Bartolome De Las Casas Analysis

Historians Written by Bartolome de las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies was created to inform Prince Philip about the horrible acts inflicted on the Native Americans by the Spaniards. Through this document, las Casas pleads the Prince to do justice to the “unassuming, long-suffering, unassertive, and submissive” natives by preventing Spaniards from getting licenses for ventures and conquests in the New World. las Casas’ A Short Account left me aghast when I finished reading. Although I knew that the natives suffered at the hands of the Europeans, I was never fully aware of their degree of suffering. I became increasingly fearful as I read on. Before reading this, I had already known that Columbus’ “discovery” of the “New World” in 1492 was important, but that was only because my teachers told me so. Now after reading A Short Account, I can see for myself what my previous teachers were talking about. The statement about the Spaniards grabbing suckling infants by the feet and …show more content…
No human should ever experience that level of pain. Similarly, no human should ever consider themselves so highly that they can do whatever they want to another human being’s life because that kind of thinking is only suitable for monsters. For example, the hangman had only one job of hanging people, but he desired greater entertainment so he went about ramming wooden bungs into the mouths of innocent people like some sort of horrible beast on a rampage. This might seem impossible, but the world might be a better place if the Europeans who arrived treated the native peoples with the same gentleness that they initially received. In conclusion, you could say that reading la Casas’ A Short Account has opened my eyes. Native Americans are similar to Jews in my opinion because both groups were outcasted, tortured, and driven from their