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 Las Casas’ work was compiled of a different sections of Columbus’ diary which was then considered an important historical document.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
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
This assignment examines the document entitled “Bartolomé de las Casas, from Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies.” Bartolomé de las Casas, who spent most of his time in the New World protecting the native people that lived there, authored the document in 1542. In this document Bartolome de Las Casas gives a detailed but horrific account of the atrocious behavior of the spaniards against the native people of the indies.He vividly describes the brutality brought on the natives by europeans all in the name of proclaiming and spreading Christianity.This document was originally intended for Charles I of Spain and one
The passage from Bernal Díaz del Castillo’s The True History of the Conquest of New Spain is a clear example of a narrative source. Díaz is presenting his personal account of Hernan Cortes’s expedition into Tenochtitlan. An interesting aspect of this narrative is that it was written almost 50 years after the events described occurred . Bernal Díaz del Castillo was only 24 years old when on November 8, 1519 he and the rest of Hernán Cortés’s expedition first entered the city of Tenochtitlán . He did not finish his account, titled The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, which many suspect was intended as a slight to Francisco López de Gómara’s accounts of the expeditions , until 1567 . This was not his first travel to the New World, in fact, it was his fourth . Díaz del Castillo was 19 years old the first time he traveled to the Americas, this time was to Panama . Díaz later became a governor in Guatemala, mostly as a reward for his actions as a conquistador . The event that is commonly seen as spurring the not-well-educated Bernal Díaz del Castillo to write of his experiences with Cortés was the publication of Francisco López de Gómara’s Coleccion de historiadores primitivos de las Indias Occidentales, which Díaz saw as seriously flawed and underappreciating the work of the conquistadors . The book this passage comes from languished on shelves until it was published in 1632, posthumously .
Ransby believes “Columbus 's image has been scrubbed clean and sanitized by many generations of American historians so that he can now be offered up as a sterling example of the glorious era of discovery.” (Ransby, 1992/2015, p.14). Objective evidence is also a major component in this article. Columbus’s journal proved he wanted to exploit, and enslave the Indians. A population of 300,000 dwindled to a mere one by 1540. (Ransby, 1992/2015, p.12). Many scene of rape, murder and beating were also described in journals of sailors that travelled with
Question #1: In chapter one, does Zinn portray Bartolome de las Casas as an adversary of Indians?
Bartolome de las Casas: “In Defense of the Indians”(c.1550). Bartolome de Las Casas describes the treatment of Native Americans during the early settlement of the first thirteen colonies. Bartolome de las casas was a Spanish historian, who in the 16th century was given the title of Protector of the Indians and sat at the Council of the Indies. Bartolome de las casas had the “intent to reveal to Spain that.its colonial rule would lead to. punishment at God’s hand” (LUNENFELD 6).
Christianity itself might have been the main oppressor during the colonization of the Americas and not necessarily the greed or hunger for expansion. Bartolomé de las Casas, was a Spanish Bishop, who was sent to the Americas to teach the “Indians” about Christianity, but through his own eyewitness accounts saw the inhumane treatment of the Natives and criticized the Spanish monarchs and colonizers for being driven by greed and not their Christian beliefs. Although, de las Casas greatly criticized the Spanish, he himself, through his Christian teachings, was still indirectly oppressing the natives. In the excerpts titled, “Hispaniola” and “The Coast of Pearls, Paria, and the Island of Trinidad” from The Very Brief Relation
Looking back into the history of certain events affords the modern researcher the ability to examine a variety of documents and artifacts. It is important, however, to take into account biases, inaccuracies, errors in translation, and overall misinformation when examining primary sources, particularly historical documents. Examining the history of the conquest of the Aztec empire is no different, and in a scenario as tense as it was it is extremely important to consider the authorship of the text. Bernal Diaz’ The Conquest of New Spain and Miguel Leon-Portilla’s The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico offer two distinct looks into the same event in history. Both documents offer differing takes of the same events, so when
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.
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
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.
The fifteenth century was a period of mass exploration for many areas of the world. Countries such as Spain, France, and England were beginning to send explorers to the newly discovered western hemisphere for their nations to gain both wealth and territory. Many of the explorers thought it was necessary to subordinate Indian civilizations in order to benefit both themselves and their country. Decisions that the explorers made on the other side of the world proved to introduce great controversy in Europe. Some theologians and historians, such as Ginés Sepúlveda, saw invasions of the New World as a way to introduce civilization and Christianity to “barbarians” that are “incapable of government” (Las Casas 3). However, many religious leaders,
What motivates one person to subject or dominate another? When people take it upon themselves to judge who has the right to be free or enslaved; who is superior or inferior; who is civilized or barbaric, the outcomes throughout history have been horrific. The actions imposed are foreign to those of us who are privileged and forever scarring to those who have been subjected. It is ironic that people have struggled so much through out time with the underlying quality that unites us as human beings: our humanity. By ignoring this universal quality among people, the stage is set to create a system where any judgment and its action are justifiable. The source of these justifications vary according to what one chooses to paint around the edges of the picture, whether the paint be religious beliefs or civilized ideals, the underlying motive is usually greed. There are many different ways to enslave someone through domination, oppression, and tyranny: all of these have a common theme in that they violate our human rights. The simple fact is as Jean-Jacques Rousseau states, "The words 'slavery' and 'right' are contradictory, they cancel each other out. Whether as between one man and another or one man and a whole people" (1). Webster's Dictionary defines slave as, " a bond servant divested of all freedom and personal rights, a human being who is owned by and wholly subject to the will of another, as by capture, purchase, or birth" (2).
Although Columbus was increasing the wealth and strength of Spain, he was “a catastrophe for the indigenous inhabitants of the lands” (Belasco 67). He had no remorse for the natives as he proceeded to establish plantations, enslave them, slaughter them, and create a new colony called Espanola on their lands. According to Schuman, Howard, Barry Schwartz, and Hannah d’Arcy, Christopher Columbus “deserves condemnation for having brought slavery, disease, and death...
Although this essay is historically accurate it lacks important details, which might paint a different view of Columbus. Boorstin writes favorable of Columbus and depicts him as a heroic and determined figure who helped shape history, but he neglects to include Columbus’ unethical acts committed in the world that was not supposed to exist, the Americas. When Columbus first discovered the New World, he took care that the royal standard had been brought ashore and he claimed the land for Spain in front of all, including the indigenous population who had been sighted even before Columbus made landfall. According to the medieval concepts of natural law, only those territories that are uninhabited can become the property of the first person to discover them. Clearly this was an unethical act. Thus, the first contact between European and non-European worlds was carried out through a decidedly European prism, which ensured Spanish claim to the islands of the Americas. Faced with a colony in an inhospitable area, the Spanish soon inaugurated the practice of sending regular military parties inland to subdue the increasingly hostile natives. Members of the indigenous population were captured and enslaved to support the fledgling colony. The object of Columbus’ desire changed from exploration and trade to conquest and subjugation.