Bartolome De Las Casas Summary

A Two Man War
As children growing up, they are taught that Thanksgiving is this wonderful celebration of how the Indians and the colonists came together in peace and harmony to share a meal. This gives the impression that everything was all ease and simple. Educators teach that Columbus and those in the beginning were great people just seeking an adventure and new land. There is some truth to these stories, however they fail to teach young ones about the horrible ways that the Indians were treated. “The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies” by Bartolome De Las Casas and “The Relation of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca” by Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca shine a whole new light on this subject. Las Casas and de Vaca used their writings

to demonstrate to the people and royals the atrocities that were being committed by colonists during this time. They used very simple writing instead of eloquent so that nothing was left to the imagination or misunderstood. These two used their talent for writing as a platform to try to expose the political injustice of Indians. These authors’ literature is saturated with the chaotic emotions and the political unrest that led to the complete annihilation of the Indians way of life.
These two men started out not so differently. “Bartolome De Las Casas was born in 1484 and grew up in Seville, Spain” (Baym Ed. 38). His family was involved in farming and merchants. He was introduced to royalty at a young age and continued to meet them as he grew up. In 1493 Columbus marched his “seven Indians who had survived the voyage,” and “beautiful green parrots” (Baym Ed. 38) through Seville and this is what inspired Las Casas and his family to join the journey. He wanted to be a priest and so he went to university in Seville and became a great study in the Latin language and Canon Law, which would serve him well in his future dealings with the Indians. “Las Casas is believed to have gone to Granada as a soldier in 1497” (Dussel) proving he had some “fight” in him even at such a young age. “In 1502 he left for Hispaniola, in the West Indies, with the governor, Nicolás de Ovando. As a reward for his participation in various expeditions, he was given an encomienda (a royal land grant including Indian inhabitants), and he soon began to evangelize the native population, serving as doctrinero, or lay teacher of catechism” (Dussel). “Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was born in 1492 in Andalusia, Spain and was destined to be a fighter” (Baym Ed. 43). His grandfather was “the conqueror of the Guanache people of the Grand Canary Island” (Baym Ed. 43). His last name means “cow’s head” because his ancestor “used a cow’s skull to mark a strategic route through an unguarded mountain pass.” (Baym Ed. 43). “Cabeza de Vaca was orphaned as a child so he moved in with his aunt and uncle” (Baym Ed. 43). Like Las Casas, it is believed that he too has a fairly comfortable upbringing. Also like Las Casas he joined the military and fought in the war of Italy. “His military service to the Spanish crown then and later during a brief civil war in Spain (May 1520–April 1521) won him appointment as treasurer and first lieutenant in the 1527–28 expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez” (Chipman).
For the first twelve years that Bartolome de Las Casas explored managed Hispaniola he eagerly participated in the mistreatment of the Indians.

He noted in his “History of the Indies” the he “went about his concerns like the others, sending his share of Indians to work fields and gold mines, taking advantage of them as much as he could” (Baym Ed. 39), which caused him great grief and guilt. He went as far as to suggest that African slaves be sent to Hispaniola to compensate for his error. After very little thought he concluded that this would be a bad idea, because he would be treating the Africans no different than he had the Indians. This is where his fight begins. In his text “The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies” he goes into great detail about the horrible treatment that the Indian’s received from the colonists. He starts out the text with “This was the first land in the New World to be destroyed and depopulated by the Christians, and here they began their subjection of the women and children, taking them away from the Indians to use them and ill use them” (Baym Ed. 40). This is just the beginning of the descriptive memories of Las Casas. The reader cannot read this without feeling absolutely repulsed at these colonists. Learning that they were not great peacemakers but horrible devils opens the eyes of those who were once ignorant. Las Casas continued his studies until he became a priest in the meantime. According to David Orique, who wrote Bartolome De Las Casas, a Brief Outline of His Life and Labor, “Friar Anton Montesino delivered the first speech on behalf of the Indians”. “Along with Dominican confreres he denounced as a mortal sin the encomienda system of forced labor” (Orique). Las Casas continued to observe and take notes of the horrendous dealings with the Indians. Eventually this lead him to denounce any ownership of Indians or businesses associated with them. Here is where he chose to take a stand. He began to

