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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 …show more content…
atrocities he witnessed from his time in the Americas. Bartolome De Las Casas ultimate goal was to stop these mass massacres from happening. He wanted to inform the world of these horrific events that few people knew about. Most importantly he wanted to inform King Philip II to alert the Castilian Crown of these happenings in order to put an end of them. Bartolome de Las Casas work is considered a monument of history because it alters the events of history. Bartolome de Las Casas is considered the “Protector of the Indians” and his account is largely responsible for the passing of the New Laws of 1542, which abolished slavery in European colonial history. His dedication to putting everything aside in his life to do what he did is considered the symbol and monument of history itself, he doesn’t need a statue, just recognition of what he did. The Conquistadores in simplest terms were European conquerors. The most famous Spanish Conquistador was Hernan Cortes, who conquered the Aztec Empire (Lecture). Their provenance started when the Spanish Crown obtained approval from the Catholic Church to spread the word of Christianity in the Americas. However, they neglected their main goal and started to lust for gold instead of spreading the word of Christianity. The Conquistadores had the idea that an abundance of gold existed in the North Americas and sought out to do anything to obtain the massive gold they thought existed. They would do anything and kill anyone that got in their way, which included the Indigenous people. They had no warm intent and treated the Native Americans like animals. The irony of it all is that while reading the account, the Indigenous people offered open arms to the Spanish when they settled into their territory. They provide them shelter, food, and entertained them with dances. An example of one of the horrible events that Bartolome de Las Casas described, would be that the Spanish would come into the homes of the natives and then rape and kill their own children by cutting them up or burning them alive, “They slaughtered anyone and everyone that got in their path, on occasion running through a mother and her baby with a single thrust of their swords” (Casas 15). The natives that survived were sold into slavery, where life would last them a couple of days to months at the most because they were overworked and weren’t even fed. The goals of the Conquistadores were to spread Christianity, expansion, but the third goal outweighed the other two because they got greedy and as a result these goals resulted in a genocide happening for the ages. The practical motives that the Conquistadores had were to explore the new world but the ulterior motives were to find as much gold as possible. The ulterior motive was just something that came with the practical motive of expansion and discovering the other side of the world that they thought was flat (Lecture). The mentalities that the Conquistadores carried with them were fake mentalities, which turned into evil mentalities because of their lust and greed for gold and jewelry. They did not care about anything, that was basically their mentality throughout the whole account that Bartolome de Las Casas wrote. He described their acts as, “The heinous outrages and acts of barbarity have been so vile, the violence so intense, the murders so frequent, other acts of despotism so extreme” (Casas 42). Such was the case with the Spanish in Bartolome de Las Casas’s eyes. The Indigenous people were definitely human but the Spanish did not recognize them with human rights. They had a normal society with a hierarchy scale just like most countries. The hierarchical scale of the Indigenous people in society started with the ruling class, which they called themselves the “Elite” (Lecture). The elite were chosen to rule because they came from the gods and were divine by nature, “Nobles frequently claimed descent from supernatural forces or nonhuman beings, while commoners were seen as descending from other commoners or from “mud men” or “stone men” who had emerged from fissures in the earth” (Chase 222). This was their belief system in society, where the elite was the government and ruling class in society. The other class in the society was the commoners, and when making a formal comparison that would be just the regular people in today’s society like you and me. While no rules were distinctively set, the elite had numerous luxuries compared to the commoners. For example, elites had the luxury of wearing different clothing than the commoners as well as eating different types of food and even speaking different languages. Ultimately, the elite had a more luxurious life than the commoners because they were at the top of society’s hierarchical scale. The Indigenous people also had souls, which was one of the main reasons why slavery stopped because the papal bull called Sublimus Dei, which claimed that the Indigenous people had a soul, and could no longer be enslaved (Lecture). The Catholic Church played a huge role in the conquest of the Americas. The papal bull gave the Spanish the authority to take back Christian lands, “kingdoms granted and entrusted by God and His Church to the Spanish Crown so that they might be properly ruled and governed, converted to the Faith, and tenderly nurtured to full material and spiritual prosperity”(Casas 6). This was the beginning