Two indigenous leaders are particularly notable for their resistance against the Spanish; the Maya leader Sicumba, and the Lenca ruler referred to as Lempira (a title meaning "Lord of the Mountain"). In March 1524, Gil González Dávila became the first Spaniard to arrive in what is now Honduras with the intention of conquest.
Why did the Spaniards raid other Caribbean islands?
Bartolomé de las Casas and 500 Years of Racial Injustice. This year marks the 500-year anniversary of the pricking of one man's conscience. Bartolomé de las Casas, sickened by the exploitation and physical degradation of the indigenous peoples in the Spanish colonies of the Caribbean, gave up his extensive land holdings and slaves and traveled to his homeland in …
Why did the Spanish treat the natives so badly?
In addition to the enslavement of rebellious natives, Columbus initiated the practice of tribute. Under this system each Indian male was required to gather and turn in a certain amount of gold every ninety days. If he failed, the Indian was subject to a death penalty.
How did the Spanish conquests of the Americas affect Native Americans?
A Dominican friar, Bartolomé de Las Casas, made a notable effort to ameliorate treatment of the Indians in Central America. The brutality of the Spanish conquest had repelled Las Casas in the Caribbean. After his Dominican monasteries in Nicaragua and Guatemala failed to bring better treatment to the Indians, he went to a province of northern ...
How did the Spanish violently respond to the Tainos?
As such, the Dominican friars who arrived at the Spanish settlement at Santo Domingo in 1510 strongly denounced the enslavement of the local Indigenous residents. Along with other priests, they opposed the native peoples' treatment as unjust and illegal in an audience with the Spanish king and in the subsequent royal commission.
Who challenged Spanish treatment of native peoples?
Who opposed the harsh treatment of Native Americans in the Spanish colonies?
Who organized the Native Americans to resist against the Spanish settlement?
What did Bartolome de las Casas believe?
How did the Spanish interact with the natives?
What did the conquistadors do to the natives?
How did the Natives respond to the Spanish violence against them?
Who attacked Jamestown?
How did native populations in California resist the Spanish?
In what ways did Bartolome de las Casas bring attention to injustice during this time?
How does Casas describe the Spanish approach to conquest?
What major issue does Bartolome de las Casas bring up regarding Spanish expeditions in the Caribbean?
Did the North American Indians die out as rapidly as their native peoples of the Caribbean?
This intermingling, however, did not produce the same results as that of the Spaniards. The North American Indians did not die out as rapidly as their native peoples of the Caribbean and the English, who came in families, did not inter-marry with the Indians as frequently as the Spaniards.
Who was the Queen of Spain when she declared that Indians were her subjects?
When this was reported to Queen Isabella of Spain, she immediately decreed that the natives (Indians as the Spanish would call them) were her subjects and were morally equal to all her other subjects including the Spaniards themselves.
When did Christopher Columbus land on Hispaniola?
NATIVE AMERICANS, TREATMENT OF ( SPAIN VS. ENGLAND) (ISSUE) When Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Hispaniola in 1492, he met natives there. When this was reported to Queen Isabella of Spain, she immediately decreed that the natives (Indians as the Spanish would call them) were her subjects and were morally equal to all her other ...
What was Columbus' first illegal act?
Columbus' first illegal act was to ship five hundred Indians back to Spain as slaves. When Queen Isabella heard of this, she immediately ordered that the Indians be freed and sent back to Hispaniola.
What did Queen Isabella order?
When Queen Isabella heard of this, she immediately ordered that the Indians be freed and sent back to Hispaniola . Meanwhile, Columbus' men on the island had continued their practice initiated from the outset — of brutalizing Indians, who eventually rebelled.
What was the system of Indians that was devised to deal with the Indians?
If they refused, they could be forced to comply. Many did resist and a system was devised to deal with them. It was known as the encomienda. Under this system Indians were regarded as part of the land: When land grants were made to settlers, the native inhabitants became a part of the grant.