preach passionate sermons about everything that was going on, especially with the encomienda system. “Las Casas later wrote that the blinders fell from his eyes and he saw that everything the Spaniards had done in the Indies from the beginning – all the brutal exploitation and decimation of innocent Indians, with no heed for their welfare or their conversion – was not only completely wrong, but also mortal sin” (Orique). In the year 1515 Las Casas went back to Spain to meet or plead rather with the royals. He felt he could enlighten them on what was going on. He found an ally in “Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, the archbishop of Toledo and future co-regent of Spain” (Dussel). He took up the cause with Las Casas. “The Plan para la reformación de las Indias was conceived, and Las Casas, was appointed to a commission to investigate the status of the Indians” (Dussel). It would seem though that it was doomed to fail. King Charles V agreed to fund Las Casas’ idea to create desegregated communities that functioned with both Indians and Spaniards. He did not bring enough farmers, opposition, and Indian attacks completely shut this project down. He did not give up though. He continued to write. His crowning moment seemed to be when King Charles signed his “new laws”. Las Casas was appointed the enforcer of these laws so he returned to the Gulf of Paria and attempted to do just that. Yet again he faced severe opposition and had to return back to Europe. “Las Casas continued to write books, tracts, and petitions, testimony to his unwavering determination to leave in written form his principal arguments in defense of the native peoples of the Americas” (Dussel).
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was another great man who fought against this mistreatment. First Cabeza de Vaca came to the New World in horrible conditions. The sea had not been kind to him and he lost most of the men he had traveled with. He would eventually be obtained by native Indians. This is where is journey really begins. While in captivity he would treat sick and injured Indians, often reciting prayers over them. If he refused then they would refuse food. He was not beaten or mistreated other than that. “Throughout their enslavement by Coahuiltecan, the Castaways never wavered from their determination to escape and continue toward Mexico and the safety of their countrymen” (Chipman). “They were finally able to escape to a nearby tribe that welcomed the four men as healers” (American Eras 1997). Cabeza de Vaca eventually met up with Diego de Alcaraz, a slave hunter, “After this,” he wrote, “we had many great altercations with the Christians, because they wanted to make slaves of the Indians we had brought” (American Eras 1997). These evil brutes terrified 600 Indians traveling with him. “He became openly critical of Alcarez” (Baym 44), which he should have been. Alcaraz arrest Cabeza de Vaca and sent him away. He then turned and captured the 600 Indians that had traveled with Cabeza de Vaca and enslaved them. This mistreatment of the Indians was preposterous to Cabeza de Vaca, and this conclusion came after he himself had been enslaved. He knew that this was illegal and he was going to do what he could to fix this. Like Las Casas he went to writing. When back in Spain he petitioned King Charles V. He began writing his memoirs about his time in Mexico. “Based on his experience King Charles V put him in charge of an expedition to explore the Rio de la Plata in South America. His tenure as governor of the region reflected the lessons he had learned from his travels, for he immediately sought to end the settlers’ abuse of the Indians” (American Eras 1997). The settlers were not happy with this. Eventually he was sent back to Spain where he was charged with multiple law suits. He made sure those memoirs were finished to open the eyes of the people who read it.
Bartolome de Las Casas and Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca were two warriors for Indian rights. They used their written words as their weapon of choice to try to end mistreatment of slavery. Although ultimately both failed, and Nunez ended up in prison and broke, they knew what they were doing was right. Their texts enlighten readers today of the horrors of those who came before us. They were simple words, easy to understand so that whomever did read could understand. They were able to fight a war, through the power of their words.