...Introduction The source that is being reviewed in the paper is a book written by Bartolome de las Casas and Stafford Poole titled In De Fense of the Indians. The piece was written at a time in history when the Spaniards colonized part of America and were exploiting the original habitants to acquire silver and gold. The Spaniard government assembled to determine what was going on in the new world and consequently what should be done about it. The author was addressing the assembly informing them of the plea of the oppressed Indians and at the same time disagreeing with the points brought up by another scholar, Gines Sepulveda. Sepulveda wanted the continuation of mining in the new world at the expense of the Indians terming them as barbaric and uncivilized, He gave a weak argument that made him look particularly selfish and greedy. Las Casas’ arguments were genuinely true and trustworthy whike Sepulveda’s were half thought and illogical. The thesis of the paper states, “The main goal of colonization is to effect positive change; however, colonialists quickly lose sight of this fact after discovering riches and other benefits.” Summary...
Words: 1217 - Pages: 5
...Bartolome’ de las Casas was a priest maintainer of records for Christopher Columbus. De la Casas was also called a traitor. He describes his accounts of how the Spaniards treated the Indians even with a high chance of repercussions to himself. He was the first to push for the Indians to receive rights. He does this through the use of his document, “The Devastation of the Indies”, to lay out the mistreatment of the Indians in the New World. His focus was on the differences on both Indians and Spaniards character, and the way the Spaniards treated the Indians. De las Casas’ view of the Indians was that they were a meek, and quiet culture, without being wicked to others, and faithful to even the Spaniards. He saw that they were slow to anger and did not take things personally. Indians had no interest in the same worldly goods as the Spaniards. Without immunities to the ailments from the Spaniards it greatly affected the health of the Indians. Unfortunately, this typically led to death in most situations. This peaceful group did not have or want tangible items,...
Words: 487 - Pages: 2
...The settling of the New World brought gold and riches for some, religious freedom for others, but death and the loss of culture for those already residing in the Americas. People came to the New World for one of two main reasons, religious freedom and personal financial growth. William Penn, a pacifist, was a member of a group in search of religious freedom, while Bartolome De Las Casas, was a priest who traveled with the Spanish in search of God, glory and gold. Through analysis of William Penn’s Letter to the Indians, combined with an understanding of Las Casas’ documentation of Spanish treatment of Native Americans, one can conclude that the motive for settling determined the treatment of Native Americans. The north was comprised of colonies who settled on the basis of finding religious freedom in the New World. This reason for settling helped to shape the nature of the relationship the settlers would have with the Natives. William Penn, in an attempt to achieve good standing with the Natives, sent a letter explaining his intentions and hopes for a harmonious relationship. Penn opens the letter stating his position with God and the lessons instilled upon him and his people through the word of God (Penn). This is an attempt to show the good nature with which he plans to treat the Natives, this is also a good way for him to bring up God in a first attempt at conversion of Natives. “I am very sensible of the unkindness and injustice that hath been too much exercised towards...
Words: 863 - Pages: 4
...Bartolome De Las Casas’s timeless human rights classic Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Explain the significance of De Las Casas’s autobiography during the colonial period? Bartolome de las casas the author was a Spanish historian as well as a social reformer. His extensive writings mainly focused on the mayhems carried out by the colonizers against the home-grown people. He had witnessed these violence first hand during the colonization and thus felt obligated to document them. Casas reports that the Spaniards once they came to the Indian villages they would torture and kill them for the gold that they might be hiding or more so force them into slavery (Felix, 2002). These people whom he referred to as “blackguards” would worse more kill pregnant women, the elderly and children by burning them alive, running them through with lances or setting brutal dogs on them. According to him he sarcastically explains that the Indians welcomed the Spaniards only to be rewarded with torture, murder slavery and to serve them. De Las Casas helps us understand the torture that the innocent souls at the island were suppressed to by the foreign kings losing so many people and more so rendering the land to wastage. What were its lessons for humanity? According to the Spaniards their aim to destroying these innocent souls were to subject the king of Spain who had passed out the command to kill and enslave. Their main aim of destroying the vast and blameless souls was to acquire...
Words: 1283 - Pages: 6
...In the 16th century, Bartolomé de Las Casas was a Spanish historian who became famous for defending the rights of the Native Americans. Spaniards brutality and devastation to the Natives allow Bartolomé to stand against all odds on the conquest and colonization of the New World. He was ultimately named the sole protector of the Natives. Additionally, with his family being connected with Christopher Columbus during the second voyage, Bartolomé de Las Casas became editor for Columbus journals further on in history. On the voyage to creating the New World by the Spaniards, Bartolomé was part of the audience who witnessed the devastation the Christians brought upon the Indians. Abundance of food was taken, women and children were put to death,...