Who was the Puritan who came to Massachusetts Bay in 1631?
Like the Spanish priests who were appalled at the treatment of the Indians, some English observers also spoke out. Roger Williams, a Separatist Puritan who came to Massachusetts Bay in 1631, charged that the English had no right to occupy land that the Indians were already living on.
What were the workers who were enslaved by the Spanish colonial state in the late eighteen
Another important group of workers enslaved by the Spanish colonial state in the late eighteenth century were the king's laborers, who worked on the city's fortifications . The Spanish colonies were late to exploit slave labor in the production of sugarcane, particularly on Cuba.
Who were the black soldiers in the Spanish Conquest of America?
Some famous black Spanish soldiers in the first stages of the Spanish conquest of America were Juan Valiente and Juan Beltrán in Chile, Juan Garrido (credited with the first harvesting of wheat planted in New Spain) and Sebastián Toral in Mexico, Juan Bardales in Honduras and Panama, and Juan García [ es] in Peru.
Was slavery a part of the Spanish colony?
Slavery in the Spanish American colonies was an economic and social institution which existed throughout the Spanish Empire including Spain itself. In its American territories, Spain displayed an early abolitionist stance towards indigenous people although Native American slavery continued to be practiced, particularly until the New Laws of 1543. The Spanish empire, however was involved in the enslavement people of African origin. Although the Spanish themselves played a very minor role in the Atlantic slave trade compared to other European empires, in absolute terms, the Spanish Empire was a major recipient of African slaves, with around 22% of the Africans delivered to American shores ending up in the Spanish Empire.
What was slavery in the Spanish colonies?
Slavery in the Spanish American colonies was an economic and social institution which existed throughout the Spanish Empire including Spain itself.
Was Spain an abolitionist?
In its American territories, Spain displayed an early abolitionist stance towards indigenous people although Native American slavery continued to be practiced, particularly until the New Laws of 1543. The Spanish empire, however was involved in the enslavement people of African origin.
Where did the resistance to slavery come from?
Resistance, particularly to the enslavement of indigenous people, also came from Spanish religious and legal ranks. The first speech in the Americas for the universality of human rights and against the abuses of slavery was also given on Hispaniola, a mere nineteen years after the first contact.
What was the first speech in the Americas for the universality of human rights and against the abuses of slavery?
The first speech in the Americas for the universality of human rights and against the abuses of slavery was also given on Hispaniola, a mere nineteen years after the first contact. Resistance to indigenous captivity in the Spanish colonies produced the first modern debates over the legitimacy of slavery.
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 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 ...
What was the first contact experience in Hispaniola?
First contact experiences on Hispaniola included brutal interactions between the Spanish and the Native Americans. 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, ...
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.
Why did the Spanish King and Queen finance Columbus' voyages?
To help fund their naval and colonial activities in the midst of competition with Portugal, the Spanish King and Queen financed Columbus’s voyages to search for trade routes and fresh sources of gold and silver through new colonies.
Who was the Spanish missionary who wrote accounts of the Spanish conquistadors?
De Las Casas started a mission in Guatemala and wrote several accounts, aimed at the king and queen and members of the royal court, that sought to expose the brutal methods of the conquistadors and persuade Spanish officials to protect the Indians.
Who led the Spanish colonization of Costa Rica?
Indian resistance delayed the conquest of Costa Rica until 1561, when Juan de Cavallón led a successful colonization expedition there. Although none of his settlements in the Nicoya Bay region survived, he and his men began the permanent Spanish occupation of Costa Rica. A year later Juan Vásquez de Coronado took over as governor ...
Was the Spanish conquest of Central America military?
Yet the conquest was not entirely military. A Dominican friar, Bartolomé de Las Casas, made a notable effort to ameliorate treatment of the Indians in Central America. The brutality of the Spanish conquest had repelled Las Casas in the Caribbean. After his Dominican monasteries in Nicaragua and Guatemala failed to bring better treatment to ...