of all the events that Bartolome de Las Casas describes, the Bulls of Donation of 1493 was issued by Pope Alexander VI to Ferdinand and Isabella sovereignty over the Amerias in exchange for an obligation to convert the inhabitants to Christianity (Casas 6). Papal bulls were legal documents that issued through divine right allowed something to happen such as slavery. Also the idea of “just war” was based solely on religion. It was basically justification for violence and that the only religion allowed was the Catholic Church and nothing else. The Spanish obtain power from negotiations and gained enormous political and economic power when they agree with the Catholic Church to join forces and take back Christianity and spread it throughout the world. Another role the Catholic Church played in the conquest of the Americas, was the requerimientos; which were obligations for the Indigenous people to pay homage to the crown because they got conquered by them, “This wicked wretch of a governor was accordingly under instruction sot ensure that the terms of this government legislation were made known to the native population, as though by doing this one could justify the absurdity, unreasonableness and injustice of the terms” (Casas 33). The power of the Conquistadors was in danger because of this. Ultimately, according to Bartolome de Las Casas, the Conquistadores were not even coming close to fulfilling their spiritual mission. Instead of converting people, they killed them for gold. Bartolome de Las Casas tried his hardest to stop this evil but the more he witnessed it, the worst it got as time went along. The reaction by the Indigenous people towards the Spanish was initially friendly, “As the city gates, Montezuma himself came out to meet them, carried on a litter of gold and surrounded by the entire court. He escorted them into the city to the great houses where he had direct they should be lodged” (Casas 48). However after they realized that these Christian did not descend from the heavens, “since the newcomers began to subject the locals to other vexations, assaults, and iniquities, the people began to realize that these men could not, in truth, have descended from the heavens” (Casas 14). They immediately change their attitude and actions by hiding food and running away into the mountains. Eventually, they became fearful of the Conquistadores and who can blame them. They would try to fight back but their weapons were clearly outdated from the Spanish and the Spanish easily dispatched of them. In almost every scene that Bartolome de Las Casas describes, the indigenous people would try to welcome the Spanish with open arms by feeding them and providing them a place to sleep because they thought they came from the heavens and were here for all the good reasons. It got to the point where when one of the lords of the Indigenous people was being executed by being burned alive, a friar came up to him and told him that, “if he would only believe what he was now hearing, he would go heaven there to enjoy glory and eternal rest, but that, if he would not, he would be consigned to hell where he would endure everlasting pain and torment” (Casas 28). The Lord Hatuey then asked if Christians go to heaven and the friar said the good ones, the Lord then proclaimed, “if that was the case, then he chose to go to Hell to ensure that he would never again have to clap eyes on those cruel brutes” (Casas 28). This scene displays the hatred the indigenous people developed toward the Conquistadores. When analyzing Bartolome de Las Casas's, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, the one reading of “The Lord and Holy Men of Tenochtitlan Reply to the Franciscans, 1542” comes to mind because it really helps to see two parties interact between one another.
The twelve Franciscans try to convert the people of Tenochtitlan to Christianity, but they kindly refused and said they will still believe in the gods that they currently believed in. As much as the Franciscans tried, it was of no use, “It is best, our lords, to act on this matter very slowly, with great deliberation. We are not satisfied or convinced by what you have told us, nor do we understand or give credit to what has been said of our gods” (Miller 22). This analysis just shows that the indigenous people weren’t even ready to accept Christianity among themselves as the main religion. When Bartolome describes the horrific scenes, the Spanish don’t even give the Indigenous people a chance to convert, the Spanish just ask for gold and then take the gold and jewelry and proceed to murder them. The idea of Christianity being that ruthless is mind blowing to say the least. For the Castille Crown to have no idea of what was taking place across the ocean is
amazing. Bartolome de Las Casas made a huge impact in history. His account really is a monument because of what he did and the way he described every single little detail that happened. As a devoted Christianity myself, I was really sadden to hear of the millions of lives that were lost because of human greed but happy at the same time that Bartolome was able to put an end to all of it because of his faithful heart to God. A monumental moment in history to say the least, very few people know of these happenings and if Bartolome de Las Casas never wrote of this, who knows how many more lives would’ve been taken. The importance of this account should be taken very seriously and more people should be informed of these events of history.