Words: 525 - Pages: 3
...In the reading of Bartolome de las Casas explains about Las Casa’s testimonial on the events witnessed on the Indies during Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the eastern world. Through writing his brief account of the destruction of Indies, Casa provides documented proof of the atrocities committed by the Spaniards and the devastation of the Indies opened up the Spanish doings in the east , and in this way the main argument in this documentary is that the actions of the Spanish behavior was harsh and vehement and deserves criticism and disapproval. The Spanish invasion to the eastern world is shown as a demographic and cultural disaster, with thousands of the Native Indians were brutally slaughtered and enslaved for benefits of the...
Words: 304 - Pages: 2
...GSR220-03 Dr. Sanchez Bartolome de las Casas Bartolome de las Casas was a Spanish Dominican who became famous for his defense of the rights of the native people of the Americas. He has been recognized by the history as a great man who stood up to a corrupt system. Bartolome de las Casas decided that he wanted to be a priest so his father sent him to the best schools, the University of Salamanca, and the University of Valladolid. He studied Canon Law and earned two degrees. In 1502, Bartolome de las Casa finally came to America. He has seen a lot of things like watching people die by the exploitation and disease. He learned more about the sad situation of the natives when he was studying. In 1514, he finally decided he could no longer be involved in the exploitation of the natives. The first experience he tried was convinced Spanish authorities to allow him to try and save natives by taking them out of slavery and placing them in free towns. But he failed because the region he wanted to experiment was selected had been heavily raided by slavers. So, it is so hard to overcome. In 1537, Bartolome de las Casa wanted to try again to show that natives could be controlled peacefully and the violence were unnecessary. His second experiment finally worked, the natives were brought under Spanish control peacefully. The experiment was called Verapaz or “true peace.” Unfortunately, the colonists took the lands, and enslave the natives and undoing almost all of Bartolome de las Casa’s work. But...
Words: 450 - Pages: 2
...Race Relations The three articles Bartoleme de Las Casas: Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies (1542), Andrew Jackson's Speech to Congress on Indian Removal (1830), and Helen Hunt Jackson, A Century of Dishonor (New York, 1881) all speak about the slavery and mistreatment of the Indians. They give suggestions on ways to fix the problem of the mistreatment of Indians and give testimony on the mistreatment. In Bartolome de Las Casas: Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies (1542), he talked about how Indians were enslaved and killed. The lands of Hispaniola which were extremely populated became less populated as more Spaniards arrived and began to kill and enslave Indians. The author stated “Yet into this sheepfold, into this land of meek outcasts there came some Spaniards who immediately behaved like ravening wild beasts, wolves, tigers, or lions that had been starved for many days.” Also, Indians from Puerto Rica and Jamaica were being brought from their land to Hispaniola to be sold as slaves some were killed. In Andrew Jackson's Speech to Congress on Indian Removal (1830), he talked about removing the Indians from their current homes to a new home to avoid them being killed. He describes that they (the government) will pay to relocate the Indians. Jackson says that since two Indian tribes have already accepted the offer and that because of that he hopes more will accept it. Jackson writes that “It will separate the Indians from immediate contact with...
Words: 441 - Pages: 2
...1. Pedro Naranjo was an Indian prisoner, a native of the Pueblo of San Felipe, of the Queres nation. He was captured at the Pueblo of La Isleta. He speaks Castilian, his mother tongue and Tegua. According to Naranjos testimony, in the past, several Indian sorcerers had planned to revolt on several occasions, but because not all the pueblos agreed and the revolts were delayed, but the want for freedom was always in their hearts. Eventually, while Pope was hiding from secretary, Francisco Xavier, he had a vision of three “demons” who told him to make a rope and tie some knots in each one, the knots would signify the number of days until the rebellion. If a pueblo agreed to participate, they would send a smoke signal. Two days before the go date, two runners were captured by the Spanish so the revolt happened a little prematurely. Once the Spaniards left, Pope commanded all the Pueblo people to reclaim their land by tearing down anything representing Christianity, saying that “now they were as they had been in ancient times, free from the labor they had performed for the religious and the Spaniards, who...
Words: 1260 - Pages: 6
...authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner. In history there are many benefits to some people when oppressing a group of people to conquer land. For example gaining wealth, food, clothing, and even slaves to help on this land. However conquering land can lead to gory results in many cases. In the document, A Brief Account of the devastation of the Indies by Bartoleme de las Casas he explained how unfair, and unjust it is when land is conquered by someone. Depending on how its afflicted it’s degrading, and traumatizing. When the Spaniards came to settle in Central America in 1493 they ultimately changed the living conditions forever with their total disregard for the lifestyle of the natives by killing the majority of them, enslaving them, and poorly teaching them aspects of Christianity. Taking advantage of innocent Indians the Spaniards came into their land with one goal, which was to gain wealth. Bartolemé de las Casas was a Spanish priest who devoted a lot of his time defending the Indians and their living conditions under the rule of Europeans. For instance Bartoleme de la Casas declared “Their reason for killing and destroying such an infinite number of souls is that the Christians have an ultimate aim, which is to acquire gold, and to swell themselves with riches in a very brief time and thus rise to a high estate disproportionate to their merits”. The Indian people are described as being humble, obedient, and loyal to the people whom they serve. They were...