Who was the king of Spain in 1509?
Other navigators from Spain followed, some seizing natives as slaves, and in 1509 Fernando V , the king of Spain, granted concessions for colonization of the region to Alonso de Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa. Both suffered staggering losses from disease, shipwrecks, and hostile natives.
Where did the Bastidas survive?
Remnants of these expeditions—under the leadership of a stowaway, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, who had earlier been with Bastidas—survived at Santa María la Antigua del Darién, on the Gulf of Urubá near the present-day Colombia-Panama border.
What was the first profitable colony in the New World?
Balboa cultivated good Indian relations, made extensive explorations, and found enough gold and pearls to make Castilla del Oro , as it was called, the first profitable colony in the New World.
Who established Granada in 1524?
The jealous Pedrarias forced him to flee to Santo Domingo before a Spanish colony could be planted, however, and instead sent Francisco Hernández de Córdoba in 1524, who established Granada on Lake Nicaragua and León not far from Lake Managua.
Who was the conqueror of Mexico and Nicaragua?
While Pedrarias and Córdoba conquered lower Central America, the conqueror of Mexico, Hernán Cortés, looked southward.
Who consulted theologians and jurists for religious and legal justification of Spain's conquests?
Concerned that Spain ensure control of the natives in the newly conquered Americas, the “Reyes Católicos”, Ferdinand and Isabella, consulted theologians and jurists for religious and legal justification of Spain's conquests.
What was the treatment of Native Americans?
The treatment of the Native Americans was at first rationalized on the grounds that they were cannibals; any means of subjugation were acceptable. However, some of Christopher Columbus ’s tactics with Native Americans had resulted in uprisings.
Who gave the slave trade the right to be hereditary?
In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, which legitimized the slave trade, at least as a result of war. It granted Afonso V of Portugal the right to reduce war-conquered "Saracens, pagans and any other unbelievers" to hereditary slavery. As such, the Dominican friars who arrived at ...
What did Pope Nicholas V do to stop slave trade?
In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, which legitimized the slave trade, at least as a result of war. It granted Afonso V of Portugal the right to reduce war-conquered "Saracens, pagans and any other unbelievers" to hereditary slavery. As such, the Dominican friars who arrived at the Spanish settlement at Santo Domingo in 1510 strongly denounced the enslavement of the local Indigenous residents. Along with other priests, they opposed the native peoples' treatment as unjust and illegal in an audience with the Spanish king and in the subsequent royal commission.
Who was the Pope who legitimized slavery?
In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued the papal bull Dum Diversas, which legitimized the slave trade, at least as a result of war. It granted Afonso V of Portugal the right to reduce war-conquered "Saracens, pagans and any other unbelievers" to hereditary slavery. As such, the Dominican friars who arrived at the Spanish settlement at Santo Domingo in ...
What was the Requerimiento?
So, the Requerimiento emerged in the context of moral debates within Spanish elites over the colonization of the Americas, and associated actions such as war, slavery, 'Indian reductions', conversions, relocations, and war crimes. Its use was criticised by many clerical missionaries, most prominently Bartolomé de las Casas .
Who were the Reyes Católicos?
Concerned that Spain ensure control of the natives in the newly conquered Americas, the “Reyes Católicos”, Ferdinand and Isabella, consulted theologians and jurists for religious and legal justification of Spain's conquests. The treatment of the Native Americans was at first rationalized on the grounds that they were cannibals; any means of subjugation were acceptable. However, some of Christopher Columbus ’s tactics with Native Americans had resulted in uprisings. In 1500, the king and queen again sought advice; the Native Americans were declared to be "free vassals". Despite their elevated status, the Native Americans remained subject to conquest in "just wars".
Who wrote about the exploitation of indigenous peoples?
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.
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 ...
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.
Why were Native Americans vulnerable during the colonial era?