The source of the first passage that I read was History of the Indies written by Bartolome de Las Casas written in 1528. Bartolome was a 16th century Spanish historian, social reformer and Dominican friar/priest, who condemned the treatment of Indians in the Spanish empire. Bartolome widely disseminated History of the Indies and helped to establish the Black Legend of Spanish cruelty (Give Me Liberty, 28). The source of the second passage that I read was the “Declaration of Josephe” which was created by Josephe on December 19, 1681, and Josephe was a Spanish-speaking Indian questioned by a royal attorney in Mexico City investigating the Pueblo Revolt, which is the revolt of the indian population, in 1680, which temporarily drove Spanish settlers out of present day New Mexico
In An Account, Much Abbreviated, of The Destruction of The Indies, the author is giving an introduction on Bartolome De Las Casas who was a Christian missionary at the time of the Spaniards discovering the New World. He had a rather self-taught oriented theology, philosophy and law. He went to Hispaniola ten years after its discovery in 1502 ; in Santo Domingo he was ordained priest in 1512 and a year later he went as a chaplain in the expedition that conquered Cuba . After going to Hispaniola years after Columbus settled there, he did not support what the Spaniards did to the indigenous people. From 1551 until his death , Las Casas role was to bring the complaints to the authorities of the indigenous population of the Spanish America. Dissatisfied
One of the most interesting aspects of Diaz’s narrative is towards the end when Cortés broaches the subject of Christianity with Montezuma. Conversion and missionary work was one of the most important and lasting goals of the conquistadors and other contemporary explorers, they were charged with this duty by the rulers who sent t...
Native American civilization was not always a pit of terror and agonizing torture for every single being. The Spanish arrived in Hispaniola, during the early 1500, with the seemingly good intention of introducing to the indigenous the Christian faith. Unfortunately, their mission turned into an almost complete annihilation of a culture unlike their own. Bartolome de la Casas, depicts a graphic and ultimately disturbing castings of the happenings during their expedition. The Spanish Christians involved in these happenings can be seen as hypocritical, heartless, and close minded. Although, in the minds of these men, they were completing their God assigned duties, such as
Bartolome de las casas had hoped to prevent further harm to Indians, and clarify that they were not barbarians. Of the text named Bartolome de las casas: In Defense of the Indians(c.1550) it covers what is to be the Spanish Conquistadores, and talks of the natives to which at the time seen by many are barbaric, ignorant, incapable of learning, just another group of people to be conquered. But to the Catholic missionaries, they see the Natives as new people to influence and enlighten. But if at any time the person drops the belief in Christianity, they would use deadly force against the person or family. Adding to that, Hernán comments that their cities are “ worth of admiration because of their buildings, which are like those of Venice”(Poole 4).
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.
Bowden’s idea of why this happened focused mainly on the old misunderstood traditions of the tribes living in Mexico. He shows how the friars, churches and icons took the blunt of the revolts force. Bowden points out the religious differences and similarities be...
