Friar Bartomlome de las Casas came to Spain’s colonies in the New World in 1502. He personally witnessed the harsh working conditions forced on many Indians by the Spanish. In his book History of the Indies he detailed the plight of the Indians and strongly condemned Spanish labor practices. As you read this excerpt, consider what seems to have been the main use the Spanish made of the Indians.
Was Bartolome de las Casas the savior of the Indians?
Here, Mexican artist Felix Parra commemorates Bartolomé de las Casas as savior of the Indians. Las Casas’ ideas percolated throughout the Spanish legal system, and indigenous peoples were ultimately allowed to adjudicate in inter-indigenous matters.
What arguments did Bartolome de las Casas make for more humane treatment?
What arguments did Bartolome de Las Casas make in favor of more humane treatment of Native Americans as he exposed the atrocities of the Spanish conquistadors in Hispaniola? First contact experiences on Hispaniola included brutal interactions between the Spanish and the Native Americans.
What did Las Casas say about the Indians?
To las Casas the Indians were fellow human beings, subject to the same sadness, entitled to the same respect. With this insight it followed that every ounce of gold extracted by their labor was theft; every indignity imposed on them was a crime; every death—whatever the circumstances—was an act of murder.
What did Bartolome de las Casas write to the king of Spain?
Bartolomé de Las Casas, a Spanish Dominican priest, wrote directly to the King of Spain hoping for new laws to prevent the brutal exploitation of Native Americans.
How does Las Casas feel about the treatment of the Native Americans?
He argued for the equal humanity and natural rights of the Native Americans. Las Casas worked for the conversion of Native Americans to Christianity and for their better treatment. Pope Paul III agreed and issued an edict in 1537 banning the enslavement of Native Americans.
What role did Bartolome de las Casas play in the treatment of indigenous people?
Like many other Spanish missionaries who had traveled to America and experienced the brutality of the conquest, Las Casas became an advocate for the Indians and a critic of the brutal exploitation of indigenous slave labor and the lack of serious religious instruction.
How did Las Casas view of the treatment of Native American groups differ from the views of other Spaniards?
Las Casas viewed Native Americans in Mexico as rational beings and believed them to be open to conversion. He definitely thought the spaniards were superior to NA but he did not agree with the forceful way of converting the NA. He thought that they had to create a new way to convert the NA.
How did the Spanish treat the Native Americans?
The Spanish attitude toward the Indians was that they saw themselves as guardians of the Indians basic rights. The Spanish goal was for the peaceful submission of the Indians. The laws of Spain controlled the conduct of soldiers during wars, even when the tribes were hostile.
How does de las Casas portray the natives is his portrayal problematic how does his portrayal help support his argument?
How does his portrayal help support his argument? He portray the Natives and helpless, innocent children. It is problematic because the Natives could not see how violent the Spanish were until it was too late and when they tried to fight back they used weapons that were insignificant to the Spanish weaponry.
What major issues does Bartolomé de Las Casas bring up?
What major issues does Bartolome de las Casas bring up regarding Spanish expeditions in the Caribbean? The Indians were treated very badly. Mother's would even drown their children to spare them from the torture of the Spanish. Identify one early and subsequent motive that drove Columbus to oppress indigenous peoples.
How does Bartolomé de Las Casas compare the character and behavior of the Indians versus the Spanish colonizers?
Las Casas portrayed the natives as naïve. They believed that the Spanish were sent from heaven, and as such treated them well until the cruelty started. Las Casas also portrays the weapons that the natives use similar to naïve boys.
How did Bartolomé de Las Casas feel about the conquistadors?
As early as 1522 Bartolome de Las Casas worked to denounce these activities on political, economic, moral, and religious grounds by chronicling the actions of the conquistadors for the Spanish court. Bartolome de Las Casas, A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies.
What was Bartolomé de Las Casas position on slavery in Spanish colonies quizlet?
The writings of Bartolomé de Las Casas explained that the Bible approved slavery and that therefore it was acceptable.
How did the Spanish treat the people conquered?
How did the Spanish treat the peoples they conquered? Badly, forced them into "encomienda" made natives farm, ranch, or mine for Spanish landlords. What was unique about the Spanish colonization of the lands of New Mexico?
How did the Spanish treat the Aztecs?
Most significantly, the Spanish ended the Aztec's practice of human sacrifice. The Aztecs sacrificed human victims on each of their 18 annual festivities, according to the New World Encyclopedia. Human sacrifice rituals often included torture, such as shooting victims with arrows, burning them, or drowning them.
Who was Bartolomé de Las Casas?
Bartolomé de Las Casas was a Dominican priest and missionary in the Americas. Las Casas—who was ordained in either 1512 or 1513—may have been the f...
What is Bartolomé de Las Casas known for?
Bartolomé de Las Casas was an outspoken critic of the Spanish colonial government in the Americas. Las Casas was especially critical of the system...
Did Bartolomé de Las Casas ever own serfs?
