ipl-logo

Analysis Of Sepulveda's Argument In Defense Of The Indians

654 Words3 Pages

During the time of exploration of North America, questions arose of the Native people that inhabited the land, if they were or not capable of learning European cultural values, government, and converting to the faith of Christianity, and if not they should be enslaved to the Europeans. The primary document of “In Defense of the Indians” focuses on the argument between Bartolomé de Las Casas, an advocate for Native Rights, and Juan Gines de Sepulveda, a Spanish humanist, with opposing opinions on the enslavement and conversion of the Amerindians. The document focuses primary on Las Casas response and argument towards Sepulveda, Las Casas opposed his position and fought for his beliefs that the Natives deserved rights, protection, and were civilized beings. Las Casas often refers to Aristotle’s notions, as he believes that the Native people are capable of learning, are willing and able to convert to Christianity and should not be enslaved. Sepulveda argues that the Native people are “barbaric”, are lesser beings than the Europeans and should be enslaved for these very reasons. The document is unique for its time as it was during the early years of colonization and to have such a strong advocate for Native Rights with opinions not entirely dismissed by the clergy and Spanish. By reading the document is shown how the Europeans deduced if Native …show more content…

The Romans did not enslave them, take away their liberty and force them into the mines for precious metals, and even if the Romans did, it would not have been the proper way to remove barbarism. Therefore the same applies to the Natives; taking away their freedom would not remove their barbarism, but rather teaching them. “…they are easy to teach and very talented in learning all the liberal arts, and very ready to accept honor, and observe the Christian religion and correct their

Show More
Related

  • The Dissent In Daniel J. Boorstin's The Decline Of Radicalism

    484 Words  | 2 Pages

    During Columbus’s arrival to the New World, Indians were being converted and used as slaves for work. The Native Americans dissented themselves from Europeans. As Daniel stated about dissent, Native Americans felt apart from others such as Britain and Spanish colonies. Throughout North America, the “white” people continued to expand until they made it to a land now called California. Boorstin found that a “person who dissents is by definition in a minority”.

    Read More

  • Native American 1491 Summary

    711 Words  | 3 Pages

    “1491” Questions 1. Two scholars, Erikson and William Balée believe that almost all aspects of Native American life have been perceived wrong. Although some refuse to believe this, it has been proven to be the truth. Throughout Charles C. Mann’s article from The Atlantic, “1491”, he discusses three main points: how many things that are viewed as facts about the natives are actually not true, the dispute between the high and low counters, and the importance of the role disease played in the history of the Americas. When the term “Native American” is heard, the average person tends to often relate that to a savage hunter who tries to minimize their impact on their surrounding environment.

    Read More

  • Mary Rowlandson Captivity Summary

    867 Words  | 4 Pages

    Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is a text that describes the experiences of Mary Rowlandson during her captivity by the Native Americans in the King Phillips war. The details about the capture which took place in 1676 are recorded in her diary accounts which were written a few years after she was released. The captivity lasted about eleven weeks and is accounted in the diaries. Rowlandson specifically believes that her experiences were related to the Bible and that the capture was a trial from God which she had to endure in order to survive and remain a true Christian woman who is suitable for the then puritan society (Harris 12).

    Read More

  • Essay On Cherokee Removal

    1069 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Cherokee Removal The Americans of European ancestry often have described Native Americans as primitive, savage, and even and uncivilized. In this this paper I will provide primary evidence that supports what the Americans believed about the Natives, along with their few false accusations. I will also discuss how the Cherokee removal affected the natives during their journey along with afterwards. Before the removal was enforced, an upper class Cherokee, son of a warrior, John Ridge gave details on the Cherokee nation and how they are changing their lifestyles because of Americans.

    Read More

  • Devastation Of The Indies Analysis

    867 Words  | 4 Pages

    For countless years, the Natives suffered under the hands of the Spaniards. Slavery, abuse, war, theft, and much more were the result of Spain taking over the Natives homeland and the Native people themselves. In the year 1542, Bartoleme de Las Casas wrote a manuscript called “Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies”, which held a very detailed account of how the natives suffered, and the actions of the Spaniards. This paper will be a brief summary and analysis of the destruction of the Indies. The Indians were said to be very moral people.