The discovery and conquest of American Indians inspired efforts to develop an ideology that could justify why they needed to enslave the Indians. The Spanish monarch wanted an ideal empire. "A universal empire, of which all their subjects were but servants. Charles V remained for them the dominus mundi, the legitimate and God-ordained lord of the world." (Weckmann, The Transit of Civilization, 23) Gold and religious conversion was the two most important inspirations for conquistadors in conquering America. Father Bartolome De Las Casas was a Dominican priest who came to the New World to convert the Indians to become Christians. He spent forty years on Hispanolia and nearby islands, and saw how the Spaniards brutally treated the Indians and sympathized with them. The Devastation of the Indies was an actual eyewitness account of the genocide by Las Casas, and his group of Dominican friars in which he demonizes the Spanish colonists and praises the Indians. Father Las Casas returned to Seville, where he published his book that caused an on going debate on whether the suppression of the Indians corrupted the Spaniards' values. What Las Casas was trying to achieve was the notion of human rights, that human beings are free and cogent by nature without the interference of others.
Finally, when it came down to the types of ceremonies and views both civilizations had, they were on two different pages. The Natives believed happiness was the key to good fortune. So, in order to get that fortune, they’d do sacrifices, and rituals to please the “mighty ones”. Then, as stated in the book “A History of Latin America”, it says, “Jews publicly converted to Christianity to avoid the torture…”, In which, this showed how religion and the spiritual views were forced upon people in the Spanish civilization.
What he and his men did to the Indigenous people is told in horrifying detail by the Dominican priest Bartolome de Las Casas, “whose writings give the most thorough account of the Spanish-Indian encounter.” Las Casas witnessed firsthand Columbus’ soldiers stabbing Natives for sport, dashing babies’ heads on rocks, and sexually abusing Indigenous women. His testimony was corroborated by other eyewitnesses, such as a group of Dominican friars, who addressed the Spanish monarchy in 1519, hoping to bring an end to the atrocities. At the very least, Columbus was complicit in the actions of his men. He cared so little for the welfare of the Indigenous people that he let his soldiers commit reprehensible acts that would be considered crimes against humanity in the present day. Christopher Columbus’ actions suggest he had no issue with serving as an enabler of the horrifying actions committed by his men against the Indigenous
The Spanish defeat of the Aztecs has been extensively criticized for many years. Religion was a motive for discovery, enabled the Spanish to enter the heart of the empire, and was used as justification for torture of the natives. The centrality of religion as a force in Spanish conquest is undeniable. Virtually all of Aztec culture was destroyed and the Spanish victory has had lasting effects for both natives and Europeans up to and including the present-day.
In A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, Bartolomé de Las Casas vividly describes the brutality wrought on the natives in the Americas by the Europeans primarily for the purpose of proclaiming and spreading the Christian faith. Las Casas originally intended this account to reach the royal administration of Spain; however, it soon found its way into the hands of many international readers, especially after translation. Bartolomé de Las Casas illustrates an extremely graphic and grim reality to his readers using literary methods such as characterization, imagery, amplification, authorial intrusion and the invocation of providence while trying to appeal to the sympathies of his audience about such atrocities.
In schools, students are being taught wrong information. “Our gods were vanquished after the fall of Tenochtitlan as were our traditions. Our warriors and nobles were eradicated, our children starved and our women ravished by the white conquerors and their allies.” (157). In books across America, the Spaniards were said to be good people, but the way that Huitzitzilin described what happened, shows the complete opposite of how the Spaniards actually were.
Before Columbus landed in the West Indies in 1492, The Spanish Inquisition made it known to anyone within Spain’s domain of influence that if a person was not of the Catholic religion, they were to be punished severely and sometimes even fatally. This influence would undoubtedly be brought over to the Americas a century later, as the colonization of the New World would begin by then. While it was very essential for the Spanish (as well as the Portuguese) to improve their economy by using the resources they found in Latin America, it seemed to a number of them as if that was the only reason for being there, or the main reason at the very least. During the Spanish Inquisition and from that point after, it was the Pope’s main goal, to convert everyone to Roman Catholicism; an opportune moment arrived as the Americas were found, along with the Natives who resided there who were waiting to be converted.
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