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Colonialism and its impacts
Colonialism in full details
Colonialism in full details
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De Las Casas, however, is not as dishonest in his accounts of the Americas and how “well” the Europeans were spreading their nation. “The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of Indies,” was strictly written to inform the Spanish Royal Court of the wrongs their explorers were committing against the Natives. The voyagers were given the task to convert the Natives to Christianity and Spanish culture, but instead were on a major assassination bender for gold (in which only a small percentage of the gold was given to the Spanish Royalty). Missionaries like De Las Casas wanted to bring justice to new domain. According to De Las Casas, the Natives were the most docile people they had ever encountered, and that whenever a cluster of Spanish travelers
In 1492, Christopher Columbus was a self-made man who worked his way up to being the Captain of a merchant vessel. He gained the support of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, for an expedition to the Indies. With the support of the Spanish monarchy, he set off to find a new and faster trade route to the Indies. Upon the arrival of his first voyage, Columbus wrote a letter to Luis de Santangel, a “royal official and an early supporter of his venture,” in February 1493 (35). The epistle, letter, entitled “Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage” was copied and then distributed in Spain before being translated and spread throughout Europe. The Letter is held in such regard with the people as it is considered the first printed description of the new world. Through his description of the nature of the islands, Columbus decided the future fate of the islands. His description of the vast beauty of the nature around him, declares both the economic and nationalistic motivations for colonizing the new world.
Although, Father Las Casas wrote about these historical events, we must also state that the events he wrote could be exaggeration on his part in trying to save the Indians from the Spaniards cruelty and brutality.
In the two sources, Columbus’s views majorly contrast to those of Las Casas’, regarding the native inhabitants of the island. For instance, Las Casas, indirectly, praised the natives by explaining that the natives were content without beds, not covetous for materialistic items unlike their slayers, had bright and impartial minds, and free of evil and hatred (Brief Account of Devastation of the Indies). However, Columbus, fueled by the motive to bring his nation riches, writes that he easily could, “conquer the whole of them [native population] with fifty men, and govern them as I pleased” (Christopher Columbus: Extracts from Journal).
Being part of a revolution is quite rare since the fact of it being a change in era isn’t really obvious until the change is actually accepted by most. Still, being part of such a cause, even unknowingly, means much to the entire world, whether it be at the time or later on. Digging deeper into a specific man who was part of such a transformation was Juan de Pareja, an African man of his own ways. Why take his example and what did he contribute? Well, Pareja was a very cogent counterexample for many stereotypes. He was his own person, living his life his own way, even if it meant concocting African and European cultures. Some of his and others’ ideas which were present in the early modern European era were major causes to the shaping of Europeans’
Las Casas emphasizes on three main issues throughout his account. First, in almost each chapter, Las Casas writes about the luscious qualities of the land and the different indigenous peoples that inhabit them. Second, he explains and describes in detail how the natives were rapidly being massacred by the invading Christian Europeans. Finally, Las Casas discusses how God had brought justice to the Europeans for their diabolical acts upon the natives. Las Casas, a former slave owner himself, realized that those whom he previously enslaved were just as much human and capable of learning and practicing the Christian faith as he was. As a bishop, he realized he could do little for the Natives except document his experiences (in as much detail as possible) and hope that the royal administration would have sympathy for the Natives and establish laws to protect them from the Europeans.
After examining the writings of Christopher Columbus and Bartolome de Las Casas, it is clear to see that there is a stark contrast between their description of the Spanish settlers. In the excerpt from the Christopher Columbus Journal, 1492, Columbus seems to depict the Spanish as righteous, entitled saviors who have come to help the Indians. An example of this can be found on page four, where Columbus writes, “…Your Highnesses will see from seven that I caused to be taken in order to carry them away to you and to learn our language and to return them. Except that, whenever your Highnesses may command, all of them can be taken to Castile or held captive in this same island.” This quote demonstrates how the Spanish believed they could do whatever
The arguments presented by Las Casas is in defense of the natives stating that if he can convince the king of the wrongful doings of the Spaniards that they would pay for what they've done. The doings of the Spaniards was a shock to Las Casas making him want to spend as long as he could defending them. In the great kingdom and provinces of Peru, Las Casas states "the way the Spanish have behaved has been an offence to God and a disservice to the Crown; the Treasury has been defrauded and, in my opinion, it will be long and a costly business to recover for the Crown this territory which could easily have provided sufficient food to support the entire population of Spain." Just a short example of how Las Casas feels about how the natives are being treated and how he feels about the land bei...
