Bartolome’ de la Casas in the sixteen century, published an eloquent defense of Indian rights about maltreatment of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in colonial times. He tried to protect the Native Americans from the worst exploitation. In 1513, as a chaplain, Las Casas participated in Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar 's and Pánfilo de Narváez ' conquest of Cuba. He participated in campaigns in Bayamo and Camagüey and in the massacre of Hatuey. He witnessed many atrocities committed by Spaniards against the native Ciboney and Guanahatabey peoples. He later wrote: "I saw here cruelty on a scale no living being has ever seen or expects to see." Las Casas and his friend Pablo de la Rentería were awarded a joint encomienda which was …show more content…
Las Casas was finally convinced that all the actions of the Spanish in the New World had been illegal and that they constituted a great injustice. He made up his mind to give up his slaves and encomienda, and started to preach that other colonists should do the same. When his preaching met with resistance, he realized that he would have to go to Spain to fight there against the enslavement and abuse of the native people. Aided by Pedro de Córdoba and accompanied by Antonio de Montesinos, he left for Spain in September 1515, arriving in Seville in November same year. Las Casas`s work provoked heated debate in Spain and initiated reforms designed to bring greater “love and moderation” to Spanish-Indians relationships. He wrote it for Charles I of Spain. The purposes for writing this was his fear of Spain coming under divine punishment (God`s corporal punishment) and his concern for the souls of the Native Americans. The account is one of the first attempts by a Spanish writer of the colonial era to show examples of unjust treatment that indigenous people endured in the early stages of the Spanish conquest of the Greater Antilles, particularly the island of