Bartolome Endorsing The Indians Summary

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The Spanish preach the word of God, yet they choose to not abide by his teachings with the thoughts of ousting the Indians from their content lives. The Dominican friar, Bartolomé de Las Casas, was a true equality crusader of his time, believing that the Indians deserved to live without interference from the Spaniards as long as they obeyed God’s will. He was a world traveler who had a vast amount of knowledge from his journeys, such as sailing with one of the first Spanish expeditions to the West Indies in 1502. Bartolomé gave his stance on endorsing Indians continuing their independence at the debate of Valladolid, in the presence of Emperor Charles V, and in opposition of Juan Ginés Sepúlveda who supported the Spaniards taking complete control …show more content…

As he is known as the “Protector of the Indians” for his work as bishop of Guatemala, Bartolomé is able to offer an insight of the society of the Indians and of their fondness for mechanical arts. He offers this fact regarding the Indians, “They are so skilled in every mechanical art that with every right they should be set head of all the nations of the known world on this score, very beautiful in their skill and artistry are the things this people produces in the grace of its architecture, its painting, and its needlework.” Within this statement he is able to prove that the natives are not lacking in the matter of talents for economic reasons and are exceedingly advanced when compared to those of other cultures. Bartolomé also provides the fact that these indigenous people have been occupying the land for much longer than the Spaniards have been, and have used the resources to their advantage for the benefit of their laws, religion, government, and culturally structure.
The speaker knows that the Indians are far from an ignorant group of people and that his opposition, Juan Ginés Sepúlveda, fails to recognize these important key elements of the argument. Bartolomé is able to reach his audience with appeals directly to emotions and proven facts suggesting to both the emperor and the Spanish that the Indians have the right to continue living

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