The first real country to colonize the Americas, aside from the Norse colony Vinland that traded with the Native Americans (Goldfield, 15), were the Spanish. The Spaniards primary goal in colonization of this world was the idea of “Reconquista”, or the conversion of heathens, namely the natives, to Christianity. They believed they had “religious justification for conquest” (Goldfield,
In A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, by Bartolome de Las Casas, he graphically details the ruthless behavior by the Europeans on the indigenous societies in the Americas for the principal intent of spreading the Christian faith. Bartolome de Las Casas wrote this account in the year 1542 and published the account ten years later in 1552 (Casas 9). Bartolome de Las Casas was born in 1484 in a large Spanish city called Seville. His father was a merchant from Tarifa and his mother died when he was still in his childhood. Bartolome de Las Casas later entered the order of the Dominicans and became a friar leading to his ordination as bishop of Chiapas. Bartolome de Las Casas was writing from his own personal experiences of all the
The Europeans motivations and world views shaped their attitude about the Indians by the life and historical experience of the author, de Vaca. In the case, the discussion of Cabeza de Vaca’s life is used to analyze the European treatment and how things changed at the better part of the Author’s journey. The author explains how the American journey turned out to be the most horrifying event that brought lessons to the Spaniards who had the perception of conquering the America. Starting his mission as a governor, the author explains how their ego as Spaniards had increased. He arrived in Florida with his back up soldiers in 1527 with the objective of controlling over the “New world”. He suggests that the Spaniards were very arrogant as he mentions
Bartolome de las Casas work in The Destruction of the Indies brought a new mindset with criticism in later years. It was widely distributed throughout England and other nations that were struggling to gain priority in the New World. Many thought that the details from his work were exaggerated for popularity and it was all excuses to gain control over Spain. Throughout the 19th century, it gained more of a positive outlook by nationalists who desired freedom and independence from Spain. Las Casas’ work was compiled of a different sections of Columbus’ diary which was then considered an important historical document. He was known mainly for detesting the brutality towards Native Americans by the Spanish conquers and tried to notably track the
A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, he directly addressed Spanish royalty, discussing the hypocritical barbarities Spanish conquistadors committed in the name of colonization in New Spain. Las Casas based his argument off a few, isolated incidents. Las Casas definitely exaggerated his description of these incidents in order to influence the Spanish crown to protect the Native Americans in the New World. He was given credibility for his priesthood, however, his work has since been discredited by historians - his version was filled with inconsistencies. Nevertheless, he achieved his goal to defend the Native Americans, earning the formal title of “Protector of the Indians”. Las Casas’ overall message with his extravagant claims
To the defense of the Spaniards, there was little knowledge that the diseases of the Columbian exchange had caused the widespread, mass deaths of the natives. Las Casas was pivotal in bringing to light the brutal treatment of the natives. The crown took this information seriously. If it hadn’t been for Las Casas stance on anti-brutality against the natives, change would not have come for a long
In 1589, a Jesuit priest by the name of Joseph de Acosta jumped ahead of his contemporaries in explaining the arrival of the Indians into the New World. While he remained within the doctrines of the church, de Acosta put forth the theory that the Indians could have arrived to the Americas via three means: an organized and prepared transoceanic voyage, an accidental landing, or a migration over land. He worked under the assumption that man hailed from the Old World, as all humanity was descended from Adam, and that the Ind...
Two documents were analyzed in this writing. A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies and The Mayan Account of the Spanish Conquest. Both documents discuss Spanish entrance into the Indies and the underlying effect that was observed by Friar Bartolome de las Casas and Natives who called the Indies home.