Words: 1069 - Pages: 5
...De Las Casas’s account of the atrocities of the Native American people was very vivid, by grabbing the reader and listing the numerous barbaric acts. “ In this Isle, which, as we have said, the Spaniards first attempted, the bloody slaughter and destruction of Men first began: for they violently forced away Women and Children to make them Slaves, and ill-treated them, consuming and wasting their Food, which they had purchased with great sweat, toil”. As the Spaniards continue to attack the natives by separating families and treating them ill, Casas want to be certain that the Natives troubles are all accounted for. The Spanish’s treatment of the Native Americans can be described as very brutal. Casas himself describes it as “bloody slaughter and destruction.” The Native...
Words: 416 - Pages: 2
...My name in Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. I am a mercenary seaman and shipbuilder. I am a navigator and explorer, known for exploring the West Coast of North America on behalf of the Spanish Empire. After the conquest of Mexico, I remained in the Spanish service as an officer under Pedro de Alvarado. With Alvarado, I explored through lower New Spain and into Guatemala. I am the first European explorer to navigate the coast of California in the United States. I also helped find the city of Oaxaca in Mexico. I am searching for the Strait of Anián that connects the Pacific Ocean to Hudson Bay, providing a route for the Northwest Passage for trade. In the battle between the Spanish and the Aztecs, I fought as captain of crossbowmen. Metal weapons, good tactics, and...
Words: 526 - Pages: 3
...SOAPSAC: S: The author of this source is a scribe who recorded the testimony of Pedro Naranjo, a Keresan Pueblo man of the Queres Nation from the pueblo of San Felipe. Naranjo was a prisoner of the Spanish during their campaign of reconquest in Latin America. Naranjo was captured during an attack on the pueblo of La Isleta. Naranjo spoke three separate Indian languages but was not proficient in Spanish. Because a scribe recorded this source, the point of view is third person. O: This source was produced on December 19th 1681 at the Place of the Rio del Norte. This was a period of time in which preexisting sporadic resistance from the New Mexican Pueblo people against Spanish attempts at conversion and subjugation through forced labor demands had become organized under the leadership of El Pope. It was a time of cultural tension and explosive violence....
Words: 468 - Pages: 2
...Excerpt from, Bartolomé de las Casas, “In Defense of the Indians” (1550) Contrary to the stereotype of their monolithic wickedness in the subjugation of the Americas' indigenous peoples, some Spaniards protested the brutality of conquest and colonial rule. None was more influential than Bartolome de las Casas, the long-lived Dominican bishop of Chiapas in Mexico. Although later to be blamed for supposedly exaggerating his countrymen's cruelty and advocating the enslavement of Africans instead of Indians as a "lesser evil," the aristocratically born Andalusian was a tireless champion of Indian rights. His writings were widely read in colonial Peru. This excerpt from “In Defense of the Indians," a passionate response to court theologian Juan Gines de Sepulvedas's assertion of Indian inferiority, give a flavor of his forthright criticism of Spain’s role in the New World. And so what man of sound mind will approve a war against men who are harmless, ignorant, gentle, temperate, unarmed, and destitute of every human defense? For the results of such a war are very surely the loss of the souls of that people who perish without knowing God and without the support of the sacraments, and, for the survivors, hatred and loathing of the Christian religion. Hence the purpose God intends, ... for the attainment of which he suffered so much, may be frustrated by the evil and cruelty that our men wreak on them with inhuman...
Words: 992 - Pages: 4
...Bartolome de Las Casas, a brave and famous explorer. There was not much known about his early life except he was born in a Seville, Spain in 1484 (Issues). He became a missionary, and was quickly inspired to study Latin. After studying, he became a priest and never graduated from any university (Las Casas Facts). Bartolome de Las Casas was an explorer mostly known for working against the cruel behavior and slavery towards Native Americans. This cruel behavior was completed by the Spaniards and Europeans that traveled to the Americas (19). Because he wrote uplifting articles about Natives while freeing them from bondage and slavery, Bartolome de Las Casas belongs in the hall of fame. Firstly, Casas teamed up with King Ferdinand II to make...
Words: 270 - Pages: 2
