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Devastation Of The Indies Analysis

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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. “They are by nature the most humble, patient, and peaceable, holding no grudges, free from embroilments, neither excitable nor quarrelsome.” (Las Casas) The Indians had no greed, hatred, or arrogance. …show more content…

“And all the land so far discovered is a beehive of people; it is as though God had crowded into these lands the great majority of mankind.” (Las Casas) During the time when the people of Spain took over those lands, the islands were all severely depopulated and devastated over time. The people of Spain coming to the island and selling and killing people had detrimental effects. “More than thirty other islands in the vicinity of San Juan are for the most part and for the same reason depopulated, and the land laid waste. On these islands I estimate there are 2,100 leagues of land that have been ruined and depopulated, empty of people.” (Las Casas) Nothing positive came from the people of Spain setting foot on the land of the Indians. Depopulation was just one of many hazardous effects that the Spaniards …show more content…

“ It should be kept in mind that their insatiable greed and ambition, the greatest ever seen in the world, is the cause of their villainies.” (Las Casas) The people of Spain used murder and slavery as a means to depopulate the Islands due to their greed. According to Casas, the number of slain Indians is about 15 million in the fourty years that the Spaniards have intruded on the Natives land. Young men and rulers were killed, while women and young children were forced to be slaves to the Christians. At one point some Indians escaped a ship that was going to take them to Hispaniola to be sold as slaves, and the Spaniards sent a ship to voyage through the island for three years to hunt down those who fled. It is astonishing how cruel the Christians were solely for personal and materialistic

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