After Columbus first arrived in America, during the subsequent years of exploration and discovery, the indigenous peoples of the New World became one of the focal points of study and investment. From fighting off aggressive tribes to learning about potential gold sources from peaceful inhabitants, Spanish—and later Portuguese—colonists had many interactions with the Amerindians. However, these interactions were not all identical. Reading first hand experiences from authors of the time, it is clear that they either had different experiences with the indigenous people, or they interpreted the experiences in conflicting ways. This paper will compare and contrast two primary sources— Bartolomé de Las Casas’ Apologetic History of the Indies and
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Chapters CCLXIV, CCLXV, CCLXVI, and CCLXVII are dedicated to the explanation of the term “barbarian” as well as arguing how the Amerindians do not fulfill the requirements needed to be labelled by such a word. The first type of barbarian is characterized by “strangeness, ferocity, disorder, exorbitance, degeneration of reason, of justice and of good customs and human benignity…” and is “beyond reason.” The second type of barbarian is one who “lack[s] a written language corresponding to their spoken one.” The fourth type of barbarian includes those who “lack true religion and Christian faith” . Bernardo writes that the first, second, and fourth types of barbarians are known as secunduim quid barbarians, meaning that they are only barbaric in some respects and “have or suffer a certain defect or defects in their customs” . The third type of barbarian comprises of those who are “cruel and ferocious and, unlike other men, are not governed by reason… do not posses or administer law, justice or communities.” This type is said to be simpliciter, or absolutely, barbaric because they are removed from reason, unable to live according to rules and instead are malicious and depraved. Bartolomé then goes on to explain how Amerindians could not be members of any of these groups. The first category is “accidental and not natural” , and thus …show more content…
Bartolomé de Las Casas was a Dominican friar born in 1484 C.E. With his father and uncle participants in Columbus’ second journey to the New World, it seemed inevitable that he would make the crossing himself. At the age of eighteen, he arrived in Hispaniola where he began a small trading business supported by Amerindian slaves. He was the first friar ordained in the New World but only received extensive training in 1510, when the Dominicans officially came to America. Not long after, he joined a Spanish expedition during which he witnessed such great horrors that he later wrote that “all these deeds and others, foreign to all human nature, mine own eyes saw, and now I fear to relate them, not believing myself, since perhaps I might have dreamt them.” Although he treated his slaves well, he only set them free in 1514, after being encouraged by other Dominican Friars and his own Easter sermon. He returned to the Iberian Peninsula and, for the following six years, legally campaigned for the rights of the indigenous peoples of Latin
Chapters CCLXIV, CCLXV, CCLXVI, and CCLXVII are dedicated to the explanation of the term “barbarian” as well as arguing how the Amerindians do not fulfill the requirements needed to be labelled by such a word. The first type of barbarian is characterized by “strangeness, ferocity, disorder, exorbitance, degeneration of reason, of justice and of good customs and human benignity…” and is “beyond reason.” The second type of barbarian is one who “lack[s] a written language corresponding to their spoken one.” The fourth type of barbarian includes those who “lack true religion and Christian faith” . Bernardo writes that the first, second, and fourth types of barbarians are known as secunduim quid barbarians, meaning that they are only barbaric in some respects and “have or suffer a certain defect or defects in their customs” . The third type of barbarian comprises of those who are “cruel and ferocious and, unlike other men, are not governed by reason… do not posses or administer law, justice or communities.” This type is said to be simpliciter, or absolutely, barbaric because they are removed from reason, unable to live according to rules and instead are malicious and depraved. Bartolomé then goes on to explain how Amerindians could not be members of any of these groups. The first category is “accidental and not natural” , and thus …show more content…
Bartolomé de Las Casas was a Dominican friar born in 1484 C.E. With his father and uncle participants in Columbus’ second journey to the New World, it seemed inevitable that he would make the crossing himself. At the age of eighteen, he arrived in Hispaniola where he began a small trading business supported by Amerindian slaves. He was the first friar ordained in the New World but only received extensive training in 1510, when the Dominicans officially came to America. Not long after, he joined a Spanish expedition during which he witnessed such great horrors that he later wrote that “all these deeds and others, foreign to all human nature, mine own eyes saw, and now I fear to relate them, not believing myself, since perhaps I might have dreamt them.” Although he treated his slaves well, he only set them free in 1514, after being encouraged by other Dominican Friars and his own Easter sermon. He returned to the Iberian Peninsula and, for the following six years, legally campaigned for the rights of the indigenous peoples of Latin