    Read More

  • The Moral Effects Of The Columbian Exchange

    830 Words  | 4 Pages

    Historians differ on what they think about the net result of the European arrival in the New World. Considering that the Columbian Exchange, which refers to “exchange of plants, animals, people, disease, and culture between Afro-Eurasia and the Americas after Columbus sailed to the Americas in 1492,” led to possibly tens of millions of deaths on the side of the American Indians, but also enabled agricultural and technological trade (Henretta et al. 42), I cannot help but reflect on whether the effects should be addressed as a historical or a moral question. The impact that European contact had on the indigenous populations of North America should be understood as a moral question because first, treating it as a historical question is difficult due to lack of reliable historical evidence; second, the meaning of compelling historical claims is contestable as the academic historian perspective tends to view the American Indian oral history as invalid; and finally, what happened to the native Indians is morally repulsive and must be discussed as such. The consequences of European contact should be answered as a moral question because historically, it is hard to be historically objective in the absence of valid and dependable historical evidence.

    Read More

  • Cultural Differences: Similarities Between Spanish And Native Americans

    1187 Words  | 5 Pages

    In the 16th Century, Spain became one of the European forces to reckon with. To expand even further globally, Spanish conquistadors were sent abroad to discover lands, riches, and North America and its civilizations. When the Spanish and Native American groups met one another, they judged each other, as they were both unfamiliar with the people that stood before them. The Native American and Spanish views and opinions of one another are more similar than different because when meeting and getting to know each other, neither the Spaniards nor the Native Americans saw the other group of people as human. Both groups of people thought of one another as barbaric monsters and were confused and amazed by each other’s cultures.

    Read More

  • The Indian New World James Merrell Analysis

    696 Words  | 3 Pages

    Merrell’s article proves the point that the lives of the Native Americans drastically changed just as the Europeans had. In order to survive, the Native Americans and Europeans had to work for the greater good. Throughout the article, these ideas are explained in more detail and uncover that the Indians were put into a new world just as the Europeans were, whether they wanted change or

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account Of The Conquest Of Mexico

    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

  • Compare Christopher Columbus And Bartolome De Las Casas

    1008 Words  | 5 Pages

    In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. We all know this catchy tune right? But what we don’t know, is what Columbus thought when he arrived in the North America or what he though of the Native Americans he met. In fact, we don’t know much about all the explorers after Columbus and what they thought. Each explore had their own view of the Native Americans, and three great examples are Columbus, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda and Bartolomé de Las Casas

    Read More

  • Christopher Columbus's Negative Impact On The World

    503 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some say Christopher Columbus was a hero because he was the explorer that discovered America. In reality, Christopher Columbus had an incredibly negative impact on the world because he enslaved the Native Americans, didn’t help the kind Natives when they got infected by diseases that the Spaniards had brought to America, and killed off most of the Native American population. The tactics he chose to use were violent and destructive by the standards back then and now. First, Columbus treated the Native Americans like uncivilized people by enslaving them and forcing them to work for him although they greeted him and his crew peacefully. ” They could make fine servants,”(document 2) he wrote in his journal,”I took them by force.

    Read More

  • The Iroquois Creation Story

    1106 Words  | 5 Pages

    They are often labeled as uncivilized barbarians, which is a solely false accusation against them. This paper aims to address the similarities between Native American beliefs and the beliefs of other cultures based on The Iroquois Creation Story in order to defeat the stereotype that Natives are regularly defined by. Native Americans are commonly considered uncivilized, savage, and barbarian. Nevertheless, in reality the Natives are not characterized by any of those negative traits, but rather they inhabit positive characteristics such as being wise, polite, tolerant, civilized, harmonious with nature, etc. They have had a prodigious impact on the Puritans

    Read More

  • Petalesharo's Speech Of The Pawnee Chief

    170 Words  | 1 Pages

    Petalesharo’s writing reflected the treatment of Native Americans during the 1800s. Being a Native American himself, Petalesharo was able to give perspective on a point in history typically viewed from a white man’s opinion. The excerpt “Petalesharo” explains how the Native American was able “to prevent young women captured by other tribes from being sacrificed”, making Petalesharo well liked by the Americans (588). Petalesharo gave the “Speech of the Pawnee Chief” infront of Americans to convey the differences between Native Americans and Americans through emotion, logic, and credibility, which showed how the two groups will never be the same, but still can coexist in the world together.

    Read More

  • Native Americans In 1492 Essay

    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

  • Analysis Of Columbus The Indians And Human Progress

    251 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress”, chapter one of “A People’s History of the United States”, written by professor and historian Howard Zinn, concentrates on a different perspective of major events in American history. It begins with the native Bahamian tribe of Arawaks welcoming the Spanish to their shores with gifts and kindness, only then for the reader to be disturbed by a log from Columbus himself – “They willingly traded everything they owned… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” (Zinn pg.1) In the work, Zinn continues explaining the unnecessary evils Columbus and his men committed unto the unsuspecting natives.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Sepulveda's Argument In Defense Of The Indians

Open Document