542, and this speech was given to the people of the country of Spain. The Martolome De Las Casas, the lord Prince of Spains don Felipe gave this speech to the people. Giving this speech, the Prince shows how horrid the idea of the Christians killing and destroying the Indies. The Christians represent the English and the Indies are the Indians. The Christians invaded North America and stole the Indians’ gold, food, and killed a multitude of them: “The cause for which the Christians have slain and destroyed so many and such infinite numbers of souls, has been simply to get, as their ultimate end, the Indians’ gold of them, and to stuff themselves with riches in a very few days, and to raise themselves to high estates...

Read More
1008 Words | 5 Pages

Las Casas, believed that instead of just conquering the Indians, they should have a chance to defend themselves. "Hence every nation[s], no matter how barbaric, has the right to defend itself... And take away its

Read More
1913 Words | 8 Pages

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

Read More
1506 Words | 7 Pages

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).

Read More

More about Bartolome De Las Casas Summary

Related Topics

Open Document