Bartolome De Las Casas in the excerpt, A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies, criticizes the tortures inflicted on the indigenous peoples of the West Indies. De Las Casas supports his claim by arguing that the native peoples of the New World are equally holy as Europeans; Native Americans are kind people waiting to be converted. The author’s purpose is to advocate for the indigenous peoples in order to convince the people of Spain that the Native Americans are kind, not savages, contradicatory to what Sepulveda wrote. The author writes in a knowledgable and a matter-of-fact tone for the educated Catholic people of Spain, whose only knowledge of the Native Americans are from Sepulveda’s book filled with fallacies.
This book earned him the Presidio la Bahia Award, presented by the Sons of the Republic of Texas. Since, then Mr Hinojosa has gone on to author and edit several works related to colonization and/or the Catholic Church. He wrote Friars and Indians: Towards a Perspective of Cultural Interaction in the San Antonio Missions in 1990. He edited U. S. Catholic Historian: Volume 9, Numbers 1 and 2, Spring 1990 (Special Hispanic Catholics Issues), Kauffman, Christopher J., Editor, MoisÃs Sandoval, Gilberto M. Hinojosa, Juan Alfaro Et Al.
The first aspect that De Las Casas addresses about the inhabitants comes within his amazement to the diversity of the people residing in the Indies. Along with that statement, De Las Casas also alludes to his religious perspectives of the inhabitants, saying such things as "People inhabits these Countries, that it seems as if the Omnipotent God has Assembled and Convocated [sic] the major part of Mankind in this part of the World." As Las Casas continues his description of the natives, the concept of humanity is brought into light with his defense of the Indians. As comparative to the Europeans, the natives are supposedly much more malleable as people due to their previously restricted access to other nations in the world. Here, Las Casas
Many conflicts between the Europeans and the Native Americans can be explained by misunderstanding and ignorance surrounding each other's culture. This is evident in the 1744 account of Sebastian de Sistiaga, a Spanish Jesuit priest who was stationed in what is currently
It raises the question of how the Spanish viewed the natives: as people standing in the way of their gold, or fascinating and interesting people with rich culture and
However, the Natives had not done anything wrong to make the Spaniards act to cruel towards them. Las Casas wrote in great detail what the Spaniards did. He wrote of the destruction and slaughter that the Spanish brought to the Natives. Las Casas wrote about indians being thrown into pits of stakes. He wrote of children being torn away from their mothers and killed.
Straight off he claims, “From the fact that the Indians are barbarians it does not necessarily follow that they are incapable of government and have to be ruled by others, except that they have to be taught about the catholic faith and to be admitted to the holy sacraments. They are not ignorant, inhuman, or bestial.” (pg.3 paragraph 1) De La Casa acknowledged that, while their practices were less evolved than the Spanish, it did not mean they were any less human or developed than the Spanish, and only need a guiding hand to the Catholic faith. He described how the Spanish treated the natives like dogs, forcing them to mine for precious minerals, and compared the Conquistadors to Romans. He wrote an argument defending the natives, explaining they were not any less intelligent then the Spanish and “…they are so skilled in every mechanical art…”
A. Religious and spiritual misinterpretation occur frequently throughout the Jesuit documents. These misunderstandings are justified throughout these historical documents and provide a clear Native belief system to the subjective recordings of the Jesuits who detailed these connections. These documents accompanied the encroachment of New France in Northeast America, published annually in France beginning of 1632 and actively read by interested Europeans. The documents not only reflect on environment and cultural practices of Native Americans, yet also the subjective observations and biases of the missionaries who detailed their first interactions. Certain passages of history are more interesting than those which record the efforts of
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.
The treatment of the native inhabitants varied among the three explorers. The worst treatment of the natives was seen in great detail through the perspective of De Las Casas. During his expedition in the Indies, he and his comrades killed millions of the natives to take everything and anything they wanted. He stated, “And thus they have deprived the Indians of their lives and souls, for the millions I mentioned have died without the Faith and without the benefit of the sacraments. This is a well-known and proven fact which even the tyrant Governors, themselves killers, know and admit.
This source was written in 1542, and this speech was given to the people of the country of Spain. The Martolome De Las Casas, the lord Prince of Spains don Felipe gave this speech to the people. Giving this speech, the Prince shows how horrid the idea of the Christians killing and destroying the Indies. The Christians represent the English and the Indies are the Indians. The Christians invaded North America and stole the Indians’ gold, food, and killed a multitude of them: “The cause for which the Christians have slain and destroyed so many and such infinite numbers of souls, has been simply to get, as their ultimate end, the Indians’ gold of them, and to stuff themselves with riches in a very few days, and to raise themselves to high estates...
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.
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).
Las Casas was a historian who later became a Bishop. He believed that the Indians shouldn't just be conquered but should have a chance of fighting the Europeans first. He traveled to North America in 1550. When Las Casas first came to the New World, he noticed that even though the Indians lacked art and writing, they had the the capacity to rule(pg.9). The Indians had kingdoms, cities and communities that were governed well and wisely because they followed the laws and customs of the Indians(pg.9).
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.
“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.