Bartolomé de Las Casas did own serfs. As a young man, Las Casas participated in several military expeditions in the West Indies. In return for his...
What did Bartolomé de Las Casas write?
Bartolomé de Las Casas was a prolific writer. He wrote many petitions, treatises, and books on the subject of the Spanish conquest of the Americas....
What impact did Bartolomé de Las Casas’s writings have in Spain?
The Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias (A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies) had an immediate impact in Spain. The pol...
Why was Las Casas important?
Las Casas’s writings quickly spread around Europe and were used as humanitarian justification for other European nations to challenge Spain’s colonial empire with their own schemes of conquest and colonization.
Who was the priest who wrote about the exploitation of Native Americans?
Bartolomé de Las Casas Describes the Exploitation of Indigenous Peoples, 1542. Bartolomé de Las Casas, a Spanish Dominican priest, wrote directly to the King of Spain hoping for n ew laws to prevent the brutal exploitation of Native Americans. Las Casas’s writings quickly spread around Europe and were used as humanitarian justification ...
How many souls did Las Casas have?
By this time, he charged, the once-vast indigenous population of Hispaniola had been reduced to 200 souls. Las Casas died in his monastic cell on July 18, 1566, at 82, confessing to his brethren his sorrow and shame that he was unable to do more.
Who was the Dominican leader who refused to absolve the Indians?
In 1514, las Casas, 30, gave up his lands and the Indians in his possession and declared that he would refuse absolution to any Christian who would not do the same. Eventually, he joined the Dominican order and went on to become a passionate and prophetic defender of the indigenous peoples.
What are we to make of this life, this witness?
Five hundred years after the “discovery” of America, what are we to make of this life, this witness? Clearly for his writings on human equality and his defense of religious freedom, las Casas deserves to be remembered as a political philosopher of high significance in the history of ideas. But in decisively challenging the identification of Christ with the cause of Christendom, he proposed a recalibration of the Gospel that continues to provoke a response. In 1968 the bishops of Latin America, meeting in Medellín, Colombia, examined the social structures of their continent—in many ways, the ongoing legacy of the early conquest—and named this reality as a situation of sin and institutionalized violence. To preach the Gospel in this context necessarily involved entering the world of the poor and engaging in the struggle for justice.
What was the Gilded Cruelty?
Gilded Cruelty. To an extraordinary degree the life of las Casas was bound to the fate of the Indians. As a boy of 8, he witnessed the return of Columbus to Seville after his first voyage to the New World.
What is the parable of the Good Samaritan?
In so doing, he cuts through any easy notion that our “neighbor” is simply the person who lives next door or who lives in the same “neighborhood,” who looks like us or shares our values. The story of Bartolomé de las Casas (1484-1566), a Dominican friar and one of ...
What did Aristotle teach about Indians?
In their view, the Indians were a primitive, lesser breed; as Aristotle taught, some people were born to be slaves and others to be masters.
What was the significance of the arrival of three Spanish ships on the blue shores of the Bahamas in 1492?
The arrival of three small Spanish ships on the blue shores of the Bahamas in 1492 marked the beginning of an unprecedented collision of cultures. For the Spanish explorers and their royal patrons, the “discovery” of “the new world” was like the opening of a treasure chest.
What did De Las Casas argue about the property rights of the native peoples?
While the Pope had granted Spain sovereignty over the New World, de Las Casas argued that the property rights and rights to their own labor still belonged to the native peoples. Natives were subjects of the Spanish crown, and to treat them as less than human violated the laws of God, nature, and Spain. He told King Ferdinand that in 1515 scores of ...
Who argued for more humane treatment of Native Americans in the Spanish New World colonies?
Using excerpts from A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies, published in 1552, students will explore in this lesson how Bartolome de Las Casas (1484–1566) argued for more humane treatment of Native Americans in the Spanish New World colonies. In the first excerpt students will look at the author’s general description of the actions ...
Why did the Conquistadors subjugate the Spanish people?
Conquistadors subjugated populations primarily to garner personal economic wealth, and Natives little understood the nature of the conquest. As early as 1522 Bartolome de Las Casas worked to denounce these activities on political, economic, moral, and religious grounds by chronicling the actions of the conquistadors for the Spanish court.
What does De Las Casas say about the Taino?
De Las Casas relates God-given justice to the atrocities of the Spanish, and reveals the true motivations of the conquistadors.
What did the Conquistadors do to the Spanish?
Their actions imperiled Spain’s role as Protector of the Faith and infringed upon the role of the Spanish king as sovereign to the indigenous Americans.
Which kingdom does De Las Casas describe?
In this excerpt de Las Casas describes one of the kingdoms of Hispaniola, Magua, and gives eye witness descriptions of the kingdom’s geography.
What was the Spanish hunger for gold in the 16th century?
In order to understand the Spanish hunger for gold in the 16th century, one must recognize the Spanish treasure fleet system . Spain at this time had a strong navy but no real industry within the country, and so she had to buy all her goods from other nations, making gold and silver very important.