Las Casas Oppression Of The Indians

Las Casas felt that the Indians were being oppressed by the Spaniards who had settled in their land. On top of their freedom being denied, they were beaten and forced to work without pay. The land that had initially belonged to them were taken away. The Spaniards also brutally murdered the Indians. Las Casas explains that within 8 years the population had decreased from three million people to about two hundred thousand. Some of these captives were burned alive while others were tortured or subjected to hunger and diseases that killed them off. The Spaniards argued that the Indians were uncivilized and that they needed civilization through Christianity, which could only be forced on them since they were reluctant to embrace it. Las Casas believes that the king and queen of Castile are to blame for all the atrocities subjected to the natives due to their wrong approach in teaching Christianity by force (las Casas, 1542). …show more content…
He felt that while Spain was justified in colonizing the New Indies, the oppression and brutality subjected on the Indians was inhumane and had to be stopped. He suggested the enactment of more humane methods in spreading Christianity. Most importantly, the Indians, who he argued were not barbarians, should be allowed to possess land (Foner, 2013). Even though Las Casa was against slavery of the Indians, surprisingly he supported importing African slaves to do the tasks that were expected of the Indians. The cruelty bestowed on the Indians could have been prevented by The Spaniards seeking out their own land while respecting the land of the Indians. The Indians were not greedy nor possessive. In my opinion, I believe that the Indians would have greatly shared their land, thus preventing slavery and cruelty of The Indians, who were innocent