Native Americans were also vulnerable during the colonial era because they had never been exposed to European diseases, like smallpox, so they didn’t have any immunity to the disease, as some Europeans did.
What were the problems Native Americans faced during the colonial period?
But problems arose for the Native Americans, which held them back from their goal, including new diseases, the slave trade, ...
Which two groups were allied in the French and Indian War?
Some famous alliances were formed during the French and Indian War of 1754–1763. The English allied with the Iroquois Confederacy, while the Algonquian-speaking tribes joined forces with the French and the Spanish. The English won the war, and claimed all of the land east of the Mississippi River.
What were the consequences of the wars between the European nations?
As a result of the wars between the European nations, Native Americans allied with the losing side were often indentured or enslaved. There were even Native Americans shipped out of colonies like South Carolina into slavery in other places, like Canada.
What is colonial expansion?
colonial expansion. Noun. spread of a foreign authority over other territories, usually through the establishment of settlement communities. colonialism. Noun. type of government where a geographic area is ruled by a foreign power. confine. Noun. boundary or limit.
Who was the Flemish Protestant who depicted the Spanish atrocities during the conquest of Hispaniola
A 16th-century illustration by Flemish Protestant Theodor de Bry for Las Casas' Brevisima relación de la destrucción de las Indias, depicting Spanish atrocities during the conquest of Hispaniola. Bartolome wrote: "They erected certain Gibbets, large, but low made, so that their feet almost reached the ground, every one of which was so ordered as to bear Thirteen Persons in Honour and Reverence (as they said blasphemously) of our Redeemer and his Twelve Apostles, under which they made a Fire to burn them to Ashes whilst hanging on them"
What are the indigenous groups in Colombia?
In the protracted conflict in Colombia, indigenous groups such as the Awá, Wayuu, Pijao and Paez people have become subjected to intense violence by right-wing paramilitaries, leftist guerrillas, and the Colombian army. Drug cartels, international resource extraction companies and the military have also used violence to force the indigenous groups out of their territories. The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia argues that the violence is genocidal in nature, but others question whether there is a "genocidal intent" as required in international law.
What is the genocide of indigenous peoples?
Genocide of indigenous peoples. The genocide of indigenous peoples is the mass destruction of entire communities of indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples are understood to be people whose historical and current territory has become occupied by colonial expansion, or the formation of a state by a dominant group such as a colonial power.
What is an indigenous people?
Indigenous peoples are understood to be people whose historical and current territory has become occupied by colonial expansion, or the formation of a state by a dominant group such as a colonial power.
What are some examples of genocide?
Examples of this form of genocide include the treatment of Tibetans and Uyghurs by the Government of China, and Native Americans by the government of the United States and First Nations peoples by the Canadian government.
When was genocide first introduced?
After World War II, it was adopted by the United Nations in 1948. For Lemkin, genocide was broadly defined and included all attempts to destroy a specific ethnic group, whether strictly physical through mass killings, or cultural or psychological through oppression and destruction of indigenous ways of life.
What were the two countries that occupied indigenous land in the 19th century?
Both Argentina and Chile launched campaigns of territorial expansion in the second half of the 19th century, at the expenses of indigenous peoples and neighbor states. The so-called Pacification of the Araucania by the Chilean army dispossessed the up-to-then independent Mapuche people between the 1860s and the 1880s, as did Argentina with the Conquest of the Desert. In southern Patagonia, both states occupied indigenous lands and waters, and facilitated the genocide implemented by sheep-farmers and the businessmen in Tierra del Fuego. Argentina also expanded northward, dispossessing a number of Chaco peoples through a policy that may be considered as genocidal.
What were the main sources of controversy involving Christopher Columbus' interactions with indigenous people?
There are three main sources of controversy involving his interactions with the indigenous people he labeled “Indians”: the use of violence and slavery, the forced conversion of native peoples to Christianity and the introduction of a host ...
What did the Spanish court accuse Columbus of?
A number of settlers lobbied against him at the Spanish court, accusing Columbus of mismanagement. In 1500, the king and queen sent in a royal administrator, who detained Columbus and his brothers and had them shipped home.
What did Christopher Columbus see as obstacles?
Columbus Saw Indigenous Americans as Obstacles. Spaniards enslaving the Native Americans. Like many European explorers, Christopher Columbus encountered indigenous people throughout his voyages. There are three main sources of controversy involving his interactions with the indigenous people he labeled “Indians”: the use of violence and slavery, ...
What was the impact of Columbus's Age of Exploration?
In addition to the controversy over enslavement and violent rule, the “ Age of Exploration ” that Columbus helped lead had the additional consequence of bringing new diseases to the New World which would, over time, devastate the native populations of many New World islands and communities.
Iberian Precedents to New World Slavery
- Slavery in Spain can be traced to the times of the Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans. Slavery was cross-cultural and multi-ethnic" and, in addition to that, slavery played an important role in the development of the economy for Spain and other countries. The Romans extensively utilized slavery for labor and slaves' status was specified in the Code of ...
Prohibition of Forced Labor of Indigenous Peoples
- Prior to the Spanish colonization of the Americas, slavery was a common institution among some Pre-Columbian indigenous peoples, particularly the Aztecs. The Spanish conquest and settlement in the New World quickly led to large-scale subjugation of indigenous peoples, mainly of the Native Caribbean people, by Columbus on his four voyages. Initially, forced labor represented a …
Africans in The Early Colonial Period
- When Spain first enslaved Native Americans on Hispaniola, and then replaced them with captive Africans, it established slave labor as the basis for colonial sugar production. It was believed by Europeans that Africans had developed immunities to European diseases, and would not be as susceptible to fall ill as the Native Americans because they had not been exposed to the pathog…
Black Slavery in The Late Colonial Period
- The population of slaves in Cuba received a large boost when the British captured Havana during the Seven Years' War, and imported 10,000 slaves from their other colonies in the West Indies to work on newly established agricultural plantations. These slaves were left behind when the British returned Havana to the Spanish as part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, and form a significant part o…
Fugitive Slaves in Spanish Territories
- On May 29, 1680 the Spanish crown decreed that slaves escaping to Spanish territories from Barlovento, Martinique, San Vicente and Granada in the Lesser Antilles would be free if they accepted Catholicism. On September 3, 1680 and June 1, 1685 the crown issued similar decrees for escaping French slaves. On November 7, 1693 King Carlos II issued a decree freeing all slave…
Ending of Slavery
- Support for abolitionism rose in Great Britain. Slavery in France's Caribbean colonies was abolished by Revolutionary decree in 1794, (slavery in Metropolitan France was abolished in 1315 by Louis X) but was restored under Napoleon Iin 1802. Slaves in Saint-Domingue revolted in response and became independent following a brutal conflict. The victorious former slaves foun…
Further Reading
- Primary sources
1. Las Casas, Bartolomé de, The Devastation of the Indies, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore & London, 1992. 2. Las Casas, Bartolomé de, History of the Indies, translated by Andrée M. Collard, Harper & Row Publishers, New York, 1971, 3. Las Casas, Bartolomé de, In Defense of …
External Links
- African Laborers for a New Empire: Iberia, Slavery, and the Atlantic World (Lowcountry Digital Library)
- First Blacks in the Americas: the African presence in the Dominican Republic (CUNY Dominican Studies Institute)
- North American Slavery in the Spanish and English colonies(Mission San Luis)
- African Laborers for a New Empire: Iberia, Slavery, and the Atlantic World (Lowcountry Digital Library)
- First Blacks in the Americas: the African presence in the Dominican Republic (CUNY Dominican Studies Institute)
- North American Slavery in the Spanish and English colonies(Mission San Luis)
- Slavery Contract (PortCities UK)